Meeting Young People Where They Are - Centre For Peaceful Solutions

Tom

4 November 2026

This week…

Meeting Young People Where They Are:

Peer Voices, Short-Form Video and Safer Conversations

How do we responsibly connect with young people when so much of their world is shaped by social media, short-form algorithms and mounting mental health pressures? It’s a question I hear from teachers and parents all the time, and one that comes up again and again in my own work in schools.

So for this week’s episode of All Things Conflict, I invited two guests who are working on it every day. Anne Morris is a former maths teacher and the founder of Peer Scroller. Claire Hiscock is a Product Manager at Thrive. Together, we looked at how schools, educators and parents can bridge the generational communication gap.

Mind the gap

Young people today communicate through scrolling feeds, quick clips and peer-to-peer sharing. Many of us trying to support them grew up with very different habits. That difference can leave well-meaning messages from schools and parents falling flat.

My starting point for this conversation was simple: if we want young people to listen, we need to meet them where they already are, in a voice they recognise and trust.

Evidence-based tools, peer-created voices

Anne and Claire walked me through the power of pairing two things that are rarely seen together. On one side are evidence-based tools for social-emotional development. On the other is authentic, peer-created short-form video.

The tools bring structure and credibility. The peer content brings relatability. As we discussed, a message about wellbeing lands very differently when it comes from someone your own age, in the format you already use, rather than from a poster in the school corridor.

Safe spaces for difficult conversations

We talked about how relatable peer voices can open the door to topics young people often find hard to raise, including:

ADHD diagnosis
Period poverty
Young carers
Digital wellbeing

For me, the key is getting these conversations started early. When young people feel safe to talk, tensions can be addressed before they escalate into crisis.

What I’ve learned from peer mediators

I also shared some of what I’ve seen from training young peer mediators in schools. My experience points to the same conclusion from a different direction: young people are often best placed to support each other.

When we give young people the skills and the trust to help their peers, the benefits don’t stop at a single resolved conflict. Empowering them in this way creates lasting positive change across a whole school community.

Listen to the episode

Whether you’re a teacher, a school leader or a parent, I hope this episode offers you a fresh way to think about reaching young people. Rather than competing with the feed, it asks how we might use it, with young people’s own voices leading the way.

You can listen to my full conversation with Anne and Claire on All Things Conflict, wherever you get your podcasts. I’d love to hear what it sparks for you.

Maria

Key Takeaways

The Power of the Peer Voice: Young people connect with and confide in relatable, near-peer role models far more readily than traditional authority figures.
Responsible Content Creation: Utilizing short-form video content formatted like TikTok and Instagram—while keeping scripts carefully reviewed and held to high educational standards—bridges the gap between modern engagement and safe learning.
Upstream Conflict Prevention: Addressing emotional tensions, bullying, or behavioral slips early prevents issues from escalating into dangerous, hidden conflicts.
Data-Driven Pastoral Insights: Tracking engagement trends on digital learning platforms allows educators to spot emerging school-wide concerns (such as period poverty or caregiving struggles) before they become crises.
Engaging Parents at Home: Equipping families with accessible, digestible tools helps bridge the communication divide between the classroom and home life.
Proper Scaffolding for Peer Mentoring: Peer support and buddy schemes require structured training in empathy and listening; without guidance, older students can inadvertently heighten anxieties for incoming pupils.
Relevant Links: www.peerscroller.com www.thriveapproach.com