Peer Support

Every day the news media is reporting a different violent tragedy and unfortunately they are happening inside schools across the nation. Of all youth homicides, less than 1% occur at school, and this percentage has been relatively stable for the past decade. In 2012, there were about 749,200 nonfatal violent victimizations at school among students 12 to 18 years of age. Approximately 9% of teachers report that they have been threatened with injury by a student from their school; 5% of school teachers reported that they had been physically attacked by a student from their school. In 2011, 18% of students ages 12–18 reported that gangs were present at their school during the school year. In a 2013 nationally representative sample of youth in grades 9-12, 8.1% reported being in a physical fight on school property …show more content…
One idea is peer support as a means of improving school safety. Essentially peer support systems in schools are defined as flexible frameworks within which children and young people are trained to offer emotional and social support to fellow pupils in distress (Cowie & Jennifer, 2008). The method of peer support has been quite widely used in Canada and Australia since the 1980s. It has grown in popularity in recent years and is now used in many countries; for example in the UK the existence of such systems is reported in around 50% of both primary and secondary schools (Smith & Samara, 2003). I firmly believe that students and their peers are capable of supporting each other and working through their issues together. An integral part of peer support is making sure students are being taught and supported by their teachers and adults around them. We must allow students to learn to work through their issues. Teachers frequently report that school environments become safer and more caring following the introduction of a peer support, and peer relationships