Peer Advocacy

Did you know that students with disabilities are bullied at a rate of two to three times more than their non-disabled peers? It’s true.

Statistics show that bullying happens to almost 75 percent of students with disabilities. Many students with disabilities have few or no friends. This makes it easier for someone to bully them, since they do not have many or any friends looking out for them.

A Unique Bullying Prevention Model for Students with Disabilities

"Peer Advocacy addresses bullying of students with disabilities by engaging, educating, and empowering their peers with advocacy skills."

Peer advocacy is a program centered around inclusion and designed to educate students on speaking out on behalf of students with intellectual, developmental, or other disabilities. It is is a unique approach that empowers students to protect those targeted by bullying and to provide social inclusion opportunities.

What is a Peer Advocate

A peer advocate is a student who looks out for other students who are being bullied, are vulnerable to being hurt or harmed, or who are isolated from other students. Peer advocates help out by making sure that they are included and protected from harm. The peer advocate program teaches students about different disabilities and encourages them to befriend their peers with disabilities. Peer Advocates also learn how to use their strengths in order to effectively advocate for those who are targeted by bullying.

Most students don’t like to see bullying, but they may not know what to do when it happens. Peer advocacy — speaking out on the behalf of others — is a unique approach that empowers students to protect those targeted by bullying.

Peer advocacy is effective for two reasons:

1. Students often see and know of bullying long before adults are aware of it. The student voice and peer influence is powerful in speaking out on behalf of others.

2. A student telling someone to stop bullying often has much more impact than an adult giving the same advice.

Reasons Why Peer Advocacy is so Important

"Peer advocacy can benefit students with disabilities as well as the students who advocate on their behalf. Students with disabilities report feeling that they have more friends, that someone cares about them, and that they are more included in activities. Students who are advocates report that they feel as if they are doing something that matters, that they feel valued by making a difference for others, and that they have learned much about themselves and about others who are different from them."

Students with disabilities are bullied at a statistically higher rate than their peers. Studies show that as many of 75 percent of students with disabilities experience bullying.

The factors that are highly indicative of becoming a target of bullying – social isolation and a vulnerable reaction to the bullying behavior – are the hallmark characteristics of many students with disabilities. Oftentimes students with disabilities have few or no friends. It is much easier for someone who bullies to pick on students who are alone or don’t have an ally looking out for them. In addition, many students with disabilities are not as adept as their peers at navigating the complexities of social relationships, so they often react by expressing such emotions as anger, sadness, and fear in a way that encourages someone who bullies.

Research has demonstrated that peer engagement is a critical factor in reducing bullying in the school climate. Student engagement is also important because bullying can be covert, is not always recognized by adults, and often occurs outside the periphery of adult view with only the students themselves as witnesses.

Many students are already informally intervening in bullying situations. A peer advocate program creates a formal process that identifies, trains, and supports a designated group of students who watch out for students with disabilities.

Bystanders can have a positive, lasting impact by taking a few simple actions. The peer advocacy program provides the opportunity for students to take more formal action. Research indicates that four actions have the most potential to “make things better” for targets of bullying:

• Spending time with students who are bullied

• Trying to get students who are bullied away from the situation

• Listening to students who are bullied

• Telling the student that no one deserves to be bullied

The peer advocacy process establishes a support system from peers as well as logistics for adult supervision and support. Purposeful engagement of peers to intervene in systematic ways is a powerful step to reduce bullying.

Benefits for the School and Students

Peer advocacy can benefit students with disabilities as well as the students who advocate on their behalf. Students with disabilities report feeling that they have more friends, that someone cares about them, and that they are more included in activities. Students who are advocates report that they feel as if they are doing something that matters, that they feel valued by making a difference for others, and that they have learned much about themselves and about others who are different from them.