AKRON - Prejudices, gossip, apathy and lack of respect are some of the problems that exist within the walls of schools all across the country.
A group of students at Tippecanoe Valley High School started working on reducing these problems in their school this year.
"Peer Facilitators is basically when you take students who have conflicts and help them solve them," said senior Steph Hoover, one of the original five peer facilitators. A peer facilitator spends time with a student with a conflict, and talks the problem out with them. If necessary, the peer facilitator may refer the student to a school counselor or other professional.
Hoover said she wanted to help people, which is why she joined the group under the direction of Spanish teacher Kris Walker. At first, she wasn't sure she could do it. But now she enjoys helping other students with their problems so much that she said she will miss the school after she graduates because of Peer Facilitators.
"It's really changed my perspective on things," she said.
Chris Baker, senior, said his reason for being a part of the group was like Hoover's. "Mostly, I like helping people, and this is a chance to do that," he said.
"I got involved because I really enjoy helping people," agreed Nathan Shepherd. "This is the best way to do it."
One of Hoover's biggest success stories involved a friend. Hoover said the friend's home life was messed up, and the friend was hurting herself. After Hoover talked to her friend and reported her problem to a counselor, the friend is doing much better. The friend now calls Hoover to talk.
One of Baker's success stories involved two Hispanic girls. They were at each other's throats. "They wanted to kill each other," he said.
Baker and another peer facilitator spent two hours with the girls trying to get them to communicate their problem. One of the girls, Baker said they discovered, was lying. And then the English stopped, and the two girls spoke in Spanish for 45 minutes.
"For a lot of time," Baker said, "we just sat there and made sure they didn't kill each other. They ended up hugging at the end."
Peer Facilitators has changed the high school overall, the students said.
"There's been more respect toward others," said Hoover. Students are staying in school because fights are stopped before they happen. Discrimination is being reduced, she said. "I just see tons of respect ... I've seen less discrimination, less violence before it gets to that point."
Baker said students seem to be more willing to help one another. He said there's less racial tension.
Peer Facilitators will grow, Baker said. During the 2007-08 school year, Baker said a class will be taught to students in peer facilitating. The class also will include I-Safe, a program about Internet safety.
Peer Facilitators, Baker said, grew out of Valley's Students and Teachers Advocating Respect and Tolerance program.
To become a peer facilitator, Baker said he and four other students trained 45 minutes every Thursday for eight weeks with Walker. They used a textbook, but also practiced mediation. They discussed the problems at TVHS, as well as in the world.
"My first case, I believe, was the day I graduated from training," said Baker. He said he was really nervous, but it went well and he was able to convince the student to not drop out of school. Baker was able to get the student help for his school work.
Sarah Tillman said training others to be peer facilitators is always hard because there's no absolute way to help students in every situation. A peer facilitator must learn by doing.
"We did a lot of practice situations," said Holly Williamson. The first time a peer facilitator helps a student, Williamson said a student who already is a peer facilitator accompanies the first-timer.
Caleb Lozano was just trained to be a peer facilitator. "It is more difficult than I thought it would be," he said.
"You have to keep serious all the time," said José Jurado.
Chelsea Bibler said it's difficult because everything you say can affect a person in a negative or positive way.
In May, Shepherd said, the original five peer facilitators will attend an international conference in Indianapolis to present their program. All the other presenters, except the Valley group, will have Ph.D's.
Breanna Parker said the group attended a world affairs conference this year with a topic of immigration. Many of the larger schools there didn't have the diversity Valley does. Jurado said many schools could count their minorities on one hand.
Baker said he heard some of the schools with more minorities, like Warsaw, also have more racism, and no group to address the problem.
"We are miles ahead, but we are trying to reach out to other schools," Baker said.
Walker said, "I'm turning this over to them, and I'm extremely proud of the leadership they are providing and the work they are doing."
