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Peer Counseling Demonstration
Students of the Kobe City College of
Nursing presented a demonstration of their peer counseling activities
to the participants of the Second 2005 Workshop as an example of young
people's involvement in promoting reproductive health and awareness of
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS. The Workshop
participants not only observed the demonstration, but they also
participated, as the students invited them to play the role of the high
school students to be counselled.
 To begin the event, the college's president, Dr. Kiyoko
Ikegawa, welcomed the overseas visitors to Kobe and thanked everyone
for the opportunity to speak about the college's activities. She
pointed out that Kobe learned a lot about how to help each other
through its experience of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. She
cited "care" as an indispensable element for the desirable development
of a society. She also mentioned that the peer counseling activities
were a good example of how we could help each other through caring, and
that such initiatives were particularly important in light of the
rising numbers of HIV cases in Japan especially among adolescents.
Ms. Kumiko Adachi, an instructor at the college, then
introduced the peer counseling demonstration. She explained that "peer"
in this case meant "friend" and that the college students created their
own materials to educate and counsel high school students on HIV/AIDS,
condom use and other reproductive health issues.
Students began the demonstration by
explaining that to encourage effective participation, they asked of
their counselees three simple items, namely, to keep the discussions
confidential, to speak from personal experience, and to not be critical
or judgmental. The activities of the demonstration were as follows:
- An outline of a student's life, from past experience
to future expectation. The exercise highlighted the importance of love,
friends and family for happiness in life, while showing the hardship of
illness and being alone;
- A quiz game about STDs, which included questions such
as "Do symptoms always appear soon?" (no), "Is HIV a kind of STD?"
(yes) and "Are all STDs cured by treatment?" (no);
- An explanation of how STDs are spread through "sexual
networks"; and
- A role play scenario that highlighted the importance
of using a condom, which in actual counseling is followed up by a
demonstration of how to use a condom.
Click here for more pictures. The students explained that they themselves developed the
content of the counseling program and that they felt great satisfaction
when the high school students enjoyed the exercises and learned
something valuable. They also expressed their desire to communicate
with peer workers in other countries, as such activities were
increasing here and around the world.
Mr. Nobuyuki Morimoto, Deputy Executive
Director of AUICK, closed the session by mentioning that in Japan
parents are generally too shy to talk to their children about sex
education. Furthermore, condom sales to minors are restricted here, as
authorities believe easy availability would promote sex and demoralize
society. He praised the college students for their efforts and stressed
the important role they and their activities play in contemporary
society.
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