Holman students trained in anger management
Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services
Holman (Mar 12/01) - Thanks to a Peer Helpers program, a group of students from Helen Kalvak School can now help others deal with their anger.
Nineteen students between the ages of 9 and 13 participated in a week-long training session with Stan Wesley of Moose Factory, Ontario. The goal was to educate the children on how they can help other kids recognize and cope with conflicts.
"We wanted to see if we could give them some training to sort of help each other out a little bit more," said teacher Kim MacPherson.
Wesley, a counsellor and trainer for Victoria, B.C.-based Peer Helpers, was hired to train the children to assist each other in everyday situations, help them to identify feelings and emotions, and teach them to express their feelings in a non-violent manner.
"A lot of young people can be very angry and don't know how to control their anger," said Wesley.
There is nothing wrong with being angry, he said, but when children don't know how to control those feelings it commonly results in some form of violent behaviour.
"This program will allow them to take responsibility for their anger and let them know that it's okay to be angry as long as they process it enough so that no one will get hurt."
Byron Okheena, 13, said he has learned a lot from the training sessions and hopes to help his peers the same way Wesley helped him.
"I hope to help them solve their problems and teach them that it's not other people who are making them feel mad - it's their choice how they feel."
Okheena said if he witnessed an argument or fight between two children he would talk to them about how they are feeling, make eye contact with them, listen to what they have to say, ensure that he has a relaxed posture so the other child doesn't get defensive and try to help them solve their conflict.
MacPherson said she hopes these children will now be able to counsel their peers and deter them from arguing and fighting with each other.
"Now, they're going to have the skills to talk to the kids and try and help solve their problems ... we really hope this is going to be a benefit for the school and for the children as individuals."
Wesley is confident the newly-trained peer helpers will start looking at their own behaviour and realize that there are alternatives to getting violent.
