The peer mediator guides the discussion to help the quarreling students find solutions to their conflict. Once the two parties agree, they each sign a contract that outlines what each will do to solve the problem. All mediation sessions are confidential. Mediation assumes no fault. A trial seeks to learn the truth.
Mediation seeks to find an equitable solution.
A trial deals with facts. Mediation deal s with the feelings and perceptions behind the facts. In a trial, a judge makes a decision. In mediation, the disputants make the decisions. A senior who has been a mediator for four years at an inner-city school, said that if there were no mediation program there would be nobody learning in this school.