Welcome back to the Community Room! For Episode 7 of Season 2, we sit down with Safe School Specialist Noam Samet talk about restorative justice, how to maintain a safe, caring learning environment in a school and much more. We also touch on how Noam got into this line of work after graduating from SFU with a degree in Criminology, and how he uses his education to support students in his school.

RESOURCES:

Sautner, B. (2001). "The safe and caring schools initiative". Reclaiming Children and Youth, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 197–201.

"Expanding Prison: The Crisis in Crime and Punishment and the Search for Alternatives" by David Cayley
- https://www.amazon.ca/Expanding-Prison-Crisis-Punishment-Alternatives/dp/0887846033

QUOTE:

“Balanced and restorative justice is a new approach to juvenile crime that conceives of crime as an act that not only harms people but also violates relationships in a community. Thus, rather than a retributive approach, in which the state punishes an offender, restorative justice practices emphasize healing of the victim, the offender, and the community.” ― Christopher Peterson, Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification

BIO:

Noam realized that he wanted to work with youth at risk when he was in his early 20's as someone who went through the Alternate School stream. Noam's educational background is in Criminology, where his interests revolved around Drug Legislation, Youth in Conflict with the Law, and Restorative Justice. Noam has worked in the non-profit sector for a non-profit organization for 10 years before joining the school district and he feels this was helpful in bringing a different perspective to the school system.