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Training of the young people begins by emphasising the following skills:
Peer Listening – developing good listening skills that help you actually ‘hear’ what the problem is and assist in getting someone help. Training also involves a good deal of discussion around important issues such as ‘child protection’ and ‘disclosure’.
Peer Mentoring – a broader type of approach that has elements of mediation as an intervention in bullying situations, but with more emphasis on ‘mentoring’ e.g. providing good peer-to-peer role models.
Building and supporting friendship groups and reinforcing positive activities and cooperative play as part of the mentoring ethos. Encouraging and nurturing these positive aspects to help build stronger and more cohesive school communities.
BBMentors – BB Mentoring includes a complete graduation through a BB mentoring and peer listening training, but also includes BB Mentors being able to encourage their peers, their friends, class or even the whole year group, school, parents and communities to help raise awareness of bullying and what can be done by having special assemblies, organising anti-bullying days, conferences, creating campaigns, petitions and inviting special speakers into the school or youth group. Young people generate anti-bullying charters (like a policy but created by students, student councils or anti-bullying committees).
Once the BBMentors have graduated the four stages, the team and BB staff then plan and deliver a whole community publicity campaign. It is at this point the Mentors’ activism kicks in: the students do press work and publicise their service using local media; they present to local politicians and decision makers, governors and other professionals whom they hope to persuade to support BB Mentoring in their community.
Everything from refresher training, events, sub-regional conferences and other opportunities to network and communicate with local councillors, MPs, media and communities at large. Sustainability is also about ambition and working with new partners in FE and HE settings, the workplace or building ‘mentoring’ or ‘activists’ networks that build bridges and bring communities and neighbouring schools together.
BBMentors in schools is lifelong bullying prevention. If you are working in a school, even one with an existing peer support scheme in place, and would like to know more about how to get this five stage programme into your school, all you have to do is to contact the Beatbullying Development Team on 020 8771 3377 or email us at info@beatbullying.org.
