Terri had run away and been gone for eight days, until found by police in a neighboring city. Her school was upset because she had missed a week of her two summer school classes. Terri and Janice were diverted to mediators by the local Juvenile Court. Gradually the community is becoming aware of the value of mediation as a tool for dealing very constructively with conflict. While mediation is not counseling or advice-giving, it is quite educative and particularly useful for those disputants who will have an ongoing relationship.
Mediation is one practical tool of peacemaking and of educating for a peacemaking lifestyle.
It leads disputants to take responsibility for their own lives, rather than turning decisions over to police and the court system. It teaches cooperative problem solving and the relational use of power, rather than power over others. It is, thus, a community building tool. It is future-oriented and amazingly effective in positively transforming relationships for those disputants who approach the process in good faith. It is often remarkable to see the light of discovery in the eyes of disputants, when they experience the respect of being heard fully, both by the mediators and the fellow disputant, and see new options for resolving their differences emerging from their assisted dialogue.