What's Happening 09.27.11

'Zero Tolerance' of bullies? Hungary's schools offer an alternative...

Ken Kimsey- As school boards, state and local governments draft legislation to respond to increased reports of bullying, the term “zero tolerance” often comes up. When New Jersey recently implemented its sweeping “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights,” the “zero tolerance” formula appeared in several news reports.

I posed a question to a restorative justice discussion group on LinkedIn.com, asking if a zero tolerance approach is the wisest choice for conflict management. Not surprisingly, the RJ practitioners and volunteers who responded were unanimous: No, it is not the wisest approach.

One member, writing from London, England, pointed me to a video -- Intertwined...

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Body Language of International Negotiations

Jeff Thompson- I came across the following article recently which explored the use of body language in a laboratory setting of Chinese and Canadian participants.

The authors, Zhaleh Semnani-Azad (University of Waterloo) and Wendi L. Adair (University of Waterloo), coded six categories of behavior: posture, head movement, hand movement, eye gaze, facial expression, and how often the participant fell silent or kept talking.

Mediation can be stressful. When Carol Terzo and her three partners opened The Mediation Option at 9302 N. Meridian St. in January, they wanted the mediation rooms to feel like home.

"We have people who come in, take off their shoes and curl up on the couch," Terzo said.

Some rooms have kitchen tables. Others have couches with pillows, coffee tables and lounge chairs. Each is stocked with chocolate candies, salty snacks and drinks.

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