Sadly we have all seen many young people injured as a result of violence, some very seriously and we realise that all of these injuries are preventable. Our mission is to reduce violence in Scotland and one of the ways we do this is by visiting schools and talking to young people about our experiences of violence as healthcare workers. Most of the time we present the lessons in class and we have spoken to over 35,000 young people since we started our schools programme.
About three years ago we decided to try something different and let the pupils deliver the lessons. Peer education (delivered by people close in age) is a very powerful way of getting a message across, younger people look up to their older peers and, at least on some subjects, are more likely to listen to them than to adults. Whitburn Academy joined the MAV Interns programme this year and is only the second school to take part in the programme in Scotland. In Whitburn the interns are drawn from 5th and 6th year and we are proud to have around 13 interns in the school. Our medical volunteers spend a number of weeks with the interns discussing topics related to violence, like risks, consequences, keeping safe and the role of alcohol, in a fair amount of depth so that when they start to design their own lessons they have a range of material to choose from. Later in the year the interns will deliver their lessons to the younger pupils in the school.
Both groups benefit from this approach, the interns take a leadership role in keeping the whole school safe, they gain new skills and knowledge and they get to participate in something new and exciting. The younger pupils hear important safety messages delivered by their older peers and hopefully will want to be interns when they get a bit older.
We are delighted that Whitburn has decided to be part of MAV Interns and look forward to more important discussions over the coming weeks.
Dr Christine Goodall
Founder and Director Medics against Violence.
