Teaching literacy in PDHPE: Stage 4

Unit: Rising to the challenge

Part B: Who can help?

Ask students to develop a mnemonicof phrases that identify behaviours that are helpful to someone who requires practical support or emotional support. A mnemonic is a memory jogger. It may be a rhyme, a series of words joined together with a common theme, or, a short sentence to highlight a point, e.g. i before e except after c.

Support includes sharing expertise and being honest with one another, as well as helping someone in trouble. Provide examples of situations where students have provided support to one another, e.g. sticking up for a friend who is being hassled or put down.

Ask students to suggest how the circumstances or situation may influence the type of help provided.
Identify some important ways in which to help someone requiring support, e.g. working together to find accurate information, take them to an adult who can give advice and support. Remind students of some of the strategies discussed in the previous activity.

Revisit the idea that people may have a dilemma when wanting to protect the safety of their friends whilst also wanting to keep a secret.

Is it important to keep a secret? Why?
At what point do we need to place safety first?
What would you do if your friend tells you something that indicates that he or she is in real danger?
How can we maintain confidentiality and check our assessment of a situation?
In what situations do you need to involve someone else?

Something is not quite right

Feedback from focus groups with young people consistently points out that students have great concerns about the consequences of breaking a friend’s trust by telling an adult about their concerns. This is especially true in Stage 4 when peer relationships are very important. It is essential that students understand that the personal safety of their friend is of the utmost importance. If they feel that their friend is unsafe or at risk they need to seek help in order to support that person, regardless of any promises they may have made. If they are concerned about how their friend may react to them telling someone about the concerns they have, they may want to talk to their friend about their concerns. Together they might be able to decide on a mutually acceptable adult to speak to that could provide help and support.

Teachers should provide students with practical strategies for checking their assessment of a situation. It is important to emphasise to students that there are strategies that they can use that will maintain their confidentiality of a friend. These strategies include:

contacting the counselling service for children and young people, the Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 or http://www.kidshelp.com.au. This is a 24 hour telephone and online counselling service for children and young people.
speaking to a teacher, parent, school counsellor, youth worker and other trusted adults but do not reveal person's name
speak to the person who you are concerned about to discuss your feelings and seek their approval to help them get support.

An important aspect of dealing with difficult situations is to know who you can turn to when you need help. It is essential that all people have their own support network. A support network is a group of people the young person can go to for assistance. Often young people depend, to a large degree, on their peer group for friendship and support. Sometimes the peer network does not provide the support needed. Students need to establish a network of trusted adults to whom they can talk, by whom they can be believed, and from whom they could seek help if they felt unsafe. It is important to gain a commitment from each network member that they are willing to support the student when seeking help.

Display OHT 3: Support network to identify criteria for selecting people to be included on a personal support network. Explain that a support network should be regularly reviewed to check it is still current.

Distribute Student handout 13: Everybody needs somebody for students to record the names of people from whom they would seek support in a difficult situation. Inform students to be prepared to give reasons for their selections.

Ask students to design a personal help card to record their current support network. The card will need to:

identify the owner of the card
list the names and phone numbers of people who will act and provide support in emergency situations, e.g. family members, friends or relatives
list agencies that can provide help in emergency situations, e.g. police and ambulance services. Ensure the students includr the Kids Helpline contact details on their support card (1800 551 800 or http://www.kidshelp.com.au).

Once students have identified their networks of trusted adults, it is important that students speak to each adult about their 'selection'. Students should discuss with the adults the reasons why they were trusted enough to be chosen. Include in the discussion issues about different situations, what support may be needed and resolution strategies for different situations.It is important to gain a commitment from each network member that they are willing to support the student when seeking help.

Suggest students keep their personal help card in an accessible place and remind them to regularly check and update their contacts.

Resources

Student handout 13: Everybody needs somebody

OHT 3: Support network

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