At The Open School, we are all about treating children like adults—allowing them to make choices and granting them a high degree of responsibility. We are also a democracy, meaning power is distributed among everyone, including students.
How does this translate to our justice system?
The term “justice system” itself may sound strange in a school context. Normally in schools, adults simply pass judgment on students. This is not much of a system, and often is not much of justice (in the sense of fairness).
According to The Open School’s values, we wanted our justice system to accomplish the following:
- It should give the accused a fair hearing
- It should be democratic; that is, it should put students (as well as staff) in the position to make decisions
- Judgments should be based on agreed-upon community standards, rather than on the judge’s personal opinion
- The process should facilitate communication and empathy between all parties
- Outcomes should be restorative; that is, they should aim to make offenders, victims, and the community whole again, rather than simply punishing
The Process
Complaint Forms. It starts with a complaint form. There is a stack of blank complaint forms in the hallway, and anyone can write a complaint for any reason. Young children who don’t know how to write will get help from an older person. Anyone can be “written up”—even staff members.
Civics Board. Every morning, a group of students and one staff member get together to review the complaints. Mostly these students are teenagers who volunteered to serve, but there is always at least one student chosen randomly from the school (so everyone gets a chance to experience serving).
Investigation. Everyone involved in the incident is called to the meeting, including the complainant, the accused, and any witnesses. Everyone is asked to share what happened from their perspective. At this stage we are just stating what happened without judgment.
Boundaries Crossed. Civics Board discusses and makes a judgment about which boundaries, if any, have been crossed. The boundaries are written in the school’s Law Book, and they were all created (and are updated regularly) by School Meeting, which consists of all students and staff. So these are boundaries that everyone knows about, and Civics Board is simply enforcing them.
Discussion of Impact. Any victims are invited to share with the offender what problems were caused by their behavior. The idea is that if the offender understands the damage they’ve done, they will naturally want to avoid doing it again, because they have empathy. The discussion is a facilitation of communication, understanding, and compassion. It may (or may not) end with the offender voluntarily apologizing or offering to make it up somehow.
Charges. Most of the time, at this point, the complainant feels satisfied and the process ends. However, sometimes the complainant does not feel satisfied, either because the offender does not seem to be taking the issue seriously, or the behavior has already been repeated several times with no improvement. In that case, the complainant may “press charges,” which moves the process into the next phase.
Plea. The offender is asked whether they agree or disagree that they crossed the boundary. This is an opportunity for them to admit that they did something they shouldn’t have. It is also an opportunity for them to protest the charge—rarely, Civics Board makes an error in judgment, and if the offender feels that this has happened, we send the case to trial, where the case is re-evaluated more carefully by a larger group of people.
Resolution Plan. If the offender agrees that they crossed the boundary, Civics Board creates a resolution plan. The goal of the resolution plan is to restore any harm done, facilitate the offender’s growth, and/or to protect the victim from further harm. The means by which these goals are achieved is up to Civics Board’s judgment and can vary. Some common example resolution plans are given below.
Sample Boundaries
Mess. Everyone is expected to clean up after themselves. Unsurprisingly, this is the most commonly crossed boundary. Typically staff members will write up students in an effort to drive them to adopt tidier habits.
Rough Play. Students are allowed to play rough—wrestling, pillow fights, etc.—as long as it’s consensual and doesn’t get out of hand. But sometimes students play too rough and this lands them in Civics Board.
Stop Rule. The Stop Rule says that if someone tells you to stop, you have to stop. This way if someone is chasing you and you don’t want to play chase anymore, you can make them stop. Children love using this rule (but sometimes they are slow to accept it when it’s used on them).
Profanity. Swear words are not allowed at The Open School. We have a more relaxed attitude about this than most schools, but if your language is loud enough and/or frequent enough to make someone bothered about it, they may decide to write you up.
Harassment. If someone is intentionally and repeatedly bothering or offending another person, this is defined as harassment. The right to be free from harassment is one of the most fundamental rights people have at The Open School.
Public Relations. Students at The Open School aren’t required to be on their best behavior all the time, but they are expected to be on their best behavior when they are representing the school to outsiders. This includes while we are on a field trip or while there is a guest in their presence. If someone is rude to a guest or violates the established rules at a store, museum, etc., we take this offense seriously.
Sample Resolution Plans
Chores. A student may be assigned to do chores if they have left a mess that someone else ended up having to clean. This is a way of restoring the harm done, and also helps the student build the habit of cleaning up.
An extra boundary. For example, a student who repeatedly got in trouble for shooting people with a Nerf gun without consent was told he could not use Nerf guns for a while. Another student who continually screamed while playing a video game (disturbing the people around him) was told he could not play video games for a while. The idea is that the standard boundary (don’t shoot people without consent; don’t scream indoors) is difficult for them to follow, but the new boundary is easier. In addition, the deprivation will motivate them to be more conscientious once the restriction is removed.
Add to the swear jar. A student who swears indiscriminately may be required to pay a quarter every time someone catches them swearing. The hope is that they will pay more attention to their language when their wallet is on the line.
Family conference. Reserved for more serious situations or repeated behaviors, a family conference is a conversation between the student, parents, and a staff member. This has the effect of making the situation feel more serious to the student so they will try harder to improve. It also provides an opportunity for the parents to give ideas which may help the student and/or the school to handle the situation in a more effective way.
Reflection Period. A Reflection Period, which is one or more days when the student is barred from coming to school, is used in very serious situations. In this case, the community is willing to give the student another chance, but demands a major effort on the student’s part to change their habits. The time at home encourages the student to “reflect” on what happened and strategize with their parents about how they will meet the community’s standards.
