Three Berkeley Institute students are singing the praises of the Peer Mentor programme that they are part of. The three 17-year-olds visit Northlands Primary once a week during a lunch hour as part of the mentoring programme organised by YouthNet. They are each paired with a student in primary six. Once a week they play, study and talk with the students.

The Berkeley students join because they want to give something back to the community and be positive role models for Bermudian youths. Peer mentor Darr’I Burchall has already seen results from the time he has spent with the young boy he mentors.

“He was having problems with one of his classes and getting bad grades,” Darr’I said. “I encouraged him to work hard and helped him with his homework. Now he’s getting A’s and B’s in that class.”

Darr’I joined the programme because he remembered what it was like being a young boy.

“Having someone to look up to and help you out can be such a relief for kid,” he said. “We’ll do homework and play football and talk about situations he’s in with his friends.

“It’s definitely something I will continue doing. It’s made me a lot more responsible. To take care of and be involved in another person’s life is great. In fact, it’s tutoring me and showing me how I need to prepare for my life.”

Khalifa Hinds said he became a peer mentor because he thought the idea of changing someone’s life was very inspirational. The young man was paired up with a nine-year-old boy at Northlands. Once a week they play football together and educational computer games. They often talk about their school and family lives.

His mentee is not the only one gaining from the experience. Khalifa, who is a prefect at Berkeley, said he is also learning a lot from the relationship.

“It’s definitely made me more responsible and it is something that I really enjoy doing,” he said.

Nikiesha Tucker joined the programme in November and thinks that YouthNet did a wonderful job matching her up with the young lady she mentors.

“We both enjoy music so we listen to lots of thing in the computer lab and talk,” she said.

“I joined the programme because I think it is important for young people to have a positive role model and I wanted to help kids who may not have that.”

“I would encourage more people to join the programme. Little kids need more people, especially youths, to look up to.”