Our Teens and Toddlers programme improves the confidence and interpersonal communication skills of the young people who participate. The young people on the programme become mentors and role models to a toddler, allowing them to develop a mutually beneficial bond and inspire one another.
Before the programme, Erin, 14, lacked confidence and felt quite shy talking in front of others.
As Erin was quite shy, he was paired with a child named Eva who was chatty and had a lot of energy, in the hope that this would bring Erin out of his shell.
At the beginning of the programme, Erin found it difficult to be assertive and to communicate with his mentee and his peers, so we worked with him on communication.
Ella, one of our Programme Leads:
Erin and I focused on how to communicate non-verbally with our body language, facial expressions and tone. We then practiced verbal communication focusing on voicing our views, opinions and emotions in an assertive but respectful way,
As Erin put these techniques into practice, he started to develop leadership skills and embed. He was pushing himself outside of his comfort zone while having fun!
As Erin’s confidence grew, his relationship with Eva also grew. Erin could see that Eva was managing her behaviour and emotions better and it made him feel proud. He said, “I feel very happy that I have helped Eva. My favourite thing about the programme was seeing Eva and talking to the other children.”
To help Erin communicate better with his peers, Ella worked with him on managing his worries around communication. They looked at active listening, observation skills and ways to reflect on what someone is saying to you. Working on these communication techniques made Erin feel calmer and less stressed when talking to people.
I really liked playing in the sand with Eva, she really enjoyed it. I also liked when we played card games with different emotions on them.
Erin is an incredibly empathetic and respectful person who is a great role model,
Erin began to feel better in all aspects of his life. He even started becoming more confident in engaging in activities with his peers.
“There was a session where the young people had a debate around whether under 16’s should drive. Erin put his point and explanation across clearly in front of the group. He is more confident in his decision making and is more forthcoming when speaking to adults and his peers.
“Erin is an incredibly empathetic and respectful person who is a great role model,” said Ella.
The confidence Erin built from his relationship with Eva combined with the techniques he learnt from the sessions, helped him to interact positively with different people in his life and to believe that his thoughts and feelings are important.
[Teens and Toddlers] was rewarding after each session. I have become more brave. I feel happier now when I am at school. I feel like I can speak to more people and make more friends.
