Peer Educators lead the way: How London Borough of Lambeth lowered teenage pregnancy rates and improved sex education

Outcomes

Over eight years around 250 young people have been involved as peer educators and several hundred workshops have been held.  Impact and outcomes can be looked at in a number of ways.

1.      The impact on students

This is principally judged by the feedback forms from students and their teachers. Lambeth have carried out an evaluation of all forms received from 111 workshops in 2009/10. These used a 10 point scale and also invited general comments.

On the questions to students:

Have you learnt anything useful today? Only 1.8% said ‘nothing’; 89% scored from 5-10 (10 being ‘a lot’)

Are your thoughts and or feelings different as a result of this session? Only 6% scored ‘not at all’; 76% scored from 5-10 (10 being ‘quite a bit’)

Comments included:

“it was perfect and fun I loved it cause we could express our feelings and thoughts of what we think”

“this lesson helped me to understand more about respect and changed my mind of how to treat others differently”

“I think this session was really good because I’ve learnt a lot and also I’ve finally got to tell people how I feel”

If anything the teachers’ evaluations of the sessions and the peer educators were even more positive.  Almost all their scores for effectiveness were 6 or above.

“I watched both sessions… I was impressed with both! Pupils who can be difficult were engaged and participating in the lesson and felt that the Peer educators were relevant, knowledgeable and had a confident delivery style.”

“the educators were able to engage the class to participate through using student familiar language and creating a safe environment to express opinions with icebreaking starters”

“Handled a difficult group of 14 year old boys extremely well.”

“The presenter’s ability to establish a relationship with the girls very quickly.  Students were receptive because she was young”.

As well as benefiting the students, feedback from the peer educators is very positive about their increased skills, confidence and aspirations. Peers have been offered jobs as learning mentors and teaching assistants in schools and have worked in the youth service.  Many have gone on to university. Very few drop out of the training (average 3 out of 20) and many stay with the programme for 3 or even four years.

By being part of the peer education project I have gained a lot of skills, as well as boosting my confidence to talk in front of large crowds as that would have been something I would have found intimidating. Now I feel I can do it with my eyes closed…I've also realised that youth work could actually be a field that I'd like to work in on a long term basis when I have finished all my studies, because I like making an impact with young people…

I love being a peer-educator. I find it interesting to learn of others experiences and meet new people. I feel it has helped me to change my perspective of first impressions of others.

The Peer Education project was a really enjoyable experience. It allowed me to discover my talent for working with young people. I was given the opportunity to help young people socially and also become a better speaker. I would recommend the programme as I think that it is a great way to help others while helping yourself too. Plus the staff are great too: fun and extremely supportive.