Teens struggling with problems are more likely to listen to another teen than they are to an adult. For various reasons, they tend to be suspicious of or not trust adults.

Mike Schmidt, principal at Wawasee High School, observed a peer facilitation program during his four years as assistant principal at Tippecanoe Valley High School. “I saw it in action for four years and I saw it work,” he said. So hoping to be proactive and deal with potential problems before they escalate, a peer facilitation program was launched Sept. 17 at WHS, about two weeks ahead of the original projected date of Oct. 1.

“There was just too much need,” Schmidt noted.

Junior and senior students are trained in conflict management and resolution and matched in a two to one ratio with a student who could be struggling with failing classes, poor study habits, a family loss, lack of confidence or other issues. Schmidt selected the 16 students who are now peer facilitators. The program is administered by Paul Meyer, a guidance counselor at WHS.

Meyer noted once a student is identified as being in need of facilitation, they are tagged based on their class schedule using a system of red, yellow and green. Red means the facilitation can’t occur at the time because the student can’t miss class, yellow is “ask me first” and green means go ahead with the facilitation. Meyer emphasized facilitators need to keep academics as a priority “because you can’t help someone if your academics are bad,” and academics is the top priority overall.

Facilitation sessions are typically held during Warrior Time now, but next year will actually be a class period built into the schedule. Depending on the problem being addressed, sessions can last anywhere from about five minutes to two hours, which Meyer noted is highly unusual as most sessions are 15 minutes to 20 minutes in length. “We try to keep sessions to about 15 to 20 minutes,” he said, and follow-ups are done, too.

How a facilitator approaches talking to a student can vary, but Meyer said often a grade check is “symptomatic of outside influences” and then facilitators use a process known in therapy as “peeling the onion.” They start with the grades and work their way down to the core issue, he added. Sometimes all students need is for someone to be willing to listen to them, he added.

Follow-up sessions are brief check-ins to see if students need something and can be at a locker, during lunch, etc. Follow-ups are done once a week for four to six weeks and then every other week for a few weeks.

Schmidt, who said he started putting the framework together for the program in February during the previous school year, emphasized it was not implemented as a response to the student suicides. He originally wanted to launch a peer facilitator program a few years ago, he noted. If facilitators see any indications a student is considering suicide, they are instructed to contact a mental health therapist, counselor or administrator. “Talking about suicide is far above their ‘pay grade,’” Schmidt emphasized, meaning they are not qualified.

Peer facilitation brought positive results at TVHS, he said. Discipline issues decreased, guidance problems were fewer and at times fights, bullying and other conflicts were avoided. Changed behavior is the ultimate goal, he noted.

Facilitators who violate confidentiality are removed from the program immediately. Another goal is to begin a similar program in the middle school grades.