Kitset teaches behaviour

Press, 21 July 1989, Page 4

Kitset teaches behaviour

By

MARITA VANDENBERG

Whetu and Evelyn are schoolgirls playing in a friendly softball match. There is a disagreement and the two start calling each other names. Evelyn feels threatened and hears herself say, “I’ll get you after school!” What could Evelyn have said to avoid the situation she was now faced with? This is one of the scenarios intermediate pupils in about 750 New Zealand schools have been debating using Reaching Out Trust kitsets.

The kitsets, which were devised jointly in 1986 by the Education Department, the police and Rotary, are being used in schools voluntarily, usually as part of the health syllabus.

As well as the video, which shows a series of situations which pupils are asked to consider, there are in the kit posters, a cassette and booklets for teachers.

Pupils would find that there was no right answer to any of the situations. They would instead learn to think through a whole range of options, said the executive officer of the trust, Mrs Edna Peters, who is in Christchurch to help teachers become confident with the material. Mrs Peters and the trust’s education officer, Mr Lynn John, will run two workshops at the Christchurch College of Education at the weekend.

“The kitset tries to introduce children to the kind of situations they are likely to encounter in their own lives,” said Mrs Peters.

The aim of the kit was to teach children how to say no to anti-social peer group pressure and to encourage . them to make positive choices, she said. Children learn how to cope with feelings of injustice and how to react

to name-calling and pressure from older children. “Lack of self-esteem is one of the first things dealt with. Children with low self-esteem tend to be the followers. They’re moreJikely to be sucked

■ in than children who feel good about themselves,” > Coping with threats of > violence was an area of i particular interest to ! some teachers, said Mr ! John. I Some schools noticed • -5

changes in pupils who had used the kit, he said. There was less bullying in the playground and fewer confrontations. The kit is available for Forms 1 and 2, and provided free by Rotary.