The Mediation Center of The Coastal Empire is committed to a number of youth initiatives and programs. From our annual youth awards to the growth of our Peer Mediation Programs in schools, the introduction of Restorative Conferencing, and now the rollout of our new BRAVE program, we are making a difference to school-age youth throughout our community.
Questions? Contact Sherlisa Praylo at spraylo@mediationsavannah.com
Peer Mediation is a confidential process for resolving conflicts. Participants have the opportunity to talk through their disputes with the help of trained student mediators. Peer mediators do not take sides or place blame on anyone. They listen to all participants and help the participants to develop their own solutions to the conflict. Peer Mediators assist with teasing, disagreements, name-calling, rumors and gossip harassment, cheating, and fighting. Referrals can be submitted by students, teachers, administrators, and parents. This allows students to help make their school a more peaceful place to learn.
Positive Peer Influencers
The Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire’s Positive Peer Influencer Program empowers Savannah-area public high school students to mentor local middle school students, encouraging them to make healthy choices. Positive Peer Influencers model good decision making, speak with students about how to navigate peer pressure, discuss the potential consequences of poor decisions and offer advice about how to make healthy choices.
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Building Relationships and Voicing Emotions
The BRAVE program focuses on understanding emotions, managing responses, and developing positive actions by helping school-aged youth develop conflict resolution, communication, and leadership skills. The program facilitates Social Emotional learning activities that develop and enhance self-regulation and management of emotions. This program utilizes BRAVE instructors that are qualified educators, social workers, and mediators and can be administered on-site in schools, libraries, meeting centers, and other public facilities.
Restorative Conferencing
Those directly involved and affected by the incident are invited, as well as supporters, and representatives from organizations the parties may find beneficial. A neutral third party facilitates the conference at a convenient location (library, community center, school, Mediation Center, etc.). Parties discuss what occurred, and how individuals were affected and work together to define a better path forward.
Safety and Resilience
The Safety & Resilience Training Programs provide evidence-based and evidence-informed education designed to promote suicide prevention, emotional wellbeing, trauma-informed care, and holistic health. These trainings are accessible to professionals, educators, caregivers, and community members across Chatham County and beyond. Programs can be tailored to meet the needs of your organization or population.
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Families First: Managing Parent-Teen Conflict
The transition from a child to an adolescent can be a challenge for most teens. It can also prove to be a challenge for parents. Disagreements result in differences in attitudes, beliefs, values, and needs that cause inevitable conflict. Managed effectively, conflict can result in growth, maturity, and healthy relationships. Families First: Parent-Teen Conflict Management Class offers constructive ways for parents and teens to learn and practice skills, heal troubled relationships, and provide life-long skills for managing and resolving conflict.
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Peace Between Peers
The Peace Between Peers program teaches causes of conflict, conflict analysis, and conflict management techniques to middle and high-school-aged youth. In this program, participants are encouraged to examine the impact of their culture on their conflicts and think critically about how they relate to others. The curriculum includes instruction in informal peer mediation that will aid the youth by teaching them how to intervene and coach their peers through conflict, demonstrating their skill in diffusing conflict.
Ambassadors of Peace
Ambassadors of Peace (AoP) is a conflict resolution education and leadership program developed by TMC for underserved and vulnerable youth in challenging contexts: homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, and foster care. The one-year program consists of two, six-month components dedicated to conflict resolution education (CRE) and implementation. The purpose of this program is to teach CRE so that the youth participating are able to develop, explore, and make choices in how they handle conflict and engage with other youth and adults from a framework of mutuality and collaboration.
Youth Community Conversations
Youth Community Conversations are facilitated dialogues for children and teens. Each conversation tackles a different issue in young people’s lives, like virtual learning, social media, and bullying. A trained facilitator guides the children and teens in a conversation to share and be heard.
