More anti-violence workshops set for Birmingham classrooms after pilot programme
Role-play sessions tackling gang pressure and risky choices are expanding to more city schools in the New Year
Workshops designed to help Birmingham schoolchildren resist violence and peer pressure are set to expand to more classrooms across the city.
The sessions, which use role play and group discussion to explore risky situations such as being asked to join a gang, have been running in five Birmingham schools. Three more are due to begin the programme in the New Year.
During sessions held in the final term before Christmas, pupils were asked to weigh up how they might respond to real-life scenarios. One 12-year-old boy taking part said: “It’s hard to know what I’d do because if you refuse to join, they might hurt you.”
The programme, called Circle of Friends, is delivered to small groups of pupils who already know each other, allowing them to be mentored together. Each scenario is followed by a discussion led by trained youth workers from The Children’s Society.
Youth worker Furat Suffina said the focus on friendship is central to the project.
“The friendship aspect is crucial in terms of the group bonding and the group feeling comfortable to talk together,” she said.
“We’re really trying to strengthen those friendships and the support they can offer each other because, once we’ve done our interventions and we’re gone, we really want the positives they have learned to carry on.”
At Nishkam High School, students also acted out scenarios around peer pressure. One 13-year-old pupil said the role play reflected his own experiences.
“You start chilling with the wrong crowd, they start making you smoke, do all that nonsense and it also takes you away from your family a little bit,” he said.
“I got out of it with the help of my mom and mentoring and this is good because my friends here care about me and now they know they are not alone if it happens to them.”
School staff say they’ve already noticed a difference. Key Stage 3 Lead Byron Dale said the programme has had a positive impact on students’ outlook.
“They are always looking forward to the next session,” he said.
The £136,000 year-long project is funded by the Violence Reduction Partnership and Birmingham’s Community Safety Team, with each group completing eight weeks of workshops.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said mentoring entire peer groups was an effective way of keeping young people safe.
“These young people are being encouraged not to face these problems alone,” he said, “and are able to discuss their decision-making with youth workers and their friends.”
The organisers say further workshops are planned as demand from schools continues to grow.