Deline (Oct 25/04) - A Sahtu school principal is using the traditional healing circle as a way to resolve conflicts among classmates.

Victor Dikaitis, principal of the Ehtseo Ayha school in Deline, says there is a definite purpose in forming the healing circle to stop negative behaviour.

"When you have conflict developing between students at the same grade level or in the same class and the conflict appears to be accelerating rather than decelerating, it could lead to interference in the learning process," Dikaitis said.

Conflict could come in the form of subliminal badgering, name calling or angry letters, he explained.

"Before I'm taking disciplinary action, which invariably would lead to some form of suspension, I thought it would be best to bring the families and the students together in a neutral environment and have elders talk about the importance of self-respect and entitlement to one's own private space," Dikaitis said.

During the first healing circle at the school, he said five or six sets of parents were brought in with their children.

"In this instance it was male versus female. The whole focus is not on pointing fingers but trying to address what caused the problem.

"We are all capable of making mistakes, we are all vulnerable, we all live in glass houses."

Therefore, rather than dwell on mistakes from the past, Dikaitis said students will learn from those mistakes and learn to appreciate and respect each other.

The presence of the elders at the healing circle emphasized to the students the importance and tradition of respect within their culture, he said.

One parent who attended the first healing circle, but who wished to remain anonymous, said the experience was very beneficial.

"Students tease each other and it is stressful for the parents. But they made the choice to tease and they should take responsibility," the parent said.

"As parents, we can't blame other parents because we take the responsibility away from them (the students)."

Dikaitis said he hopes to have a healing circle every three weeks at the school.

"Every time you are dealing with inappropriate actions of students, it should be looked upon as a learning experience," he said.

"It's a form of restorative justice. I'm hoping we can all learn from it.

"(The problems stem from) a spontaneous anger that seems to be inherent in the growing adolescence.

"It's a pervasive problem in our schools."