Japanese children’s perspectives on the

4.2.3 Lack of empathy and judgemental attitudes

In terms of activities, it was clear that there were not many opportunities for peer supporters to provide one-to-one support with other pupils. However, peer supporters were generally trained by peer support trainers in order to develop their counselling skills and minds. This means peer supporters’ attitudes and behaviours need to be based on person-centred model (see chapter 2). However, peer supporters often showed their negative views about other pupils, and their attitudes and comments showed lack of empathy. Some peer supporters seemed to feel privileged over other pupils.

“I think, as you know, as a whole, all pupils are equal………..we need the role of hierarchical relationship.” “What can I say…..as you know ….. someone needs to lead others. If everyone was equal, we cannot progress… I think….” (Michelle.p.9)

“Compared to teachers, it seems they (peer supporters) are less powerful…..what can I say….I believe we need someone between teachers and pupils….hahahah….What can I say…… someone needs to be a pupil……but someone also should have similar power as teachers have……what can I say….we need someone who is reliable selected from pupils…..” (Michelle.p.12)

Peer supporters tended to think that they had some privileges over other pupils. In terms of their activities, peer supporters needed to take the lead for the activities. However, some peer supporters were motivated to fill their personal interests, rather than think about other pupil’s happiness and merits. Thus, occasionally peer supporters feel bothersome to take actions for others.

“Ummm……I am taking actions for others. I want to be the centre of attention. Hahaha….. (Sally, p.27)

“I think peer supporters are eager to do it….. “ …….“Peer supporters are egotistical persons in a positive sense” (Ellie, p14)

“When I asked some pupils to behave well several times, they did not listen to me. Sometimes I feel that’s bothersome to persuade them to do something.” (Dan, p.13)

There were some pupils who did not want to join and follow the peer support activities. Peer supporters tended to show their negative views and judgemental attitudes towards other pupils easily. It was difficult to see any empathy reflected towards pupils who did not join the activities. Rather peer supporters mentioned others’ faults and weak points without hesitation.

“…..on the other hand, pupils who do not actively join, stick at nothing and lack endurance. They tend to do something different one after another. They focus only their enjoyable things.” (Ben.p.25)

“Pupils want to play…..also they are not good at speaking in front of people…well. Even some pupils who are good at speaking in front of people, do not like doing some bothersome activities……..thus pupils do not want to be a peer supporter.” (Ellie, p12)

“….some pupils really do not care about other people at all. They think even if they do something good for other people, it will not benefit them.

Thus hearts are different. (John, p10)

“but regarding the pupils who do not join the activities, their character is gloomy and sombre, and also a bit scary. These pupils tend not to join the activities. To be honest, I want all pupils to join. However, these pupils definitely do not join the activities,………….”

(Ben, p8)

“They (pupils) are reluctant to…….because they think other pupils should do it….”

(Sally, p26)

“Pupils who can’t be bothered to do that, tend not to join.”

(Cathy, p6)

In addition, interestingly, peer supporters easily classified some pupils as badly behaved pupils and showed their judgemental attitudes towards other pupils.

Yes…..probably, bad behaved pupils are given the advices by their friends, something like, “It is better to not do that”. I think this is good…” (Lucy, p10)

“As you know, when I speak to misbehaved pupils, they can listen to what I am saying a bit.” ………“ As you know, I do not think misbehaved pupils would encourage other misbehaved pupils. But even if one of the misbehaved pupils joined the activities, other misbehaved pupils may think about the activities. There is also the possibility that they may join. (Ken, p30)

I believe especially misbehaved pupils need to attend the school summits and see the anti-bullying dramas in order to reflect on their own behaviours.

(Ken, p36)

“…. I did not know the reason why, but the central person of these bad boys changed his behaviours positively. Then other bad boys also improved their behaviours and worked seriously.” (Helen, p49)

“Maybe, some teacher encouraged badly behaved pupils, but they did not change their attitudes at all. Thus some teachers gave up encouraging them to do something good….. “ (Helen, p53)

Generally, peer supporters were trained to learn counselling and communication skills, which help them to work as a peer supporter. However, peer supporters rarely showed their empathic attitudes and comments to other pupils; rather they often showed their judgmental views and comments.
4.2.4 Disapproval of emotional problems

One of the main roles of peer supporters is to provide emotional support to pupils, especially to pupils suffering from school bullying and school refusal. However, only a few peer supporters recognised and paid attention to emotional problems in the school.

“There is no bullying.” (Lucy.p.1)
“Well……..in my class, everyone has good relationships ….. well ….. currently peer support activities focus on bullying issues. However, we do not have bullying in my class. Pupils from other schools mentioned there are some bullying issues, but there is no bullying in our school….I think.” (Ellie.p.1)
“I think there is no bullying” (Michelle.p.1)
“Yes, there is no bullying” (Sally.p.1)
“I think there is no bullying.” (Cathy.p.1)
“Like harmonious relations………there is no bullying at all.” (Natalie.p.1)
“No, we do not have it (bullying). Everyone speak to others very friendly.” (John.p.1)

“I think there is no bullying” “There are some small skirmishes among some pupils, but there is no bullying like in Sakuranomiya high school.” (Dan.p.1)

“Bullying might occur……but this is not obvious.” (Alex.p.1)
“There is no bullying.” (Ben.p.1)
“There is no bullying in my point of view.” (Paul.p.1)
“I cannot say there are no bullying. But some pupils try to stop bullying…..I also try to stop bullying.” (Graham.p.1)

“Currently, we have several pupils who are in school refusal. We need some peer support activities, which allow these pupils to join in. (Sally.p.23)

“Bullying……well…….what can I say……well…….to tell the truth, there are some bullying in my grade. Well…….ummmm….some teachers know some pupils who are bullied.” “…….teachers have been asking pupils who are bullied, about bullying. But these pupils do not tell the truth. Because they think if they tell the truth about bullying, bullies may revenge on them. Thus, these pupils do not tell the truth and this do not help to solve the bullying issues. (Helen.p.2)

Out of 14 peer supporters, only a few peer supporters acknowledged there were school bullying in the school. This implied that Japanese peer supporters have a nature that is different from the Western style peer supporters. In short, Japanese peer supporters mainly focus on some other duties and roles, rather than providing one-to-one support with pupils who are in distress. These results may also suggest that there is a lack of communication between peer supporters in the school.

4.2.5 Role of a mini teacher
“…….maybe pupils can encourage misbehaving pupils once. But if the misbehaving pupils did not listen to what they said……..what can I say……pupils hesitate to contact them.” “…before joining the peer support team, I was able to offer advice to others once. But now I can offer advice many times until they listen to my advice because I am a peer supporter. I have a role as a peer supporter, and this is an excuse to offer advice. ……what can I say…… …I have been supported by my friends………I had many opportunities to give talks and now I able to behave confidently.” (Michelle, p19)

4.3 Perceived generation gap

The second theme is “Perceived generation gap”. Peer supporters believed there was a generation gap between teachers and pupils. Peer supporters shared their views and experiences about advantages and disadvantages regarding peer support in their daily life. Especially, there seemed to have several issues, which are strongly related to their generation gap. In this sense, peer supporters understood their superiority over teachers and they had their own meanings of their role as a peer supporter.

4.3.1 Teachers’ views vs. pupils’ views

Most peer supporters believed their superiority over the teachers and one of the critical points was that peer supporters were able to understand other pupil’s views and feelings. Therefore, peer supporters believed they played an important role to support and take the lead for others’ happiness.

“Well, there are age differences between the pupils and the teachers. Then, there are some gaps between teachers’ views are pupils’ views. Pupils are the same generation, therefore I think pupils share similar views.” (John, p6)

“Ummm……sure enough, pupils’ views are different from teachers’ views…

Um…..peer supporters are pupils as well…..so I think it is nicer to speak and take actions in terms of pupils’ views. Pupils listen to other pupils’ words more than teachers’ words, don’t they?” (Lucy, p9)

“I think their opinions are a slightly different. Teachers tend to say they feel the same ways as we (pupils) feel. But in terms of pupils’ views, pupils doubt whether teachers just pretend to share the same feelings as pupils feel or not.” (Ken, p12)

Most peer supporters acknowledged there are some differences between pupils’ views and teachers’ views. Peer supporters had confidence about their feelings and views as a pupil, and this positive issue seemed to encourage peer supporters to think they embodied pupils’ views and played a role to enrich pupils’ school life.

“I believe adult’s views differ from children’s views. Thus, pupils are able to do various activities in terms of children’s views. So it is better to have peer support.” (Alex, p7)

“Because of peer support systems, pupils can think about their school life in terms of pupils’ viewpoints. If teachers think about our school life, teachers would understand it in terms of adults’ viewpoints. So teachers cannot understand some parts of our school life.” (Paul.p7)

Peer supporters believed they were playing a critical role to enrich pupils’ school life. Interestingly, peer supporters often mentioned they doubted their teacher’s approach to pupils. Many peer supporters often mentioned teachers tend to ignore pupils’ opinions and teachers did not fully understand pupils’ intentions and thoughts.

“….if we always rely on teachers, there might be a risk that our school life will deteriorate. If only teachers decide many things of our school life without listening to pupils’ opinions, pupils would not want to do what teachers say…….. “Occasionally pupils doubt whether teachers are right or not.” “Some pupils often doubt what teachers say…… …. But pupils tend to follow the ideas and opinions of other pupils, because they are the pupils as well.” (Ken.p11)

“Ahhh….. as you know various pupils have their individualities. But teachers tend to ignore our individualities, and treat us as a mass (all together). Therefore, I want teachers to respect our individualities and talk to us carefully. I believe teachers do not know understand our individualities and teachers need to clean up their behaviours.” (Ken.p12)

As a whole, peer supporters acknowledged there were some differences between pupils’ views and teachers’ views. This seemed to encourage peer supporters to take actions in order to fulfil pupils’ needs. In fact, peer supporters believed they played an important role to enrich pupils’ school life, and even some peer supporters tended to think of teachers’ attitudes negatively. Therefore, peer supporters tended to take the initiative for their own activities, peer-led activities.

“We pupils need to decide things to do, but……..….often teachers give us advice…..But….we pupils need to listen to what other pupils want to do, then we pupils have to decide what we need to do. This means pupils take the initiative for their own activities. (Ken, p15)

4.3.2 Pupils’ closeness and Teachers’ blindness

As mentioned above, peer supporters believed their superiority over teachers’ in terms of the differences between teachers’ views and pupils’ views. Here, peer supporters more frequently mentioned their superiority in terms of teachers’ blindness. In short, peer supporters believed teachers were not able to see and understand pupils’ school life more than peer supporters did. Peer supporters shared some experiences as below.

“…..in our school…….there are not much..….but bullying happens somewhere teachers cannot see..” “… When some pupils smoke cigarettes, they smoke somewhere the teachers cannot see them. But pupils know their deeds because we pupils usually share the same space in school.” “Except in special circumstances, we pupils stay in a class. When something bad happens, pupils can see and understand the issues. But teachers do not stay in a class room (they stay in a staff room). Also the teachers in charge change annually ….” (Ellie.p.18)

“I think teachers cannot see some parts of pupils’ life and views. Thus, we need to have peer support systems in school to work for pupils.”“.…there are not many teachers in the school, are there. There are a few hundred pupils in the school, but there are about 40 teachers. Therefore, it is very difficult for the teacher to see and understand the whole school.” (Paul.p7)

From their experiences, peer supporters believed they had more opportunities to see and know other pupils’ behaviours and issues. In short, peer supporters were often able to observe both inside and outside of class time. Greater contact time between peer supporters and other pupils provided peer supporters more opportunities to gain a better understanding of pupils’ behaviour.

“Teachers are…….it is difficult for teachers to know pupils’ issues. Well, thus, peer supporters are selected from pupils and peer supporters often know about pupils’ issues more than teachers do.” (Graham.p7)

“There is a noisy pupil in a class, and everyone in the class do not want to have anything to do with him. Thus everyone ignores him. However, teachers often ask us to say “Be quiet” to him…….. this is comparable for us to provoke a quarrel against him….” “Teachers encourage us to say (“be quite”) to the noisy pupil, but if we said this to him, we would receive revenge from him……so teachers do not understand these kind of things..” (Alex, p9)

“…usually pupils are surrounded by other pupils, aren’t they? Therefore, pupils can understand even small issues, and it is easy to do something. Pupils spend more time with other pupils than teachers do. Thus pupils can know other pupils’ characteristics and also know how to make other pupils happy.” “I think new teachers do not know pupils well because the teacher spent only a year in the school.” (Paul, p21)

Peer supporters seemed to have confidence to provide support with other pupils more than their teachers did.


4.3.3 Friendships among pupils and negative attitudes toward teachers.

Peer supporters believed that they keep good relationships between peer supporters and other pupils. The relationships (sometimes it could be friendships) seemed to be an important factor for peer supporters to smoothly encourage other pupils to join and take the lead for their activities. On the contrary, in terms of relationships, teachers had several disadvantages when they asked the pupils to do something. Some peer supporters believed they gained trust from other pupils, thus they were able to encourage other pupils more successfully to join the activities.

“Pupils are more motivated by other pupils’ encouragements than adults’ encouragements.” “Especially when the pupils were encouraged by reliable pupils, they would take actions.” (Cathy.p9)

“Yes…..let me see……rather than teachers ask pupils to do the things… like “clean up your class” and “we will go for cleaning campaign”……..we are now peer supporters….. when pupils (peer supporters) ask other pupils to do something, other pupils are more supportive. Because they think peer supporters are working hard…….” (Ellie.p.16-17)

“Well…because pupils are easily inspired by other pupils’ encouragements, rather than the teacher’s encouragements.” (John.p12)

“…….. rather than opinions based on teachers’ views, opinions based on pupils’ views would permeate me more strongly.” (Michelle, p33)

“……but I think pupils generally stand on the same footing……thus pupils seem be more persuasive when they speak to other pupils…” Rather than teachers’ order……..friends….friends in a class can create the atmosphere to enhance our self-motivation to take actions…” (Natalie.p6)

In this vein, a peer supporter explained one of the reasons why she is closer to her friends than the teachers. The reason seemed to be related to the relationships between her and her friends.

“… I am able to ask teachers about many questions in terms of my school records… but I do not talk about my feelings with teachers…”

“….. friends are……..even after school …..I can talk to my friends and do homework together. We can keep our friendships continuously…… so I think friends are very important more than teachers….” “…. I can see the teachers only in the school. What can I say, during classes….. no, not class….. well some teachers occasionally move to other schools. Well…….. the relationship I have with some teachers are not so long. So I think I have longer relationships with my friends since when I was in primary school. ……so my friends know me for long time, thus it is easier for me to ask them to give me some advice…..” (Michelle, p34)

Also peer supporters mentioned that many pupils tended to feel that teachers’ comments and attitudes were very imperative and high-handed manners. On the contrary, peer supporters behaved in respectful manners, thus other pupils would like to do something when they were asked by peer supporters.
“Teachers always behave in an imperative manner, and they say things like “do it!”. They do not say it respectfully….. like “shall we do it?”. But, when pupils asked us, they tend to say things like “Shall we do it together!”……………“We have a few boys who misbehave in our class. Generally, these boys do not listen to what the teachers say, but when I ask them, they sometimes improve their attitudes. (Sally, p8)

“Well…….rather than teachers ask pupil to join….it is much more influential when peer supporters and friends ask pupils to join it.“ “When pupils were asked by friends, these pupils feel friends rely on me and they need my help. Thus pupils would like to join it.” “Well……when teachers ask pupils to do something, pupils may feel like they are forced to do it…… (Graham, p6)

In addition, it is natural for some teenagers to behave in a rebellious manner. Especially, when pupils were forced to do something by adults and teachers, they would not follow teachers’ orders at all. In this sense, some pupils tended to keep some distances from adults, and also they tended to disregard adults.

“Some noisy pupils do not care about the teacher’s word. They make light of teachers. They have negative feelings like “leave me alone” “kill you”…

Therefore, when the teachers ask noisy pupils to be quiet, sometime they do not listen to teacher’s words. In this case, peer supporters try to settle an awkward situation pleasantly.” “Sometimes, (pupils’ words) are very influential.”…….”Generally, pupils’ encouragements are more influential.” (Ben.p10)

“Pupils listen to other pupils’ words more than teachers’ words, don’t they?” “….when pupils were warned by the teacher during the lesson, they were ashamed…then, they did not want to follow the teachers’ opinion, and behave in a rebellious manner.”……..”Pupils have persuasive powers…..” (Lucy.p.9)

“……..some pupils have rebellious attitudes toward teachers, because they reached the rebellious age. There is no rebellious age between pupils. Thus, when pupils give some advice to each other, most times pupils listen to their friends’ advice. “Pupils’ words are more influential” “Because many pupils are at a rebellious age and they tend to show rebellious attitudes towards teachers.” (Dan, p6)

In addition to teenagers’ rebellious attitudes, peer supporters explained some reasons, which made it difficult for teachers to ask the pupils to do something and to communicate with pupils.

“…..when we were in primary school, most pupils liked teachers. But now in the secondary school, we are fussy about the teachers.” “Some pupils said “I do not like this teachers because…..”, but other pupils said “I like this teacher….”. Everyone has his likes and dislikes……..some pupils do not want to rely on someone who they do not like……If all pupils rely on a particular good teacher, this would be a big burden on the teacher………thus……. we need some pupils to take care of others…. (Michelle.p.10)

“pupils have feeling of rivalry toward teachers……....some pupils do not like them…….they feel a bit annoyed…….….this may be a common issue in lower secondary schools……....well, peer supporters can grow together with other pupils. Thus……ummm…….it is important for pupils to help in order to improve a whole school.” (Helen.p.19)

“if pupils join the activity, pupils do not want others think they are a teacher’s pet…..” (Graham.p6)

Some pupils do not want to follow teachers’ orders because the pupils do not like them. Also other pupils mentioned they do not want to be seen as a teachers’ pet, thus they hesitated to follow the teachers’ orders. Also in terms of culture influence (collectivisms), in Japan, social groups and peer pressure seemed to be critical factors for children to follow their friends’ behaviours and opinions. Pupils appeared to be keen on the power of peer pressure and social groups, and these strongly influenced individuals as well as groups in their daily life.

“The pupils who are willing to help other pupils, often could not take action because of peer pressure. The pupils make a group of friends and stay with close friends. If the majority of close friends did not want to contribute to something good, then other pupils followed their friends’ behaviour.”

“Well…if the majority of close friends join the volunteer activities, even other pupils who did not want to join, also followed the friends’ decisions and joined the volunteer activities.” “Well……still many groups do not join yet. But if the majority of group members join the activities, other members would definitely join too.” (Graham, p16)

From the above, peer supporters believed that peer supporters had their advantages over the teachers which were related to the perceived generation gap.

4.4 Self-improvement

The third theme is “Self-improvement”. Through the peer support training and activities, peer supporters had gone through various experiences. The interviews data revealed that peer supporters gained the benefits and developed themselves emotionally, mentally and behaviourally.

4.4.1 Overcoming own weakness

Surprisingly, most peer supporters were struggling to overcome their own weakness, especially their shyness and nervousness. In short, at the beginning, peer supporters are not model pupils, but through their peer support activities, they overcame their own issues, which eventually contributed to their emotional and behavioural developments. Especially, when peer supporters need to speak in front of others, most peer supporters were struggling to do that because of their shyness and nervousness.

“In the past, I was nervous in front of people and I could speak well….my voice had a tremulous sound.” (Lucy (p13)

“…and, I worry about I may have a stammer……when I talk about for information for other pupils, I need to think and talk to other pupils in order to clearly explain to them. Thus I am so nervous especially when I was watched by others. After giving my talk, I often asked my friends about how bad my talking was…so I feel nervous most of time…..” (Michelle.p4)

“……….everyone is very quiet and I am very nervous....” “My palms were sweating ….” (John.p3)

From their experiences, it is clear that peer supporters were really struggling. Some of them were too nervous to speak properly in front of people. It seems very difficult for teenagers to cope with their shyness and nervousness. In fact, through the interviews, many peer supporters mentioned that because of their shyness and nervousness, other pupils did not want to join the peer support team. However, peer supporters tackled their own issues positively. They explained their attitudes and feelings about how they were able to overcome their shyness and nervousness.

“I need to practice again and again….then I gain confidence…Eventually I can dispel my feeling of uneasiness.” (Michelle.p37)

“When I was in primary school, I was too shy to stand in front of people. But when I went to secondary school, I become a peer supporter. Then I made a firm resolution to stand in front of others no matter what. Then I was okay to stand in front of pupils and I did not feel shy.”….“Yes, I was shy….hahahaha….” “now I am able to speak to anyone”. “when I was in primary school, I only used to talk to my close friends. But now I can talk to everyone in my class.” (Sally)

“Umm…I believe, if I was not a peer supporter, I could not have experienced to speak in front of people...” “I could overcome my shyness. Now I am not nervous to speak in front of people.” (John.p16)

“…I was a shy person.” “I am still shy when I speak in front of many people”

“In days gone by, I was able to speak only in front of my friends unashamedly.

However, now I am able to speak in front of all my class mates when I need to speak to them.” “Also I am able to behave with confidence.” (Cathy.p16)

“Well….in days gone by, I was a quiet indrawn man and I seldom mentioned my opinions. But, because of peer support, now I can share my opinions during classes.” (Paul.p10)

“I am not good at talking in front of people. Especially when I was in primary school…I was not good at.. But, because I became a peer supporter, I have many opportunities to talk in front of people. Through these experiences, I gradually get used to that. Then, I feel less nervous……..so I think when I am grown up in the future, I am able to do it.” (Alex.p12)

Through the activities, most peer supports reported they needed to overcome their own weakness, especially shyness and nervousness. This implied the fact it was not easy for peer supporters to carry on their duties as a peer supporter. Since peer supporters tended to retain their strong wills, these struggles seemed to be opportunities to foster their inner strengths and encourage their emotional and behavioural developments.