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Peer Counselling: The Anti-Bullying Ambassador Programme
Background and Concept The Anti-Bullying Ambassador Programme aims to manage high-risk students through peer intervention. By asking senior student leaders peer counsel high-risk junior students, the latter group will learn how to deal with interpersonal relationship problems appropriately. This will help to create an anti-bullying culture in school. According to Erikson’s (1968) Psychosocial Development Stage Theory, 12–18-year-old students are at the stage of searching for their self-identity. During this period, they focus on establishing their personality and values, and they will then establish their self-identity and self-worth through modelling. Meanwhile, they regard peer conformity as highly important, and will build up their social network with different peer cohorts. School is where schoolchildren pass through their adolescence and is also their main source of contact with peers. Thus, this programme will help to provide high-risk students in junior grades with a positive and friendly senior role model. The high-risk junior students will also develop a sense of belonging and bonding with the school. Compared with teachers and social workers, senior student leaders are likely to have a greater understanding of the challenges faced by junior students, and thus will be better-placed to establish effective mentoring relationships with them.
For more details of the Anti-Bullying Ambassador Programme, please refer to Anti-bullying Ambassador Manual (Only in Traditional Chinese). |
