Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP)

The MVP Programme is a peer-led leadership and bystander programme developed in the United States by US Educator Dr Jackson Katz. MVP offers excellent opportunities to discuss a range of current social issues within an educational framework where positive relationships, Health and Wellbeing are key.

Violence is a complex issue and one which is very often not fully understood by the many who are responsible for tackling it. We often try to deal with the violence that we see and do not tackle the culture, the beliefs and the attitudes which may result in the physical act itself. The introduction of Bystander training within the educational setting will start to tackle the culture, the beliefs and the attitudes that say violence is acceptable. The approach will also allow discussions on bullying, harassment, sexual violence, weapons carrying, CSE and different forms of hate crime as well as the influence of the modern media in shaping our society.

The MVP Programme places young people within realistic and relevant scenarios. The aim of these scenarios is to:

• Raise Awareness (of the issue)
• Challenge thinking (around the issue)
• Open Dialogue, and
• Inspire individual leadership (around the issue)

The discussions created within MVP permit young people to share, the often, healthy norms that most of them believe in. These discussions also aim to reassure young people. A simple but effective toolkit is shared to individuals allowing them to be the friends they want to be.