Have you ever heard of the term Restorative Justice around our school?  Most students have absolutely no idea what it is, and I was one of them until about a month ago.

“Restorative justice is the paradigm shift to discipline; It’s an alternative approach to dealing with discipline, helping  students acknowledge the wrong that they do,” said Ms. Walker, Venice’s Restorative Justice advisor.

The program takes the students through a process to discuss the issue that they are having and help bring it to a resolution.  Ms. Walker has been at Venice High School for two years now. Her first year she was getting to know the school and developing basic relationships with students. This year she has been trying to do more work with teachers. She finds it a challenge because she can only work with the teachers who allow her to do community building activities in their classrooms.

Asiah Castile,  a 10th grader, said she went to see Ms. Walker because she needed to talk to someone that she could trust. Castile found that Ms. Walker was helpful and it made her feel phlegmatic about school after her experience.

“Restorative Justice helped me feel more confident with my school work and kept me on top of my grades,” Castile said. Another student, Ashton Broughten, also a 10th grader, used the service after he said that Ms. Walker came into his class one day and began talking about Restorative Justice.

“Restorative Justice has helped me learn to block out nonsense and stay focused,” he said. “It also helped me to not acknowledge ignorance and foolishness”

If students ever need help or just want to talk about some issues with someone that they can trust, they should stop by Ms. Walker’s office in the Dean’s office. She said she will be more than happy to help students out.