Children taught how to reach out

Press, 16 September 1987, Page 44

Children taught how to reach out

Children under 16 commit more than 40,000 crimes a year, and surveys show that many feel they have no-one and nowhere to turn for help. A new programme for intermediate school children is aimed at alleviating this problem. "Reaching Out,” to be introduced to Christchurch intermediate schools this term, will help children develop ways of coping with problems, says the executive officer of the Reaching Out Trust, Mrs Edna Peters. Rotary clubs had seen the need for such a programme, which was developed by teachers, the Education Department and the police, and tested in Auckland schools. the Reaching Out kit includes booklets and / videos, which show chilA

dren in anxious or destructive situations — the new and lonely child at school, or a child being violent. After seeing the videos, the children talk about different ways of dealing with the problems, said Mrs Peters. “It is a way of harnessing positive peer pressure. “Most children will opt for the best and most positive way of coping with situations.” Parents would also be told when a school was staging the programme. Mrs Peters saw that as a way of sharing good parenting around. “Reaching Out” can be used in conjunction with the new health syllabus, but does not have to be. Its aims are similar to the Peer Support programme in many high schools.

The strategies that children learn in the 14 lessons over about six weeks should give them strategies for dealing with problems later in life, said Mrs Peters.

“If they can’t solve the problem themselves, they are learning where they can go to get help.”

Some Auckland schools were already noticing that after the programme children were more settled and happier, she said.

One young child, who had been sexually abused, had discussed this with a friend and then reported it. He had said that he would not have been able to do so without the skills learned in “Reaching Out,” said Mrs Peters. The cost of the programme has been underwritten by Fay, Richwhite and Company, Ltd.