Daniel Semo March 29, 2001 While it existed, the Peer Coun- seling Program was a valuable arm of the Guidance Department. It trains students to help classmates solve tough issues that they otherwise may not be prepared to deal with. Trainees learn about tough teen issues like drinking, drugs, eating disorders, dysfunctional families and sex. Through group discussion and role playing, trainees learn to help their peers find solutions for themselves, teaching both parties the importance of guiding people to their own solutions. The theory behind the course is that students are not only more likely to approach another student, but students are better able to relate to their peers. Given the program’s potential to help students, the current absence of any peer counseling presence in the school is very problematic. In past years, when one would walk down the hallways of the old building, one would be likely to glance at the large bulletin board in the main hallway near the front office and see the pictures of all of the peer counselors in school. On announcements, one would be likely to hear that peer counselors would be meeting during lunch. And even up to last year, our group of peer counselors was doing work at B’nai Tzedek, helping to give courses there on Sundays about teen issues. Although the group was not very integrated into the Guidance Department, it was a clear presence in the school community. But no longer is there a peer counseling board in the hallways. No longer are there announcements for peer counselor meetings. And no longer are students doing workshops at B’nai Tzedek. Truly, the peer counselors are a lost group whose name is hardly mentioned in the building and whose existence is not widely known. Indeed, although the group has met once this year, for all practical purposes it does not exist. When I spoke to some people about what they thought about peer counseling, the most frequent responses were that they either have never heard of the program or that they have not heard about the group for a few years. So I pose the question: ‘why have we not been using this valuable asset to the Guidance Department?’ There are many ways in which the peer counseling group could work together with the Guidance Department. To name a few, peer counselors could help integrate new students into the school, help eighth graders prepare for the situations they may face in high school or simply act as references for students to talk to about something which they do not feel comfortable discussing with an actual guidance counselor. Peer counselors could be teaching other students the tactics they have learned to help them deal with people in bad situations better, so that students can better help their friends when needed. In addition, students who have gone through the course have extensive knowledge about enhancing relationships with peers that they should be passing on to other JDS students. Guidance counselor Marti Herskovitz, who is in charge of the peer counseling program, attributes the group’s negligible presence to difficulties caused by having three lunch periods, to the rising number of students and to the lack of initiative she said that peer counselors have demonstrated by directing their efforts to the many other activities that many of them do. But it is equally essential that the whole Guidance Department, faculty and administration alike should be pushing for the peer counselors to have a greater presence in the school. Communication between the faculty and the peer counselors should be opened up tremendously so that if teachers believe a student may need someone to talk to, then they can either refer the student to the peer counselor or ask the peer counselor to check into the situation. It truly is a shame that this asset to the school is going unused. Shame on us for not making it a top priority to make this resource available to students who may need a friends not a teacher, to talk to. |
