ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 19, 1996 TAG: 9607190026
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
Matthew Wigginton patiently listened to his partner complain about a problem at school, and waited for her to finish.
"OK, you've told me what happened, now tell me how you feel about it," he said.
Not a bad response, for a seventh-grader.
Wigginton, from Pulaski Middle School, was taking part in a role-play exercise to practice his listening and problem-solving skills. He spent the past three days honing those abilities through a program called the Teen Leadership Institute, held at Virginia Tech.
About 100 New River Valley middle and high school students willingly sacrificed summer jobs and sunshine to sit in class and discuss one mission: Learn how to be there for each other.
The New River Valley Community Services Board organized the program, and received financial support from local organizations such as Volvo-GM Heavy Truck Corp. and the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Virginia.
Students nominated by their school came to Tech to become "peer counselors" and "conflict managers."
Those lofty titles boil down to being a good friend.
"It's the satisfaction of being able to help people," said Lydia Bryant, a ninth-grader at Shawsville High School.
"As you're helping them solve their problems," added classmate Adam Trout, "you can learn to solve your own problems, too."
The two, along with Landon Smith and Michelle Marks, were conflict managers in the middle school, and will take their expertise into the high school this fall.
Where high school peer counselors might handle a variety of situations, middle school conflict managers have specific duties. When fellow students argue, teachers or principals recommend they talk it out with the help of a conflict manager.
"Sometimes, [kids] just come up to me and start talking - I might not even know them," Marks said.
Usually, they said, the disputes are caused by boyfriend-girlfriend problems, rumors, "he-said, she-said kind of stuff." In the high school, though, they worry they'll have to handle more serious issues, like drugs.
If they ever face a dangerous, or even life-threatening situation, the teens are told to tell an adult. Angela Thompson, who had been a guidance counselor at Shawsville and will switch to Blacksburg Middle School this year, said usually the peer counselors can handle the problems themselves.
"If I can let them work it out on their own, it's more empowering for them," she said.
Peer counselors gain trust that's often hard to come by as an adult.
"Sometimes kids will come to me later in the year because the [peer counselors] have said, 'Oh, yeah, go to her. You can trust her,'" Thompson said.
Teens helping teens is a concept that's caught on in schools around the country, and many see it as a way to prevent a problem from escalating. Montgomery County schools have established programs at most of the middle and high schools; Pulaski Middle School is just beginning its program this year.
Students must apply for the positions and go through an interview process to be chosen. Schools try to pick a diverse group of kids, some from different "cliques" so kids feel comfortable talking with them.
Often, students who used a peer counselor or conflict manager are chosen to become one themselves.
Why would teens do it? Many say it looks good for college, their parents encouraged them to do it, and it feels good.
"It's the power," added Thompson. "Kids are more likely to open up to other kids than an adult, and they gain respect for it."
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: LISA APPLEGATE/Staff. Blacksburg Middle School studentby CNBShareka Baylor (facing camera) explains her point of view to
conflict manager Matthew Wigginton, from Pulaski Middle School
during a role playing exercise. color.