ABSTRACT
Pilots of conferencing in schools have also highlighted inconsistencies in decision-making based largely on differences in beliefs, attitudes, stereotyping and our own emotional responses to individual students, their parents and the nature of the incident. Some of the reasons schools have used a punitive approach in preference to a restorative approach include not enough time, the wrongdoer will not respond positively to a conference and the family of the wrongdoer is dysfunctional. A common trap in deciding not to go ahead with a conference is often a subconscious thought that the young person does not "deserve" a conference, based on his or her attitude, or a history of previous misconduct. These young people are those who are most in need of the opportunity to redeem themselves and to make some serious decisions about the direction their life is taking.
