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It’s not about ping pong: Restorative practices come to Malden

Sometimes the best way to tackle a problem is to come at it in a whole new way.  The city is taking a unique approach to conflict at the Malden Senior Community Center by employing “restorative practices,” an outgrowth of restorative justice, using talking circles and trained facilitators to get at the root of an issue and repair relationships. Tensions at the Senior Center came to a head at a meeting on November 10 around the issue of the movement of a ping pong table from the more public and open space in the auditorium to a smaller room on the second level. Ping pong is a passionate pastime in the Chinese community and the Chinese players were upset about the move. But the heated debate and expression of emotion on both sides of the issue revealed tensions and conflicts that went deeper than the topic at hand. Karen Colon Hayes, community outreach coordinator at the mayor’s office had the idea to call upon Candace Julyan, a restorative justice practitioner who has been running a […]