Peer Education explained- For leaders

November 20, 2017

Peer Education is a part of guiding I am very involved in and I love having the role of Peer Educator. My home county, Shropshire are a super active team and as it is all I've ever known I kinda thought all counties were the same... However leaders in my new university county don't really know a lot about the programme as not many girls run it and I'm sure they aren't the only county like this so I thought I would do a bit of a post to explain how it works and why you should get involved!

Peer Education sessions are ran by trained members of the Senior Section on topics such as body confidence and mental resilience. Girls do a complete range of activities from games to crafts and group discussions to learn important messages to help them in their futures.

Currently there is two programmes Peer Educators can run; Free Being Me and Think Resilience with one focusing on Gender Stereotypes coming soon!

Free Being Me is sponsored by Dove and is focused on helping girls body confidence and breaking away from the image the media makes us feel we have to look like. This programme is ran over two unit meetings and looks deep into how the media influences how we feel about ourselves and how we are much more than how we look.

Think Resilience is done over 1 unit meeting and is sponsored by the charity Young minds. I really love this resource as it looks at how girls can look after their mental health and help others who are struggling. The activities in this one I find are much more active and the girls get to try new things such as meditation which I've found they love!

Both Free Being Me and Think Resilience can be ran for Brownies, Guides and Senior Section with activities varying slightly for each section. Sessions can be booked through your counties Peer Ed coordinator or you could ask Peer Educators you may know- sometimes Peer Educators will contact you themselves to come to your unit.

After the Peer Educators have visited your unit there will be an activity you have to run with the girls yourself to see how well they have understood the message the resource has tried to teach, after this the girls can be awarded the badge according to the resource they've completed.

Peer Ed does look at some sensitive topics and some leaders may be concerned with how their girls will react. Peer Educators are trained and know what to do and how to handle difficult situations with the support of the unit leaders who know and understand their girls much more than the visiting Peer Educators do. During the sessions a safe space will be established so if a girl ever feels uncomfortable she can take herself out and someone will come and speak to her about how she is feeling. I have run 18 sessions now and I have never had a girl upset and I find even the silliest of brownies or guides act very mature and the quietest are usually those who contribute the most!

I couldn't recommend enough getting your unit or area involved in Peer Education. The messages we teach are so important and the girls gain so much from the sessions!