Peace Circles

Restorative Justice has been around for about 20 years now. It's slowly gaining a foothold in court systems and schools around the world: It is part, I'm certain, of an invisible wave of change that is transforming the planet.

For all our material progress, for all our ability to dominate just about anything or anyone we encounter -- this is our history, our manifest destiny -- things are falling apart in every sector of society.

Derrion Albert's death is just another symptom of a city, a nation and a world at perpetual war with itself. It's merely one in a series of tragedies that we are numb to or never hear about.

What struck me about these teachers was their commitment to a loving, caring, peace-building process -- in the face not simply of difficult students but the forces of cynicism and burnout.