This is not a theoretical list of the virtues we spend a lifetime hoping to achieve. This is what fifth graders at an urban elementary school told a lawyer they had actually learned from their participation in Project PEACE. What is Project PEACE and why are kids who are not in trouble talking to a lawyer?

Project PEACE (Peaceful Endings through Attorneys, Children, and Educators) is the peer mediation program co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. The program teaches students to mediate conflicts involving other students. Since its inception in Pennsylvania in 1999, more than 100 elementary schools throughout the Commonwealth have participated in Project PEACE. Lawyers work with schools through Project PEACE to bring conflict resolution training and peer mediation education to the young people of the Commonwealth. Many Project PEACE attorneys spend considerable time in schools working with and listening to young people as they help schools implement the program.

When teachers, administrators, and parents first observe the results of this program, they are amazed at the ease with which students, who are just reaching double-digit ages, diffuse and resolve conflicts. But conflict management skills are not all they learn. Students in Project PEACE also gain a profound understanding of life—they discover truths that many adults have forgotten.

One of the primary benefits of Project PEACE is that it teaches students that conflict is an inevitable part of life that they should not fear. Through their experience, students see how conflict can create opportunities for growth and development. As a fifth grader told his school’s attorney partner, “It’s good to be in conflict because it helps you learn to solve problems. ”This attitude is borne out by an independent evaluation of the Project PEACE model issued in March, 2001. The report found that Project PEACE students feel confident in their ability to handle conflict. How many adults do you know who wish they felt that way?

Teachers will tell you that in the field of education, trends come and go every two or three years. Someone is always promoting the latest and greatest. Measured by that yardstick, Project PEACE, at five years of age in Pennsylvania, has survived a couple of lifetimes. Why? Perhaps it is the program’s emphasis on self-determination in resolving conflict. That connects with youth who clamor for greater independence. Students learn that with greater independence comes greater commitment and responsibility.

In a world where violence and disruptive behaviors have become increasingly common, Project PEACE promotes civility and tranquility. The March, 2001 report found that teachers perceived less verbal harassment, physical harassment, and uncooperative behavior among their students after those students had participated in Project PEACE. The report also found that students who participated in Project PEACE were able to resolve more problems themselves or through other student intervention. That, in turn, enabled teachers to devote more of their time and energy to teaching rather than disciplining.

This does not mean that Project PEACE is a substitute for discipline. Nothing could be further from the truth. Peer mediation does not replace discipline—it enhances it. Students involved in the program learn firsthand that there are consequences for their behavior and that they must accept responsibility for those consequences. When discipline is doled out, they understand why and accept it. Project PEACE proves that in the shadows of the rebellious, irresponsible youth of The Lord of the Flies, there is a resourceful, compassionate individual who is willing to take ownership for his or her actions.

Lynette Lazarus, a nurse and the Project PEACE coordinator at Sharswood Elementary School in Philadelphia since the program began, has seen “incredible personal growth” in students after they complete peer mediation training. Her students exhibit more self-confidence and pride, as well as a greater awareness of how conflicts are created and how they are resolved. According to Lynette, we should never underestimate the ability of children to deal effectively with the fundamental challenges of life. The key, she says, is to establish high expectations for the children. They can accomplish far more than we think.

Before students are ever exposed to the techniques used in Project PEACE, an adult team representing the school is formed. The purpose of this team is to establish the groundwork for setting up a conflict resolution education and peer mediation program in the school. Training of team members provided by Project PEACE instructors, as well as review of materials from the nationally respected Community Boards Program, introduce team participants to the peer mediation process and to show them how to teach their students about conflict resolution.

All of the K-8 schools in the Philadelphia School District will participate in Project PEACE starting in the 2004-2005 school year. School District CEO Paul Vallas, Attorney General Jerry Pappert and PBA President (and Philadelphia School District parent) Mike Reed met at the start of the summer to discuss how to spread Project PEACE across the city schools. Vallas saw Project PEACE as an integral part of his overall plan for reducing violence in the schools and he asked Pappert and Reed to bring the program to every K-8 Philadelphia school.

The school’s team for Project PEACE consists of representatives from the administration, faculty, and parents, as well as an attorney volunteer. Although the school personnel assume the greatest responsibility for successfully implementing and maintaining the program, the attorney partner is what distinguishes Project PEACE from other educational innovations. Research in why kids and schools succeed, as well as research on school mediation programs, suggests that the partner from the outside community can have a significant impact in improving school climate. The attorney is the key partner from beyond the school community in Project PEACE. Project Peace provides members of the bar with a unique opportunity to nurture and guide the development of our most important resource: our children. The attorney’s example teaches students more than just how to resolve problems—it shows them how to conduct their daily activities in a constructive and productive way.

Lawyers wear many hats—advisor, advocate, scrivener, spokesperson—both at work and with Project PEACE. This versatility allows attorneys to serve the varying needs of participating schools. As a member of the Project PEACE team, the lawyer’s job is to fill the gaps the team sees in building its program. In Philadelphia Project PEACE, the attorney will join the school team when the team has surveyed its conflict issues and developed a draft plan for implementing peer mediation training and conflict resolution education. The lawyer partner then is paired with the school.

A Project PEACE lawyer can, for example, use her or his organizational skills to help set up the program and coordinate activities. He or she can help promote the program within the local community. If a lawyer can educate a jury about some esoteric, technical aspect of the law, lawyers also have the skills to help train faculty and students to use the Project PEACE dispute resolution process. Many lawyer volunteers have helped their schools find speakers for kickoff programs and other meetings or obtain proclamations from local and state elected officials recognizing Project PEACE. Above all else, lawyers can acknowledge the effort of the students and show enthusiastic support for the school effort. In an era when negative reinforcement flows freely, a little bit of spunk and praise goes a long way in lifting the spirits of students, faculty, and administrators.

Although Project PEACE asks its attorney volunteers for some of their time, energy, and knowledge, it does not look to its lawyer partners for financial support. Many Project PEACE schools seek funds and in-kind contributions (such as pizzas, caps, T-shirts, banners) from civic-minded businesses and organizations. If an attorney is willing to help solicit that kind of support for Project PEACE, that is fine, but the lawyer is not expected to provide that financial support. The attorney’s other contributions have a greater value to the program.

Many lawyers involved in Project PEACE have noted that they learned more from the students than the students learned from them. One lawyer explained: “Sometimes the students remind us of simple truths we’ve taken for granted and forgotten. When I asked a fifth grader what he learned during his two years as a Conflict Mediator at one of the PEACE schools, he said, ‘To solve other people’s problems, you need to solve your own. ’ True enough, but how many of us regularly put that knowledge into practice?”