Training offered for violence prevention
(CNS Local Life): The Cayman Islands Red Cross (CIRC) and Ministry of Education are partnering to ‘train the trainers’ for a youth violence-prevention programme that has been in place here since 2017. The master training is for the “It’s Not Your Fault” initiative, an evidence-based programme created by the Canadian Red Cross more than 30 years ago.
The course, set for 28-31 May, will prepare lead facilitators to train peer educators and adult support staff to enable them to deliver the It’s Not Your Fault (INYF) Youth Violence Prevention Peer Education programme to schools and youth-centred organisations.
Carolina Ferreira, CIRC deputy director, explained why this training is important. “It’s Not Your Fault not only empowers young people with information and skills which will assist them, their peers, schools and community, but it also gives them an opportunity to strengthen and broaden the relationships with the adult facilitators,” she told CNS.
These facilitators will be working alongside the young people, instead of as their superior, to deliver these important messages to other youth, Ferreira added.
Ferreira noted that the programme accomplishes two things. “It eliminates the communication barriers that sometimes exists when adults try to talk to young people directly by having their own peers deliver those messages in a way that is relatable, and it builds resilience at the most basic level by helping to create another bridge to the adult support systems within the schools. The positive impact of these two things is truly immeasurable,” she said.
“We believe in this programme, so it makes sense that we would want to build capacity to run it here at home without having to constantly rely on funding and external trainers to be able to conduct these sessions regularly.”
As in 2017, trainers from the Canadian Red Cross will be coming to Cayman to conduct the sessions, but this time the focus will be on master training. The CIRC explained that this training aims to build capacity so that all groups interested in offering the It’s Not Your Fault programme will have the personnel available to run the course and then implement the initiative.
She added that the opportunity to conduct master training in Cayman will enable “having our own people trained to the highest level so that, as more schools and youth-serving organisations see the benefit of this programme, we can give continuity to the training of the peer educators and adult facilitators locally.”
The INYF training covers all aspects of violence – physical abuse (vs positive discipline), emotional abuse, neglect and sexual abuse – as well as providing participants with information on their rights, local resources, and local and international laws on child protection, the Red Cross said.
The programme is delivered by peer educators and adult support staff who are trained together to deliver the lessons to their younger peers. In the pilot programme rolled out two years ago, the Canadian Red Cross trained staff and young people to be able to identify what abuse, exploitation, neglect and maltreatment look like and how to get help.
At the 2017 training, 26 Year 10 students from John Gray and Clifton Hunter high schools, 14 support staff, two Ministry of Education staff as well as Ferreira, underwent the intensive course at the CIRC.
The training prepared the participants to deliver lessons to the target audience of children age 12 and above, in that case Year 8 students at the schools, with the Red Cross noting at the time that having young people as leaders in violence prevention was a “unique approach”.
The master training course is free and the CIRC is accepting applications, but the session is limited to 25 people. Participants will be selected based on experience, ability and qualifications. Ferreira explained that being a trainer “is not a paid position but participants will be committing to conducting the training sessions over a specific period of time as a trade-off for gaining this qualification”.
If an organisation doesn’t have the staff to take part in the training, the Red Cross will arrange to send authorised facilitators to bring the programme to interested groups.
For more information, email Carolina Ferreira at deputy@redcross.org.ky or call 916-1742
Category: Education, Local News, Training, Youth
