Whatchu Know About RJ | “Restorative Justice work extends beyond the school.” In our training, CCEJ complicates individual views of trauma by acknowledging the historical roots of trauma in white supremacy, colonization, capitalism, cisheteropatriarchy. Having this deeper view of trauma is especially important for bringing Restorative Justice practices “home” to families of all kinds, a challenging process we get insights on from CCEJ’s Training Specialist, Mayra Serna.

We begin this special two-part conversation by examining the power of storytelling within families to name, understand, and begin to heal trauma. Taking three generations of our own families as examples, we explore how systems of power have impacted their values and choices around disciplinary and resilience practices. We do discuss discipline methods within our families, please be advised regarding your own experiences and activations regarding such experiences. We close this first part by inviting listeners to explore their own family narratives through a series of questions to use in their own families.

In part two of this series, we examine discipline and school by discussing various trauma and stress responses from school discipline practices, as well as historic uses of such practices. We also examine what questions Restorative Justice asks in connection to discipline. Mayra shares promising practices that incorporate parents and caregivers as leaders and contributors to school culture. Mayra discusses what a powerful support Restorative Justice can be for parent and caregiver communities, and how parents and caregivers are important to the successful implementation of Restorative Justice in schools.