Helping students resolve their conflicts through conflict resolution and peer mediation training

The study examined the effectiveness of Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation (CRPM) training on resolving 10-11-year-old primary school students' interpersonal conflicts. Research was conducted in two low-SES primary schools. A total of 520 students from 12 classrooms received training. Peer mediation forms filled by the mediator students following the mediation sessions were used to collect data. Of the 444 mediation sessions, 98.9% resulted in agreement and 1.1% in no-agreement. Majority of the conflicts referred to mediation were physical, verbal, and non-verbal violence, relationship and communication conflicts, and conflicts of interest. Results of the study indicated that CRPM training might prove to be effective in resolving 10-11-year-old students' conflicts. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserve