Peer support in school

Abstract

This monograph grew out of the keynote address that I gave to the ENSEC Conference in Budapest in 2019. From this experience and the discussions that took place in the course of the conference and afterwards, I discovered that the peer support literature continues to encourage many productive debates on such issues as the tensions between pro-social behavior and moral disengagement, competing pressures on young people to be either passive bystanders or proactive upstanders, conditions that inhibit or promote resilience in individuals and groups, and social factors that facilitate inclusion or exclusion, xenophilia or xenophobia. With such a wide sweep, it is not surprising to note that peer support is expressed in different ways depending on the cultural context in which it evolves. In the present monograph, the focus is on peer supporters in their capacity i) to offer emotional help to children and young people who are the targets of bullying or cyberbullying and ii) to facilitate change in the social and emotional climate of the school, college or university, in other words, throughout the lifespan of education. ‘Peer support’ is an umbrella term that covers a whole range of interventions. Many studies highlight the benefits of a peer support system but, since they vary widely in their definitions of peer support and in the ways in which it is implemented, it can be difficult to make comparisons between one scheme and another. I am proud to have this opportunity to offer this overview of a method that has evolved over time and has adapted itself to new challenges in our changing world.