With all the pressures of the teenage years, high school can be the best and worst of times. With sex, drugs, suicide and the need to fit in, it can lead many students on an emotional rollercoaster, leaving them feeling like there is no one to talk to. Well, when school resumes later this month, students at two local high schools will have someone to talk and as we found out that person might be sitting right next to them.
Elizabeth Goff, Counselor Wesley College
“We know that young people tend to reach out to other young people first.”
And when school resumes at Wesley and Anglican Cathedral Colleges later this month these are the faces that students in distress will turn to first. You can call them peer helpers or just ready to help.
Dyke Sutherland, Peer Helper ACC
“I believe that there a lot of people out there who really need someone to talk to right and usually they don’t want to talk to older people because they have a sense that people will say their business or something like that. So they can come and talk to us and feel much more safer.”
Nikky Rivero, Peer Helper ACC
“In my school at ACC there are many students suffering from all different types of emotional problems and some of them really just need someone to listen to them.”
Since the start of the week Nikky Rivero, along with 47 other students have been getting the training necessary to respond to their peers in time of need. Wesley College counselor Elizabeth Goff is coordinating the training.
Elizabeth Goff,
“We started Monday and the first three days we focused on basic communication skills because we are preparing them to become helpers to other students. Beginning today we focusing on special topics; this morning we looked at HIV/AIDS and this afternoon we are looking at STIs. Tomorrow it is alcohol and other drugs and depression and suicide. And Saturday our last day we are focusing on anger and violence so it is trying to prepare our students to function in their role as peer helpers.”
So what exactly do peer helpers do? Well they are regular students but in times of need they will be ready and trained to assist their peers whether it be in the classroom or on the school ground.
Elizabeth Goff,
“Peer helpers can serve in various roles. Sometimes they go into the classroom and present information to students, they can serve as a listener to another student especially a student who might be going through a difficult moment and sometime they can help other students to give encouragement so it just depends. There are a variety of ways how they can be called to help.”
And whatever comes their way Wesley students Keaton Pollard and Tania Domingo both say they will be ready to help. And that help will be selfless since there is no pay and no grace only the feeling of simply doing something good which both say that will be payment enough.
Keaton Pollard, Peer Helper Wesley College
“I just feel like I got the knowledge so I can help them and stuff like that. And I would rather do this since I don’t really have anything to do and I would just want to interact with other people and help them and stuff like that.”
Tania Domingo, Peer Helper Wesley College
“I like helping people but it was just the listening part and how to address certain conversations and how to introduce yourself to people that have problems and need help.”
And now that they have got the training their next task is to earn the trust of those they have pledged to help.
The training ends on Saturday and the peer helpers work begin on August 30th when classes resume.