Peer-Based Interventions
It is my belief that peer-based interventions can be extremely useful in the school setting. It is fellow students who often best understand what their peers are going through, as chances are they have recently or currently experiencing the same difficulties. Ideas for peer-based interventions are limited only by the capacities of students involved in these programs and the creativity of the adults facilitating them. During my time at Wes-Del Middle/High School middle school students struggling academically participated in cross-age peer mentoring, in which they received tutoring from high school volunteers twice a week for 30 minutes per session. From my experiences at Wes-Del, as well as through my personal experiences with one of my younger siblings, I was inspired to create a research proposal in one of my graduate school courses suggesting a peer mentoring program for mobile students, defined as students moving schools for reasons other than promotion to the next school level (i.e. elementary, middle, or high school). This proposal is provided below, and includes information on peer mentoring programs at the college level, as well as a cross-age peer mentoring program developed for elementary and middle school mentees and high school mentors. In addition to my proposal, a number of peer mediation materials found on the ASCA website are also provided.