Peer power

Being bullied can be a very isolating and frightening experience. When children of any age are affected, they need to know where they can go for help. Receiving meaningful advice and support from their peers when they are feeling low can mean the difference between happiness and misery.

MiniMentors is an innovative peer mentoring programme designed specifically for 5-11 year olds. It focuses predominantly on encouraging young children to explore what makes for a good sense of friendship and wellbeing, while also introducing the sensitive topics of bullying, cyberbullying and children’s safety both online and offline. It is run by Beatbullying, the charity behind the award-winning CyberMentors programme in secondary schools.

Dedicated support through social networking

“MiniMentors does what many teachers and parents cannot do,” says BeatBullying director Emma-Jane Cross. “It allows children, often with personal experience of bullying themselves, to mentor and support their peers, and offer credible advice exactly when it is needed most.”

Promoting positive behaviour change

Every user who has been mentored through the networking site has said it helped them. Some 52% of the supported children reported that they felt they’d been listened to for the first time, while 40% said it increased their confidence and self esteem.

"A full 100% of teachers stated they had observed some form of positive change in behaviour among pupils in their school."

More resounding praise comes in the form of feedback from teachers and pupils. Children said the programme was ‘fun’, ‘exciting’ and ‘interesting’ and reported that it helped to improve their empathetic awareness and understanding of friendships, as well as helping them to better understand issues surrounding e-safety and safety in general.

A tried-and-tested approach

Investment from Nominet Trust enabled BeatBullying to build on their CyberMentors platform, adapting the tried-and-tested formula for primary schools to make it suitable for a younger audience.  The combination of trained MiniMentors available in schools with a purpose-built social networking site for children aged eight and over means that advice and support is never more than a click away.