Amit Magazine Summer 2006.qxd

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EDUCATION
Club Med As students learn to mediate, they can help solve student-to-student conflicts in school.
Pictured (l-r): Ido Abergen, Yair Guzi, Uzi Neeman, Ran Hagbi, Erez Hason,
Rosh Yeshiva Houri, Snir Vadavker, Hen Benmukha, Uriel Manzur
violence to solve problems,” said Ido
Abergen, a 7 th grader at AMIT Berman,
“You can use words. We learned to
respond in a different way. Ora was a
good teacher.”
Bat-El Zafrani, an 11 th grader at
AMIT Beit Shemesh Ulpana High
School, raved about Gesher ha’Gishur.
“My powers of persuasion are much
better,” she said. “I can talk to people
untalented goalie, hurting the booted child’s feelings. The
matter might be resolved when the captain more clearly articulates
the reason for his decision, or he might agree to coach
the former goalie and help him improve his skills. After the
two sides reach an agreement, they sign a contract.
The mediation training by Hashachar has helped the Little
Sanhedrin members improve their ability to “relate to others
and understand people,” Orluz said.
It has also improved the morale of students throughout
AMIT Afikim B’Negev, and reduced the number of discipline
cases that must be handled by teachers. “From the start it
made them a bit more interested in their studies about the
ancient Sanhedrin,” Rabbi Avivi said. “But they were much
more effectively. I know now to start
with what is important to the listeners,
to help them advance in what they
want. Now the students come to me
more. It helped all of us become better
listeners and better leaders.”
Rachel Miriam Sprintzer is a native of Boston and
former resident of Manhattan. She now lives in
Jerusalem where she writes and edits for non-profit
organizations, including the Jewish Agency for Israel
and several religious seminaries and yeshivot.
Mediation is in keeping with the AMIT
Network’s emphasis on Beit Chinuch,
turning schools into centers of values
education. The educational staff and
students concentrate on achievement while
creating acceptable personal and group
behavioral norms. For more information
about furthering programs such as Gesher
ha’ Gishur, please contact the Development
Department at 1-800-989-AMIT,
212-477-4720, or visit our award-winning,
secure website at www.amitchildren.org.
more interested in the school. The students in the program
became more participatory and more responsible. The number
of violent incidents has gone down, though we’ll know
the real impact better in five or six years.”
There have been cases of students who dramatically
improved their behavior because the “reward” of being eligible
for the Sanhedrin was a tremendous motivation. “I had one boy
who always wanted to get in,” Rabbi Avivi remembers. “He was
a violent kid. He hit his classmates and the like. I told him that
if he behaves OK, I’ll get him in. We had to talk about what
‘O.K.’ means, with very specific ways to improve. It took him
several months, but finally, after three rotations of the Sanhedrin
members, he made it in. He was very good after that.”
AMIT Summer 2006 www.amitchildren.org