Teens helping teens : evaluating the impact of peer helping

Abstract

This study evaluates the effectiveness and impact of the Peer Helping Program at Harold T. Barrett Junior High School. Six specific areas are investigated: (1) personal growth of the peer helpers; (2) development of counselling skills of the peer helpers; (3) clients' opinions of the program; (4) non-clients' opinions of the program; (5) the opinion of teachers and (6) the experience of peer helping.

Twelve peer helpers and 12 matched-control subjects along with the 266 other students enrolled at the school were administered two questionnaires at pre and post-test. Other questionnaires were also used to obtain information from clients and non-clients as well as the 20 teachers at the school. In addition, peer helper journals and interviews were developed to investigate the experience of peer helping.

Overall results indicate that the program is generally successful. Although pre post-test results do not show an increase for peer helpers in the areas of personal growth and counselling skills, during interviews they do report satisfaction with participation in the program. The majority of clients report great satisfaction with peer helping and teachers believe in the philosophy of the program. Gender and grade differences were obtained indicating more favorable effects for females and older students. The experience of peer helping was investigated and results suggest that this experience can be a stressful one. Formative evaluation specifically targeted at monitoring the experience of peer helping is an important area for development of this experience program. Other specific recommendations focus on increasing communication within the school and among other local schools with similar programs. Improved communication within the school would target teachers and other students. Developing their understanding of the practices or the existing program would lead to improvement of the future one. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)