Young People volunteer to tackle bullying
Young people have taken the initiative in tackling the bullying fears of young people in the Stratford area.
Year 12 students from Kineton High and Stratford High schools are being trained as peer counsellors as part of joint project to support younger students in dealing with bullying.
Year 12 volunteers from Kineton High: Archie Broadhurst, Jack Kendall, Aimee Baxter, Charlotte Alcock who have been working with Stratford High students
Once trained, the Year 12 student volunteers will work in local schools and youth clubs across the community to work with young people who may fear bullying or have experienced it.
As one of the students commented, “this was a great opportunity to mix as a group and create ideas to solve the bullying issue locally” The Year 12 students are being trained by Warwickshire Association of Youth Clubs and will be using the Youth Centre at Kineton as a training base.
The project developed from a survey supported by Stratford District Council of post-16 students in secondary schools and colleges across the area which showed that older students experienced very little bullying but they were concerned about younger students.
A group of Year 12 students met to discuss the issues and decided to do something about it, and signed up to train as peer counsellors. Asked about the project, one of the students said that it had been “an exciting experience and a great way to get involved with the Warwickshire community, knowing we are making a difference”
The project has been driven by the multi agency anti-bullying group of the Area’s Children’s Trust Partnership, one of whose aims, is to reduce the number of children who have experienced bullying.
Julia Morris, Head of Kineton High and chair of the anti-bullying group, said: “We have been really impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm these young people have shown in volunteering to help the younger ones.”
The Children’s Trust group have also be seeking bids for bids from schools, youth clubs and other organisations for projects that will tackle bullying issues across the area.