|
How
do schools use peer support?
Peer partnering is
a scheme in which a pupil (often older) offers friendship
to a child who is vulnerable. This could be for example,
a child who is new to the school, one who speaks a foreign
language or one who has been bullied. A number of schools
in New Zealand use peer partnering to help third formers
settle into the school. In this case seventh formers are
carefully chosen to offer temporary (perhaps for a term)
companionship. The schools involved say it's a successful
way of helping children to feel comfortable in the school
and it helps counter anti-social behaviour such as bullying.
.........................................
Article details
K Sullivan (2000)
'The Anti-Bullying Handbook', Oxford and New Zealand: Oxford
University Press. For order details go
here.
.........................................
Author details
Dr Keith Sullivan
is based at the School
of Education at Victoria University of Wellington in
New Zealand. Over a number of years he has been involved
in anti-bullying research in New Zealand, Australia and
the UK.
Peer mentoring is
a scheme where a more socially skilled pupil offers friendship
and support to a child who is being bullied or who is bullying
others or is caught in the middle as bystander. More than
this the mentor will discuss general life and school issues
and also the specific issue of bullying, helping the pupil
to find a solution. This scheme, which is carefully monitored
(perhaps by a guidance teacher) should be valuable to both
parties. The pupil in difficulty should obtain support and
feel more positive, while the mentor (who receives training),
will be developing his/her social and problem solving skills.
.........................................
Article details
K Sullivan (2000)
'The Anti-Bullying Handbook', Oxford and New Zealand: Oxford
University Press. For order details go
here.
.........................................
Author details
Dr Keith Sullivan
is based at the School
of Education at Victoria University of Wellington in
New Zealand. Over a number of years he has been involved
in anti-bullying research in New Zealand, Australia and
the UK.
An Italian study looked
at the effect a befriending scheme had on bullying in 2
schools. In the scheme bullies and bystanders were encouraged
to take responsibility for their actions. It was found that
the befriending scheme did make a difference. The classes
taking part in the scheme reported that there had been no
increase in bullying, while classes not taking part reported
an increase. The indifference of bystanders is increasingly
seen as something which encourages bullying. This scheme
was found to make bystanders more responsible and less indifferent.
It was also found that children's feelings of sympathy for
the victim (which often decrease at this age) stayed the
same or increased.
.........................................
Article details
E Menesini, E Codecasa,
B Benelli and H Cowie (2001)'Enhancing Children's Responsibility
to take Action Against Bullying: evaluation of a befriending
intervention in Italian middle schools', article in 'Peer
Support Networker', Issue 16, Spring. Available from the
Peer
Support Network.
In 1998, children
and teachers from 51 schools in Britain (mainly England
but also Scotland and Wales) were asked about using peer
support to tackle bullying. The support schemes included:
mediation (helping discussion on school problems such as
bullying and racism), mentoring (where a pupil, often older,
was a positive role model for a more vulnerable pupil),
befriending and counselling. When asked about the benefits
of peer support, the most frequent answer of children and
teachers was that it gave users of the scheme strength to
handle their bullying problems. When asked about benefits
for peer supporters, the most common answers were acquiring
skills and showing that someone cares. Teachers and pupils
felt that the most common benefit for the school was showing
that it cares. The problems mentioned most often concerned
acceptance of the scheme by pupils and teachers and also
the negative attitudes of some teachers. However, the responses
showed that there was a commitment to solving problems and
improving the system.
.........................................
Article details
P Naylor and H Cowie
(1999) 'The Effectiveness of Peer Support Systems in Challenging
School Bullying: the perspectives and experiences of teachers
and pupils' in 'Journal of Adolescence', Volume 22, pages
467-479.
.........................................
Graph
details
'Most Frequently Mentioned
Benefits of the System to Users, by Group', figure 3, page
472 in the article above.
.........................................
 Author
details
Helen Cowie is research
professor in the European Institute of Health and Medical
Sciences at the University of Surrey. She is also director
of the UK
Observatory for the Promotion of Non-Violence and Co-ordinator
of Violence in Schools Training Action (VISTA). She has
published many books and papers on peer relationships and
support, bullying in schools and in the workplace and the
mental health of children and young people.
For information about
her research interests and her publications please go
here. She may be contacted by email.
.........................................
|
