To help our teens,
we need to hear them and support positive choices.
Help Increase the Peace Program (HIP) is a series of workshops that introduces people to ideas and skills that help us to practice a non-violent life.
HIP workshops are dynamic and interactive with an emphasis on building trust and respect within the group. Participants develop self-esteem and confidence and for youth in particular this helps with impulse control and resisting peer pressure. Practice is given with listening and role-plays to develop skills in creative problem solving and strategies for conflict resolution. The HIP program progressively trains participants as facilitators and so establishes a leadership base and grows in a grass-roots manner within the community.
At a recent meeting of the community group Norwalk Neighbors Helping Our Teens (nnhtkids.org), the teenagers present were very clear that they wanted a voice in resolving the issues in their lives and that they appreciated being heard at the meeting. Facilitator Judy Meikle states “The NNHT meeting was run using HIP principles – creating a community where people listen and can be heard. This is central to a HIP workshop experience for teens so they can then develop other skills, which support them as they avoid violence in their lives. It also helps them to have the confidence to speak up about issues which they see as being at the root of their problems”.
The teens cited among their issues a lack of trust of the police and other authority figures and poor facilities at school and in their neighborhoods. Meikle states, “HIP is a program that doesn’t claim to have the answers – the facilitators don’t teach, they guide the participants through exercises which are experience based and active - that works well for teens. People learn from things that they already know but may not yet have applied in a creative way to making different choices. HIP engages you; you have fun while developing skills. Having the confidence to make a tough call under pressure is a huge step, and feeling empowered to ask for respect and resources is a goal of the program.”
