Restorative justice is a way of thinking about justice that emphasizes community over punishment. In school settings, restorative justice takes the form of mediation and discussion programs that are meant to replace traditional, one-directional discipline. Rather than suspending or expelling students for their behavior, restorative programs give students a chance to talk through their issues and find ways to solve them. These programs build problem solving abilities and strengthen the school community by urging students to work together instead of against each other.
To help us refine our definition of restorative justice, we turned to Humanities Preparatory Academy, a New York City high school home to many F&C students and to a unique restorative justice program called Fairness. In this short clip, Robert Michelin, Assistant Principal at Humanities Prep, answers the question "What is restorative justice?"