Disputes can arise anytime two people are together. In middle and high school, where students are still learning to communicate and understand one another, emotions can run high during a dispute. It may have always been that way. However, it got worse when schools re-opened after the COVID pandemic.
“After COVID, we saw an increase in the number of school referrals right off the bat. As soon as everyone was back in person, the number of disputes rose. Simple communication between students became challenging, and small conflicts escalated rapidly, often leading to physical confrontations. When we would get into the mediation sessions, they were much more intense,” said Kayla Allen, Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority’s Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) program director.
The DRC mediates landlord/tenant, neighbor, workplace, contract/commercial, real estate disputes and more. The DRC is approved to receive referrals for dispute resolution services from the District, Superior, Juvenile, and Housing Court Departments. Roughly a quarter of all the dispute cases handled by the DRC are within the Pittsfield Public Schools (PPS). Since the Center was established, well over fifteen thousand disputes have been resolved by the Center’s mediators.
“Our name is not inclusive of everything we do. Our overarching mission is to promote household and community stability,” said Allen. “Mediation helped resolve a wide range of often difficult issues, so we expanded our existing programming to address community-based disputes.”
In 2016, the DRC expanded to include mediations of parent-teacher disputes at Reid Middle School. By the following year, at the school’s request, the Dispute Resolution Program expanded to include student-student and student-teacher disputes. The program has evolved and grown to include Conte Community School, Taconic High School, and Pittsfield High School.
“Before COVID, you'd mediate between students. Mostly, they would recognize what went wrong and agree to a resolution. It became the exact opposite after COVID. Even in middle school, the kids were swearing at one another, threatening to harm each other, and acting negatively,” said Andrea Sholler, coordinator of court-involved and community mediation for the DRC.
“Some students came into school and got into trouble with the other students because they couldn’t sleep at home. When I spoke with one student, he told me that his parents were always fighting at night,” said Connie Bergs, school and family mediation coordinator. “You can hear those kids feeling sad. They're so young and go through all this. We can help by spending time listening to them to understand what they are going through.
Students are often referred to the DRC by a teacher or administrator. More and more, students hear about mediation by word-of-mouth from other students and ask for help resolving disputes.
“Usually, the first thing I say when a student enters the room is, ‘You’re not in trouble. I know this is uncomfortable. Let me explain why I'm here.’ And usually, you can see them let their guard down,” said Allen.
“We mediate without judgment. When the kids start talking, you can understand what is happening and why they are having problems. Through the mediation process, we can get them to recognize what's going on so they can figure out how to handle it better in the future,” said Sholler.
“And, it’s voluntary. I’ll say, if you're not comfortable with how things are going, we'll stop. And that nothing that's said in this room is shared with the administration unless we reach an agreement and you agree to let them know,” said Bergs.
As the program became more well-known, referrals for the DRC mediation services increased.
“We didn’t have the resources to meet the need. Since we aren’t set up to receive charitable contributions, we were desperately looking for grants to bring on more mediation services,” said Allen.
The DRC learned that the City of Pittsfield was making grants available to non-profit organizations using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. These grants were intended for community groups to help Pittsfield residents recover from the pandemic and its aftereffects.
The city awarded a grant of $240,000 in ARPA funds to the Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority to expand dispute resolution services in the schools.
“Besides mediation, we offer conflict coaching, a one-on-one approach to help kids handle conflict, and restorative circle work, which helps prevent conflict. For example, I’ve done circle work with a group of girls to talk about what it’s like being a girl at this age with all the changes going on,” said Allen.
Social media also accelerates potential conflicts in the schools.
“Before social media, maybe you'd see someone and say something that upset them. Time then goes by before you see them again. You're able to get back to a baseline. But, with social media, things happen so fast, and it goes from 0 to 100. That's a tough thing for kids to navigate,” said Allen.
“During the pandemic, students started relying on social media as their primary form of communication. Some eighth graders had never met their classmates face-to-face. And I think it's easier not to like someone you don't know. I would see these people having these intractable issues, and they didn't even know why,” said Allen.
“Social media was a problem before COVID. It just became more intense during COVID,” said Sholler.
“And it isn’t just social media and messaging. I would have mediations because two or three students would fight on a Google doc. They would type things back and forth because they could not have that conversation face-to-face,” Allen added.
The mediation process is working.
“I'm proud of how open and honest the participants are, especially the students. When they leave mediation, I see them communicating more effectively. That is what I love about mediation. It is my passion. It is what I will do for the rest of my life,” said Allen.
The ARPA funding allows BCRHA to handle more cases, and they are looking to expand into other Pittsfield schools. Offering a service to individuals that provides the skills to communicate and navigate conflict became crucial for positive youth development this year. It will be an important tool for the entire school community for the foreseeable future.
“More than the money is everything that comes with it. The city has been so helpful and supportive of our program. We appreciate it. We’ve learned so much from the quarterly meetings, and the networking has been extremely helpful,” said Allen.
“Connections, connections, connections. And we're collaborating with other organizations. I love it,” said Bergs.
This story is part of a series profiling the community organizations that received ARPA funds from the City of Pittsfield authored by Roger Matus.