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Restorative Practices

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Community Starts at Home: Ways to Use Restorative Practices with Our Own Families

Jason Larsen, Lake Orion Community Schools Administrator and District Restorative Practices Coordinator

 

Restorative Practices, the process for building community, repairing harm, and restoring relationships, is a way Lake Orion Community Schools enhances relationships, addresses conflict, and “makes things right” when the unexpected happens.

In our current world – with all the uncertainty, conflicting news reports, palpable uneasiness, and routine/social disconnections, Restorative Practices can be a real difference-maker in our collective and personal handling of our current situations.

We know the routines of our work, personal, and family lives have been changed drastically and we are already adjusting to these events.

However, one of the first places we can feel the impact of Restorative Practices is in our own homes.

As parents and families, we are discovering a new normal for daily routines and Restorative Practices can be a part of the game plan in managing relationships and handling conflict when it comes up in the family.

Main ideas of Restorative Practices

Honest Expression

Restorative Questions 1

(To respond to challenging behavior)

  • What happened?
  • What were you thinking at that time?
  • What have you thought about since?
  • Who has been affected by what you have done?
  • What do you think you need to do to make things right?

Restorative Questions 2

(To help those harmed by others' actions)

  • What did you think when you realized what had happened?
  • What impact has this incident had on you and others?
  • What has been the hardest thing for you?
  • What do you think needs to happen to make things right?