SUIT UP to fight bullying

danny keefeIn The PEERS Project our PEER Leaders – teen instructors- work hard to teach others to stand up against bullying. PEER Leaders do this through teaching in the classroom how to be assertive with bullying through our three assertiveness techniques. More importantly, PEER leaders live a life where they stand up for those who are being bullied and are bully preventers, not just bully bystanders.

Here is one story to share how youth stood up to fight bullying. Shortly after birth, Danny Keefe suffered a brain hemorrhage that left him with a speech impediment so severe that the meticulously dressed six-year-old found himself being teased and picked on in kindergarten… but, not for long, because Danny’s friends on the Bridgewater Badgers 5th grade football team had his back. They didn’t rough anybody up, which one might have expected.
Instead, they put on a display of solidarity and brotherly love that moved an entire community, and started a movement that quickly spread to surrounding towns. www.danimalsarmy.org

Attention PEERS Teen Leaders, Win 4 Tickets to Indy Eleven Soccer Game

Indianapolis is now known as a town that loves soccer since being named the home for the American professional soccer team, Indy Eleven.  Founded in 2013, the team will make its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2014.[1] The official club name, crest and colors were announced on April 25, 2013.

The PEERS Project teen leaders have the incredible opportunity to actually go to one of these sell-out home games. In partnership with Inspired Kids Magazine, PEER Leaders can submit any of their art, videos and writings at  InspiredKidsMagazine and enter a chance to win 4 tickets.

 

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PEERS Impact on Kids

At The PEERS Project there are many lives impacted. PEERS is confident to say that up to one million kid’s lives have been impacted to make healthy lifestyle choices.

It is a treasure to receive encouraging emails and texts from students across the state.

PEERS just received this text about how one life was impacted. We imagine there are many, many more kids around the state that feel the same! Thank you!

 

Text supporting PEERS

Reality T.V. , Helpful or Hurtful?

You have seen the “ridiculousness” of most reality TV shows, but why do some people, especially teens, still choose to watch them? Reality TV is a very narrow peek into the lives of people who have an unrealistic reality, in fact, most of their lives are written by a producer. These cast members are to do one thing with those lives, make sure it is drama filled so that they make money through that drama. The reputation of most reality TV show cast members is demolished by the finale of their first season. Honestly, the problem lies not only with the producers or cast members, but the audience. It is the audience that allows these shows to have numerous amounts of views. The audience are the people unintentionally saying to those cast members and producers, “Ignorance is bliss, so keep at it!” But their ignorance shouldn’t be bliss, it is disturbing and degrading, not only for them, but to the audience that they are targeting. Take for instance the 16-year-old girl who thinks she is not pretty enough, and watches a reality TV show for the first time and instantly gets hooked. That 16-year-old girl is now being influenced by women who wear tons of make-up and are praised by the media because of their “beauty,” when in actuality it’s as fake as their lives portrayed on their show. That 16-year-old girl and many other girls and women like her are being lied to and influenced by the negative influences suggested through reality TV. It is vital that we don’t allow producers to tell us what we should look like, or the lifestyle(s) we should admire, but that we are confident enough in ourselves to say that we are much greater than that.

PEERS in the News

The PEERS Project and uLEAD had an amazing day working with 300 students in Clay County’s School Corporation leading an anti-bullying retreat.

ulead group photo in brazil times
Students learn how to work as a team in Clay County with The PEERS Project and uLEAD

Read more here: Northview students take part in anti-bullying program

Welcome PEERS Intern!

nicole mcdonaldThe PEERS Project would like to welcome Nicole McDonald to our staff as she works with us over the 2013-2014 school year.

Nicole is from Herron High School and participated in PEERS last school year, Herron’s first year to implement The PEERS Project.

Nicole says that, “PEERS has shown me that I have a voice and that doing what is right is a character choice I need to always embody.”

We’re looking forward to a great year together!

Former PEERS Project Student Heads to Purdue University

Graduate Shares Her Experience in The PEERS Project

peers teen leaderWritten by Shea Cattelier

After being a part of The PEERS Project the past three years I have learned a lot about myself and the limits I have chosen to set for myself.  And, as I move toward college, and the new experiences that await, I will carry the same set of values I have had for myself throughout high school. The PEERS Project has taught me the value of goal setting and the amount of courage it takes to achieve those goals.  As college approaches I am nervous about the academic rigor and whether my past 13 years of education have prepared me enough for the untethering that is college. However, I know deep down that I am the same driven young woman who joined PEERS because of its great values. Because of that, I will continue to thrive in the world around me without worrying about succumbing to peer pressure as I go to Purdue University.

A young PEERS’ mentor from Elkhart Community Schools  speaks from her heart and the power of the PEERS Project message. She recently texted this message after being involved with the PEERS Project and standing up for what she knew was right. This decision led to a positive choice which will affect her life forever. Had she not stood up for what she knew she needed to do, although the relationship ended, she might have been the girl which got pregnant and might have had to drop out of school and not obtain her goals of going to college. She stood up to catch her dreams for the future.

abstinence, peersproject, indiana, peer facilitation, teen positive influence network