Teachers Get Lessons on Keeping Peace : Schools: Ventura High instructors are told racial tensions have played a role in increased violence on many campuses.

Hoping to put a stop to recent racial fights at Ventura High School, teachers at the school spent Friday learning how to help students appreciate racial and cultural diversity and to solve disputes peacefully.

The daylong workshop was led by Judith Rubenstein, a Santa Barbara-based specialist in conflict-resolution techniques. Rubenstein told the 60 teachers that problems at Ventura High are not unique.

“Almost every school in Southern California has experienced an increase in violence,” she said. “And it is at least partially attributable to a rise in racial tensions and the use of racial slurs.”

Rubenstein urged teachers to get involved in settling disputes on campus. To be effective, she suggested that an intervening teacher should stay cool and help teen-agers sort out why they are angry.

If the teacher adopts that posture, she said, the instructor will be seen as a neutral third party and can often help the two sides work out a mutually agreeable resolution.

She said the next step is to train a corps of Ventura High students to mediate conflicts among classmates. About 30 students are scheduled for such mediation training next month.

The benefits of mediation are many, Rubenstein said. Schools that have started such programs report declines in their suspension rate, she said. A handful of Ventura middle and elementary schools started student-mediation programs earlier this school year and they have been largely successful, officials said.

At Ventura’s Anacapa Middle School, officials credit student mediators with dramatically reducing the number of fights this school year, leading to an 80% decline in suspensions.

After seeing those results, district administrators decided to bring the program to Ventura High School. The district hopes to eventually train student mediators at all Ventura’s schools, Supt. Joseph Spirito said.

After the morning session, the teachers broke into groups of 10 and talked about various ways they can intervene when disputes erupt in their classrooms. In one group session, counselor Bill Tice said teachers should make a point of telling students that teachers are offended when they hear a racial slur.

Some teachers suggested that repeat offenders could be referred for cultural-diversity training and the curriculum should include more information on the contributions of minorities.

Charles Enterline, a biology teacher at Ventura High for 14 years, said it will be difficult for teachers to bring about any real change in students’ attitudes.

“We can deal with the incidents, but we can’t solve the problem of racism,” Enterline said. “You can’t change 15 to 18 years of indoctrination at home with a conflict-resolution meeting that lasts a half-hour,” he said.

Patricia Kochel, an English teacher, disagreed with Enterline. “You never know what kind of effect you’re going to have on someone,” she said.

Responded Enterline: “I’m not saying we shouldn’t try. We should. But we have to be realistic.”

Spirito sought Rubenstein’s help after conflicts between white and black students sparked clashes at two Ventura High basketball games earlier this year. Four teen-agers described by police as white supremacists were arrested during the confrontations. In those incidents, white students taunted the black students and made a threat to a black school guard, authorities said.

Assistant Principal Helena Torrez-Reaves said she will sort through all of the suggestions made by teachers and issue a report to the school’s multicultural committee in coming weeks. The school hopes to develop guidelines to help teachers mediate disputes.

At least one teacher was satisfied with the conference.

“I got a lot of things out of it,” Sue Andrews said. “I hope we can follow up on them.”