Peer Mediation enables children to help to manage conflicts and disagreements between children in the same age-group.

Peer Mediators need training to help them develop the skills needed to support children to find ways of resolving their differences between themselves.

Peer mediators do not:

• Tell anyone what to do;
• Take sides
• Gossip about what they have seen and heard.

Instead, they work towards a win-win solution for both sides, helping the two sides to come together and develop a solution that works for both of them.

Benefits of Peer Mediation

Peacemakers colleagues in Scotland have pulled together the research around peer mediation in a paper which you can read here 
‘Peer mediation programs have been shown to lead to improvement in controlling anger, developing appropriate assertiveness skills, and learning problem solving skills, communication/language skills and other interpersonal skills, as well as increasing empathy, trust, tolerance, respect, and fairness. For student mediators themselves, learning the mediation process has been shown to increase self-esteem, and even improve academic achievement’

From Peacemakers own research in the West Midlands:
396 students from 6 primary schools provided quantitative data on their experience and perceptions of peer mediation.  Some schools have achieved a success rate in helping find solutions of over 90%. Equally, school staff report positive benefits including reduced conflict, reduced need for adult mediation or arbitration, and a reduced need for enforced sanctions at lunchtime. 

More Information

Skills Required for Peer Mediation are listed at https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/peer-mediation.html

In the West Midlands, Peacemakers are very active in training Peer Mediators. Find out more by contacting Libbs Packer at libbs@peacemakers.org.uk or call 0121 236 4796

A video of young peacemakers from a Welsh primary school won the 2018 Peer Mediation scheme of the year award can be seen here.

Peer Mediation Network is made up of trainers organisations working to promote peer mediation in schools in the United Kingdom.

Peer mentoring in secondary schools, video from Department of Education