Peer counsellors at Mission Secondary School will be talking to children in elementary schools about internet safety in a new program called Youth-2-Youth.

This is the first time high school peer counsellors are working with elementary schools, said MSS counsellor Mark Greenshields.

“I already know peers working with peers works better (than teachers working with students),” explained Greenshields. “So why not use older kids to work with younger kids? They’ll listen and hear it better because it’s not just another teacher or adult.”

“This program succeeds for three reasons,” agreed Safe Online Outreach Society (SOLOS) executive director Merlyn Horton.

“Children recognize that teens generally know more about the internet than the adults in their lives, and respond better to information presented by youth ... The other program strength is that everyone learns best what they have to teach and these teens will be internalizing what they share with the children.”

In the next couple of weeks, there will be about 14 peer counsellors who will be visiting classes at five elementary schools: Cherry Hill, West Heights, Christine Morrison, Mission Central and Albert McMahon.

The high school students will be teaching their younger peers about how the internet works, appropriate online behaviour, and anti-bullying,

According to SOLOS, which developed the Youth-2-Youth program, relevant education about internet use by children and youth has not kept pace with the rapid and continuing growth of online access.

This program is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Mission Mid-day.

SOLOS is a charitable non-profit society which responds to the issue of child pornography and online sexual exploitation by developing education and awareness initiatives aimed at youth serving professionals, parents and youth.