Turning Point Partners of Louisiana

The Restorative Discipline and Resilience Education Initiatives are Turning Point Partners’ proactive response to meet the needs of youth who have yet to be entangled in the judicial web. Once enmeshed in the justice system, the obstacles confronting youth as they attempt to become productive citizens are exacerbated. Restorative Discipline in schools is a natural outgrowth of Turning Point’s activity in Restorative Justice. It provides educational institutions with a process by which they can foster care and respect while providing opportunities to allow for differences to be worked through constructively. Restorative Discipline ­ addresses bullying and other forms of violence in a growing number of schools across the country. Students in a restorative environment learn that taking responsibility and being accountable for their behaviors lead to resolutions that are nonviolent and long lasting.

Restorative Discipline enhanced by Resilience Education explores the way in which resilience can be fostered by school personnel to build upon the gifts of the youth, even those masked behind disruptive behaviors, to reframe those strengths develop social competencies and ensure a successful future. Systemic change demands that educational institutions shift from traditional disciplinary methods of suspension and expulsion to affirmation of student strengths and restoration of harmed relationships.