Family Council/Elephant meeting is when families and teachers identify problems and conflicts and find a way to fix them non-violently. We have many other meetings for other things like revolutionary construction.
I've been in many family councils and seen many and it has changed my personality, but this one is about some different individuals.
One day me and my brothers were just chilling talking, but some conflict happened between two girls. They were talking about some boys and a certain name came up. So Girl 1* started trash talking and Girl 2 didn't, then got offended and said something back. Girl 1 swung on Girl 2 and then they started fighting,
We were surprised, it broke out fast. Girl 2 grabbed the broom and tried to hit Girl 1 with it and they were both throwing hands. Me and the other kids were hiding in a big container because the fight got so big. Amir tried to break it up but he got punched in the face. As the fight escalated adults came.
We had our Family Council. First we read the rules of respect, and there was a lot of yelling going on but we fixed the situation and Girl 1 and Girl 2 both took ownership.
Being at DeeColonize we have a lot of family councils, it’s normal at DeeColonize. Family councils are the only way we can solve issues without calling the police. And having these meetings carves you different and makes you think about things unlike your old self. That way you say oh, maybe I should not do that.
We love each other at the end and there are no hard feelings. To be honest I like our system because we do no violence and talk it out without harming each other and at the end we pray as a happy big family. I am blessed to be in the school system like this because we are different. Normally there will be cops when a situation is escalated and one of the children will be harmed by the police or arrested. But we just talk.
*Specifics and personal information such as names are confidential in all family council circles at Poor Magazine/Homefulness