Restorative circles give students access to understanding each other

As a way to keep suspensions and expulsions down at Fallbrook Union High School (FUHS), administration has taken further steps to make sure that students see the full extent of negative actions and behavior. This academic year, academic houses have been used to implement restorative practices to get students to relate to each other, their teachers, and the world around them.

Steven Martinez, FUHS math chair and restorative practices teacher on special assignment (TOSA), states that the school is still in the first stages of restorative practices. The main focus of this practice is to help students, particularly those who might not respond well to traditional corrective practices, understand how their actions and choices impact others around them.

One of the larger components of restorative practices is restorative circles.

“This is a way to build community,” said Martinez. “People share from their heart in a respectful manner, not complaining. People have the floor when talking in a circle, and that leads to some meaningful conversation.”

Martinez explains that restorative circles are not meant to air grievances; it’s a time to openly discuss concerns that are had, without concern of being made fun of or ridiculed.

This is not done without legwork, though; teachers have students interact in activities that allow each other to get to know the rest of their classmates in a new way.

“Some of our seniors had never really talked before, and found out they shared the same hobby,” said Martinez. “They realize they have the same interests and hobbies, and would have never known that without this.”

By giving students a chance to relate to others outside of their group of friends, students can relate with their peers more easily, which leads to emotional circles, where students can discuss hard decisions and come up with a solution that will best benefit everyone.

Martinez explained the school had an opportunity to do an emotional circle after a class had misbehaved on a substitute teacher.

“By the end, the students found that while they were not all at fault,

they could choose their behavior in a circumstance,” said Martinez. “It’s powerful to see.”

Martinez is aware that not all of the community may be on board with restorative practices, as it may appear that some students may only pay lip service and say what others would expect them to say.

“You can actually tell a student you don’t think that they are going to be truthful,” he said. “A student actually might not know how to respond or know what to do [when asked to share].”

Ideally, the restorative circle would naturally bring an opportunity for the student to see how he or she has hurt others, and give them a chance to improve the situation.

“Let’s say a student was caught writing graffiti on campus. Rather than suspend him or her, we would have a custodian come in and explain how much work it takes to remove the graffiti, how much it costs, and how it has added more work to his day,” said Martinez. “We would have a student do community work, and hold them accountable for their work. Students might never have been held accountable before, and now they can try to make things right.”

After working at Fallbrook High for 12 years, Martinez is excited to have this new program implemented.

“I believe this will be better with all students,” he said. “This gives the voiceless a voice, which is something they have never gotten before. I can see how students can be changed because of the restorative practice.”

As a way to help parents and community members understand more about restorative practices, Martinez stated the school will soon have a newsletter and website available with information.