Mediation has become a very common practice for legal and social disputes of every shape and size. It provides for a wonderful alternative to lengthy and expensive court proceedings. It is also a great skill to begin developing in younger students that will aid them their entire life. Here are a few peer mediation activities that can be done with students.

In the first exercise, a neutral party may supply a simple dispute over something inconsequential, such as who gets to use the computer first. Separate the class into two groups and have them each devise an argument as to why they should get the computer first with the idea that they will soon have a debate over it. In the last moment, students should be chosen at random to describe why the children in the other group should get to use the computers before their own group using specific examples.

The final two exercises are quite similar and will require students to approach mediation neutrally and carefully. Three students must be chosen, a mediator and two opposite parties. The mediator will be told that one student is lying and one is telling the truth over a simple fabricated situation such as 'who stole the eraser'. The two students requiring the mediation will both be told that they in fact took the eraser, but should attempt to keep it a secret. The mediator will investigate and attempt to settle the dispute. The alternative is to tell both students to act as if they did not take the eraser and perform the exercise in an identical manner.

These peer mediation activities will develop difficult life skills which make mediation attorneys and professionals an invaluable component to social and civil disputes.