Lynch: River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding is empowering local schools with restorative practices
OPINION
BY KELLY LYNCH
The River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding (RPCP) is a local non-profit making systemic change in Alachua County schools through their specialized training for education professionals on Restorative Practices. Over the summer, educators from P.K. Yonge, Irby Elementary, Alachua Elementary, PACE Center for Girls, and the A. Quinn Jones Center have all participated in training to use Restorative Practices inside their schools.
At the heart of Restorative Practices are three key pillars: community building, sharing power, and conflict resolution. These work in unison to foster stronger relationships between students, staff, and families. When challenging behavior occurs, a restorative approach encourages students to learn about the impact of their actions on educators and peers and actively participate in repairing harm. In this way, accountability is achieved through repair and prevention rather than blame and punishment. While Restorative Practices do not completely replace the traditional punitive and exclusionary system, i.e. suspension and expulsion, RPCP hopes to offer improvements that can make a lasting shift in how schools handle conflict and discipline.
In 2023, Alachua County had 2,445 out-of-school suspensions for grades K-12 (FLhealthcharts.gov). RPCP hopes that these practices will disrupt Alachua County’s contribution to the School-to-Prison Pipeline, a phenomenon that occurs when students are pushed out of schools through suspension and expulsion and swept up by the juvenile justice system. Students who are suspended or expelled are often left unsupervised or without constructive activities to take up their time. This can lead to them falling behind on coursework, becoming disengaged, and eventually dropping out. According to the ACLU, we see this happen disproportionately to Black and Brown students, students with special needs, and students with limited resources.
Participants in RPCP’s training learn about the continuum of strategies and practices that create more restorative environments – from restorative language and spaces to restorative conversations and formal circles. Participants receive an overview of social-emotional learning, trauma-responsive approaches, de-escalation techniques, and circle facilitation skills, as well as simple practices and exercises that can be easily integrated into existing curricula.
The feedback from RPCP’s Restorative Practices training has been overwhelmingly positive. Educators have praised the program and expressed a desire for it to expand throughout the county. Comments like “This needs to be available in all schools” and “The most useful training in my 30 year career” highlight the profound impact that these practices can have on both students and staff.
Corey Collins, a former teacher and the Youth and Community Engagement Specialist for RPCP, hopes that teachers and staff in schools across the county will learn to “work” with particularly challenging students instead of “deal” with them. RPCP staff believe that every aspect of interaction with children, down to the language used when talking to them, can have lasting effects on their well-being, which means lasting effects on society. Restorative Practices resources our youth with essential life skills that are necessary for maintaining healthy relationships and contributing to their community in a positive way.
Education must encompass more than the usual science, math, and reading. If you are a parent, educator, or community member, consider advocating for these practices or this training in your local schools. Contact RPCP and talk to your school officials. Let’s transform our school systems and build peace together.
For more information on The River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, or to donate, please visit centerforpeacebuilding.org. Follow us on facebook at The River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding and on instagram at riverphoenixrpcp.
Kelly Lynch is a social justice advocate working for RPCP here in Alachua County.
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How did River Phoenix’s name get hooked up with this Poe-involved scam? He was a regular dude, not some fairy or whatever Poe is trying to portray him as. I certainly don’t think he would approve of the way Poe and his ilk have ruined the downtown area, let alone Poe trying to palm off his good name.
Wow. The River Phoenix Center was founded and is managed by River’s mom, Heart Phoenix. One of the things that inspired her to start the center was River’s work as an activist. Go to the organization’s website and educate yourself on the great work they have accomplished. By the way, his sister Rain sits on the Board.
Gag me. Who the heck is “Jeffrey Weisberg”? The website would be better off without any photos, obviously. His mom sounds and looks like a real kook. The family was a member of a religious cult and River was raped at the age of four. He was an environmental activist, like lots of people back in the early 90s. Why isn’t his mom trying to save the whales or the planet or whatever? That would be a good legacy. River must be turning in his grave at the prospect of his name being used to support “restorative racial justice.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Phoenix
Your concluding sentences make no sense.
None.
Did River Phoenix die from a drug overdose?
Maybe they should do something to prevent drug addiction instead
seems more appropriate if using his name to prevent further tragedies like his…
this is how we can learn from his legacy.
We must first stop classifying people by color. Parents don’t have a chance to teach children to understand that people are more than skin color if the schools spend hours beating their racist drum. As a teacher, I just found that my expectation of their success did more than demeaning classification. If the teachers, schools, media keep telling children that they will fail, they might. Some children will be so insulted by being called a potential racial failure that they will ‘in your face’ succeed. Teach the kids to read. Start by teaching the needed vocabulary. Forget the feel good politics. You do nothing by soft pedaling behavior. Some behaviors need punishment. For example, Poe’s behavior. Not submitting necessary state required paperwork while spending our time and our money planning disgusting money making ‘charities’ like this. What is his next charity? Keep watching. He will get richer. We need to know the amount of dollars he is turning over and how much he pockets.
Compared to downtown when Phoenix was still alive, downtown is much improved and a destination for residents and those from farther away, including families. If you don’t know this, you never go there and your comments about downtown should be taken with a grain of salt.
major destination for the homeless.
Kelly Lynch, you Say, “The River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding (RPCP) is a local non-profit making systemic change in Alachua County schools.” Are you funded by the Democratic or Republican parties?
I say, “Where is the supporting data that you are making a difference?”
“According to the ACLU, we see this happen disproportionately to Black and Brown students, students with special needs, and students with limited resources.” Does “Special Needs” include a family with a father and mother? Again, show me where the program you tout is making a positive difference.
If your argument to correct the “School to Prison Pipeline” is race based, you are spot on. It is the 13% of Americans who commit 90% of the crime keeping that pipeline full!
Peace is for cowards and children.
Bill Bennett, former Secretary of Education, has talked about the incredible influence a coach had on him as a rowdy teen with a single mom. That coach changed the trajectory of his life with a simple and direct message – go THIS way, not THAT way.
Kids do need more than punishment to choose a new, productive path. Key words in this article make me question whether this particular approach will be successful (social justice, sharing power), but certainly the current situation is a school to prison pipeline for lots of young people, and disrupting that pipeline is important.
I hope that peace can spring from this effort, and I think the desire to help these troubled kids is admirable. Ms. Phoenix is investing money to try.
The troubled kids that this program is intended for, and society as a whole, need for the status quo to change. Schools need a learning environment that supports learning the usual science, math and reading.
Schools need a learning program that includes books. There are too many easy for the teacher to prepare computer programs, xeroxed worksheets, and videos that pretend to teach reading. I am finding that people cannot read for comprehension. Nor can they spell. (Necessary to read.) Teachers need to sit down and take the time to read with the children and to the children. Children need focus.
I encourage everyone to watch the YouTube video by Larry Elder “Uncle Toms Cabin II”
It’s spot on and before you call him a racist, he’s a black man.
Kelly needs to buy that woman some new pants with that peace money and begin there!
Or at least, buy her a pair of knee pads.
And in 25 words or less, this epitomizes one of the things wrong in our society. Depressing to see that the only thing you can say about the article or the program is to criticize the outfit. Surely there is a program to help ignorance of this magnitude.
Less Discipline!!! That ALWAYS works, LOL! Almost as good as trying to treat animals like people.
I like animals better than people!
So do I.
Discipline is a word connected to the word learn. Not pain. Not failure. Not punish. Let your child run without discipline and they will fail. Discipline creates personal pride.
Peace? This is war!
Grab the bad kids by the ear and bring them to be principals office to be paddled!
Corporal punishment and incarceration is tried & true.
It’s the parent’s job to raise their children, not a village.
Personal responsibility…don’t breed em if you can’t educate & feed em.
Rubbers are cheap! use protection to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Nuclear family with a real mother & father is best to raise children .
Mr. Pink, I don’t know how old you are but I would guess over 50. You grew up, as did I, in a time where bad behavior was held accountable. If the school didn’t take care of it, the parent(s) did. This generation of Permissive and/or Gentle Parenting has created a culture of entitlement and lack of self control. I have worked in the medical field since 1981. I was a school nurse for a season at a K-12 school. That is where I saw the lack of parenting with children. The parents expect the school to raise, feed and sometimes clothe the kids while the parent lives their selfish lifestyle. It’s sad and pathetic. Now we have these “feel good” organizations and a dysfunctional school board that circumvents the problem. The problem starts with the parents!!. How about parenting training? When a young child is a behavior problem, it is coming from the home life. Make the parent attend a parenting class or have someone observe the home life and assist in training with the proper responses. (911 Nanny) I am sure the local police department would love this. You would be amazed at the amount of calls they receive from a single mom with an out of control teenager. The mom wants the cops to parent the kid. Un-freakin-believable! These young teachers are trained to teach. Not deal with disrespectful behavior and violent outbursts. These local leaders that think training teachers to “de-escalate behaviors” will solve the problem. This is out of their scope of practice. The expectation of school teachers should be that the student listen and learn. Not worry if there will be a fight in the class or student will curse the teacher out, or whatever happens in classes these days. People need to get their head out of their *** and get with the program. Don’t get me started with DCF. That’s another losing situation.
Clown Town, Mr. Pink – you’ve both nailed it. Perhaps it is a generational thing. I can’t quite put my finger on it but the longer I stared at the photograph, the sicker I felt; in fact, the vibe of this entire thing seems way too touchy-feely (sorry, expressive) to me.
Yeah..let me get professional like that woman in the photo and cross my legs while I sit in my chair and get into the lotus position before I type my next sentence…
They want to reward bad behavior by giving them cookies & ice cream….that will fix the school to prison pipeline..
I hope none of my tax dollars are being spent on this new age feel good hippy Commi BS.