Old Lyme - Lyme-Old Lyme High School is implementing a new avenue to resolve interpersonal conflicts and address mean-spirited behavior between students.

A program of educational interventions at the high school called "Restorative Practices" encourages students to reflect on their behavior and build skills to intervene when another student is being treated unfairly.

"It helps to repair relationships, build community and teach social skills of empathy and communication," Michelle Dean, the high school's assistant principal, said at Wednesday's school board meeting.

Under the approach, students involved in conflicts reflect on the situation before a "Restorative Practice Board." The panel, comprised of Dean and four teachers, can be used for first-time offenses related to bullying, harassment or other mean-spirited behaviors, which may arise face-to-face, on social media or through text messages.

For a disciplinary intervention, Dean will first discuss the concerns with the student and parent. The student will sign a contract to participate and write a reflective response. A student also may write a letter to the other student affected by the behavior, or complete personalized assignments to help learn from the experience.

Students engaging in mean-spirited behavior, for example, may watch videos on an anti-bullying website and write a reflection on ways to intervene on someone else's behalf, Dean said.

The student then will discuss his or her response with the panel.

"There is a very open discussion about what has been learned during the process," Dean wrote in an email interview. "It is a very supportive response developed to ensure that the student is walking away with more skills and support, not a label."

She said that in all of the 16 cases heard by the board since the program began in May, parents reported that the process was supportive. In 10 out of 16 cases, anecdotal evidence showed the participating student later supported another student being treated unfairly by a peer. Only one of the 16 students later returned to Dean's office for an issue.

The school still will use detentions and suspensions, but is also incorporating proactive initiatives that include anti-bullying workshops and the Restorative Practice Board, she said. Students can opt out of the board - and instead have detention or an in-school suspension. One student has opted out of the process so far.

Many incidents before the board would not qualify as "bullying," but involve students who have "mismanaged" communications or their frustrations, Dean explained.

She said an increase last September to April in investigations into bullying at the high school - though not all the incidents were determined to be bullying - prompted her to seek more proactive ways to resolve interpersonal conflicts.

She said there are often assumptions that high school students should know how to manage conflict, since they can distinguish right from wrong, but she pointed out that they "are navigating complex interpersonal relationships in an ever-changing social landscape."

Educational interventions, rather than punitive measures, can often be the best way to address interpersonal conflicts and frustrations, as students face many different social challenges for the first time, she said.

Dean - who adapted the program from practices and research based on the Restorative Justice theory - said she hasn't yet found another Connecticut school using restorative practices, and hopes the district will be a leader on proactive and educational interventions for mean-spirited or bullying behaviors.

k.drelich@theday.com

Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich