Youth-2-Youth Program
The Youth-2-Youth Program engages high school teens in learning about and teaching Internet safety.
Based on the idea of 'cascading learning', the Youth-2-Youth Program teaches high school teens about online safety. The teens then deliver a classroom-based presentation to elementary students in their school district. As B.C. High School Graduation requires youth to complete thirty hours of volunteer work in their community, this Program can assist students meet their graduation requirements.
The focus on this Program is on the belief that youth speaking to children is more effective and has more impact than training delivered by adults.
The Youth-2-Youth Program works for several reasons:
- High school youth internalize the Internet safety messages better when they have to teach them to younger youth.
- Elementary students generally respond better to teens than they might to adults teaching the same message.
- The program acknowledges teens as having online skills, which in most cases are more relevant to children's experiences than adults.
- By presenting to a CAPP class of 24 students, the program has the potential to directly deliver information to 400 elementary students. (CAPP students present in pairs = 12 elementary school classes with an average of 20 students per class.)
- Students will all receive handout to take home for use by their siblings and parents.
