KIDS LEARN TECHNIQUE FOR PEACE PATROL PROGRAM EXPANDING TO END PLAYGROUND DISPUTES.

Byline: Amy Raisin  Staff Writer

SAUGUS - Checklist in hand, 9-year-old Hailey Rogerson spends recess and lunch solving problems at Mountainview Elementary as part of a character-building pilot program soon to grace all Saugus Union School District campuses.

Peace Patrol began two years ago with an eight-week training course that taught 25 young volunteers how to recognize, diffuse and settle peer disputes. Now the program is expanding.

``I learned to be calm, to tell the truth and to listen to what the other person has to say,'' said Hailey, soon to be a fifth-grader at Mountainview, who has helped keep peers on the playground and out of the principal's office.

Vice Principal Brook Reynolds said the pilot program is so successful that student office visits fell by half from the 1999-2000 school year to the following year.

The peace-keeping volunteers, who doubled their ranks to 50 this past year, must be in at least the fourth grade and are expected to be alert for disagreements on the playground, from handball game disputes to teasing and name calling.

``The (patrol) students have a checklist and when they find a conflict, they get the students to agree that they won't interrupt each other and that they will tell the truth,'' Reynolds said.

School district officials hope to implement the program, which Mountainview has run without funding, at its 12 other schools.

Hailey admits that some kids might not want to give up their coveted recess and lunch time to scout for problems, but says the skills she has learned from her year in the program have made the sacrifice worthwhile.

``I wanted to help the school and help other kids,'' she said. ``I have to make people promise to tell the truth and it usually takes about five minutes'' to solve the dispute.

Linda Rogerson, Hailey's mother, said she has witnessed her daughter's problem-solving techniques at home, where the 9-year-old is the third of four children.

``I noticed her overall behavior was better. She wasn't assuming things before she knew what the facts were,'' Rogerson said. ``This has opened her eyes and helps her grow as a young girl.

``This helps her realize that there are things going on all around her. It shows that the kids are growing up and taking responsibility for their actions. They're children, and they learn from their mistakes.''

Reynolds said students respond well to their peace-keeping peers, perhaps because they relate to people their own age, but also because children know that settling a dispute on the playground is more appealing than sitting in the office.