FAQs for Volunteer Lawyers and Others

What Is Involved In Becoming A L.A.S.E.R. Volunteer?

As a L.A.S.E.R. volunteer, you agree to spend two years helping with a school’s peer mediation program. First, you attend twelve hours of L.A.S.E.R. Project training. This training is free and has been approved for CLE credit. You then join a team of one to four L.A.S.E.R. volunteer lawyers assigned to a particular school. Each school would also assign two or more school personnel--usually a counselor and a vice principal--to your team.

WHAT IS PEER MEDIATION?

Peer mediation, in its major elements, is identical to the mediation process used by adults. Trained student mediators help other students resolve their own disputes peacefully by helping them identify issues and negotiate. It is a voluntary process in which the disputants take responsibility for both the process and the solution. An effective peer mediation program can reduce school violence, disciplinary referrals, and dropout rates.

Students find these mediation skills useful throughout their lives. Collaboration, active listening, empathy, and interest-based negotiating are among the skills developed through participation in peer mediation.

DO I GET TO CHOOSE THE SCHOOL I WORK WITH?

Each L.A.S.E.R. Project volunteer is surveyed regarding their interests in particular schools or geographic areas. We do our best to match you with a school that meets your needs and interests. When assembling a team, we take into account the school’s needs as well as the volunteers’ preferences. Since this is a volunteer program, any assignment must be with your consent. In some circumstances, we may need to limit our training opportunities to volunteers able to commit to a school from a specific list.

We are also happy to have volunteers make the initial contact with potential new L.A.S.E.R. schools. If you do this, please consult with the L.A.S.E.R. Project coordinator and include her in your planning process with that school.

WHAT IS MY TIME COMMITMENT?

As with other school-related activities, L.A.S.E.R. Project work is seasonal: more intense near the beginning and ending of the school year, and very slow over the summer. We find that it averages out to a few hours per month.

As a L.A.S.E.R. volunteer, you can expect: (a) to participate in planning meetings; (b) to help educate the school community about the program; (c) to train student mediators; and (d) to conduct followup trainings. Some L.A.S.E.R. Project activities will, of necessity, occur during the day; others will be scheduled for evenings and weekends. As a member of a L.A.S.E.R. team, you will have input on the scheduling of your school’s L.A.S.E.R. activities. Since this is a volunteer program, L.A.S.E.R. Project activities are scheduled for the mutual convenience of the school and the volunteers.

On your mark: PLANNING MEETINGS

Your L.A.S.E.R. team will need to meet a few times—usually at the beginning and ending of the school year—to schedule meetings and trainings, and to plan program activities.

Get set: EDUCATING THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY

It is vital to the success of a peer mediation program that staff, faculty, students, and parents understand and support it. Your L.A.S.E.R. team can expect to help educate the school community about the program.

Here are some typical formats for such presentations: one team spent most of a day in June making short presentations to classes that explained the mediation process and helped prepare students for the program kickoff the next year. Another team made a short presentation to the Student Council near the end of the school year, and then made a 3-hour presentation to the faculty a few days before school started in the fall. Your team might also make a presentation at a PTSA meeting, or to the parents of the student mediators. You might also help devise and implement a publicity campaign for the program. One school gave a prize for the best student-designed poster publicizing the peer mediation program.

The number and type of presentations will vary from school to school. This is an important part of setting up a peer mediation program, and we encourage you to be active, creative, and collaborative. However, these activities sometimes occur during work hours, and we also want you to be very clear with your team members about your ability to participate.

Go: TRAINING STUDENT MEDIATORS

The two-day volunteer training that we provide to you focuses on the curriculum for training student mediators. This training prepares you, with your other team members, to teach twelve hours of training for new student mediators annually. (Though this training for student mediators seems in some ways to be the crux of your work as a L.A.S.E.R. volunteer, you may find over time that this training is but one component of your work with L.A.S.E.R..) Your team may want to meet more than once to prepare for the training, and should plan to meet afterwards to debrief.

This twelve-hour training is scheduled at the mutual convenience of the school and the L.A.S.E.R. volunteers. The training might be at a site other than the school. The training can take place either during or outside of school hours. It is often best taught in a single weekend retreat. Some schools may choose to stretch the training out over two or more weekends or several weekdays.

Keep it going: FOLLOWUP

Your team will, with your school staff, create a schedule of followup sessions for additional training, mentoring, and debriefing student mediators. These should be no less frequent than monthly and probably will involve only one or two volunteer lawyers at each session. Scheduling followup sessions can sometimes be overlooked in the excitement of planning the initial training, so be sure to get them in the calendar as soon as possible.

Followup sessions should be tailored to the students' needs. Students who haven't conducted many mediations may need to refresh their skills; those who have been doing mediations may need to debrief and discuss specific cases. You can also conduct advanced training, for instance on group mediations, or on cultural diversity issues in mediation (We can provide curriculum.).

Since this doesn't involve the whole team at once, your individual commitment to do this portion may involve only one or two hours every month or so, plus preparation time. These followup sessions can occur either during school hours or at the end of the school day.

THE L.A.S.E.R. TEAM LIAISON

Your L.A.S.E.R. team will designate one member to be its principal liaison to both the L.A.S.E.R. Project and the school. This liaison has somewhat more responsibility than the rest of the team, mostly because he or she makes sure everybody is in touch and aware of the schedule. We invite our liaisons to our board and planning committee meetings, and ask them for brief updates on their schools every few months.

Each L.A.S.E.R. team is free to organize itself and divide responsibilities as it sees fit. However, the liaison and team members should take special care to make sure that communication both within the team and with the school works well, that adequate time is allocated for preparation and followup, and that the team has continuity with the school from one year to the next.

SCHOOL CULTURES VARY

Your team will need to tailor its activities to the needs of your particular school. Some schools have already started a peer mediation program that now seeks your support. In a school with an existing program, you may not need to do much to educate the school community. However, you may need to adapt to their existing curriculum materials and work with their on-staff trainers.

In other schools, only one or two staff members may know what peer mediation is. In those schools, educating a critical mass of the school community will be essential to the success of the program. Choosing and training student mediators may need to wait until that education is well under way. Consult with your school to determine what approach will best suit their needs.

SO WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?

To summarize, an individual volunteer lawyer's basic time commitment is as follows: two days to be trained by the L.A.S.E.R. Project ; a few planning meetings; some presentations to the school community; twelve hours of training student mediators; and several followup sessions throughout the school year. You agree to do this through two school year terms.

WHAT IF I WANT TO DO MORE?

The paragraph above describes the basics of your commitment as a L.A.S.E.R. volunteer. We don't set a ceiling. We do want our volunteers to know their own limits and to communicate them clearly. However, any volunteer motivated to do more than this is cheerfully encouraged.

Additional activities could include:

· Planning recognition events for student mediators;

· Teaching mediation, negotiation, and dispute resolution as part of a school's curriculum;

· Assisting with other implementation tasks, such as needs assessment, program evaluation, and identifying potential student mediators;

· Participating in other kinds of law-related education (Street Law curriculum, mock trials, courthouse tours, etc.);

· Fundraising and seeking corporate sponsors for a school's peer mediation program;

· Whatever other activities you, your school, and your team agree on.

If you’re interested in these additional activities, talk to your team members, the L.A.S.E.R. Project coordinator, and your school staff about how to start.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I CAN’T COMPLETE MY TWO-YEAR COMMITMENT?

We know that our L.A.S.E.R. Project volunteer lawyers are generous and caring people. We want to keep them that way and help them avoid volunteer burnout. The L.A.S.E.R. Project encourages you to be clear with yourself and with us about your schedule and your ability to commit.

We strongly encourage our volunteers to stay with their teams for the full two years if at all possible. However, we also know that one’s life can change dramatically in two years, and that sometimes one must reevaluate one’s volunteer work. If you must reconsider your commitment to the L.A.S.E.R. Project, we ask that you discuss it with us beforehand, and give us time to find your replacement.

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF TWO YEARS?

At the end of your initial two-year commitment, you are of course free to continue as a L.A.S.E.R. volunteer. If you choose to continue, you can either sign up for an additional two-year term with your current school or choose a different school. If you choose to leave us, we trust you to continue to spread the good word about peer mediation and the L.A.S.E.R. Project.

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT MEDIATION?

Additional training in mediation and alternative dispute resolution is available from many sources, including the WSBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Section and your nearest community-based Dispute Resolution Center. The L.A.S.E.R. Project also has bibliographies, as well as some materials to lend, about mediation both for children and adults. We encourage you to learn all you can about this exciting field.

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