Peer Resources (1052 Davie Street, Victoria, British Columbia, V8S 4E3) has established a World-Wide Web site http://www.peer.ca/peer.html, an FTP site, and a Listserv to provide support for smoking reduction peer programs as well as other type of peer services. Their award-winning WEB site lists virtually all the internet resources associated with tobacco reduction, career development, employment opportunities, and post-secondary education, peer helping, peer education, peer mediation, and mentor programs. They can also be contacted by e-mail at ud049@freenet.victoria.bc.ca. Access to certain services requires a password. Passwords are available to members of the Peer Resources Network, participants in various peer projects, and Nationally Certified Peer Trainers.

Gary Roberts (groberts@ccsa.ca) of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (75 Albert Street, Suite 480, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5E7) informs us that CCSA has established a presence on the internet through the World-Wide Web http://www.ccsa.ca. They have developed a youth network in conjunction with Elks of Canada. Youth groups can apply to receive support for an internet account in exchange for contributing to the network. The WEB site provides news and information about everything from drugs and alcohol to lifestyles, prevention programs, opinion pieces, and a directory of Canadian youth organizations. CCSA (toll-free: 1-800-214-4788; fax: (613) 235-8101) also provides a number of valuable information services, directories, and publications, including their Action News (subscriptions only $15 a year for six issues).

The Canadian Association for School Health (CASH) maintains an informative Listserv that can be accessed at: school_health@schoolnet.carleton.ca. The List sends out a digest of information related to school health. They provide summaries of important studies, point to other resources available on the internet, and make announcements about various events associated with comprehensive school health programs. To find out more about the Canadian Association for School Health and their Listserv, send e-mail to Doug McCall (dmccall@cycor.ca).

An example of a peer-based smoking prevention program is "Pack in those Smokes: PITS for Teens," coordinated by Jean Engleson, of the Canadian Cancer Society BC & Yukon Division (#13-1839 First Avenue, Prince George, British Columbia, V2L 2Y8, Tel. (604) 564-0885; Fax. (604) 563-0385). The objectives of this school and community-based peer program are to help youth quit smoking through knowledge and skills regarding tobacco issues, decision-making, how to quit, handle peer pressure and enhance self-esteem. Activities include recruitment and training youth facilitators, a pre-and post-program participant survey, media promotion, youth facilitated group sessions and follow up community projects developed by program participants. Teens will also be involved in Prince George's Tobacco Reduction and Prevention Steering Committee which will guide this project. Partners include the Native Friendship Centre, Leisure Services, City of Prince George and Monarch Broadcasting Ltd.

At Unionville High School (201 Town Centre Blvd., Unionville, Ontario, L3R 8G5, Tel: (905) 479-2787; Fax: (905) 479-1539) peer helpers organize and run a substance abuse prevention program for elementary students in neighbouring schools, according to Diane Eckler (Dianeinla@aol.com). The program emphasizes helping children learn social skills to strengthen resistance skills. The peer helpers use the Peer Helper Handbook developed by Rey Carr which is included in Health Canadašs Just for Me substance abuse prevention program.

A number of creative approaches to involving peers in substance abuse prevention have been created in the "Kick Butt Smoking Cessation and Prevention Program", coordinated by Lloyd Carr (lcarr2@cln.etc.bc.ca) at David Thompson Secondary School (Box 429, Invermere, British Columbia, V0A 1K0, Tel: (604) 342-9213; Fax: (604) 342-4499). Trained older students run groups for elementary students, including the Black Lung Olympics, the Healthy Lifestyle Conference, and prevention activity groups. Program focus is on prevention and cessation using Quit for Life, Fresh Start and program leader developed prevention resources. Peer helpers can receive credit towards graduation. Data is available which demonstrates the success of the program, and a set of materials can be obtained by e-mail.

School Counsellor, Lynda Del Grande (Lynda_Del_Grande@nynet.nybe.north-york.on.ca) of the North York Board of Education (3395 Weston Road, North York, Ontario, M9M 2V9, Tel: (416) 395-9253) completed her M.Ed. degree in Adult Education and has found a way to put her graduate education into practice with her peer program. She has been taking the ideas of Peter Senge with regards to the learning organization and has emerged with the idea of the peer helping teacher/coach/facilitator as a co-learner in the process of peer training.

Tammy Muckert, a psychology doctoral student at Griffith University (AIS - 1.13, Nathan QLD 4111, Australia, Tel: 61 7 3875 7841; Fax: 61 7 3875 5114), sent us an e-mail message requesting information about peer programs. Her research program centres on using a peer mentoring program to improve the adjustment of psychology students as they make the transition from first year to fourth year at the university. Tammy (t.muckert@hbs.gu.edu.au) is interested in hearing from others regarding the details of their programs and has a set of questions established to gather such information.

A valuable resource on peer-assisted learning has been established by Dr. Keith Topping (k.j.topping@dundee.ac.uk) who is the Director for the Centre for Paired Learning which resides in the Department of Psychology at the University of Dundee (Scotland DD1 4HN, Tel: (44) (0)1382 223181, Fax: (44) (0)1382 229993. The Peer-Assisted Learning listserv (pal@dundee.ac.uk) provides opportunities for discussions about a variety of topics related to peer work with a stong emphasis on peer tutoring in higher education. Additional information about resources for peer tutoring in higher education can be obtained on the WEB site located at (http://www.dundee.ac.uk/psychology/c_p_lear.html). At this WEB site you can get information about the Peer Tutoring Video Training Pack, the Organising Peer Tutoring Audio Pack, the Effective Peer Tutoring Staff Development Pack, the Effective Student Tutoring Staff Development Pack, the Same-Year Paired Peer Tutoring Video, and the Student Self-Help Guide to Peer Assisted Learning.

One of the members of the peer-assisted learning network, Barbara Wexler (bwexler@ultrix.ramapo.edu), mentioned that she has established a peer tutoring program at Ramapo College of New Jersey (505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, 07436) to supplement students with disabilities. Barbara sent us an e-mail message requesting a sample copy of the Peer Counsellor Journal when she read about it on the Peer Assisted Learning listserv.

Another message from the Peer Assisted Learning Listserv came from Rhonda Atkinson (jdbade@lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu), the Director of the Learning Assistance Center at Louisiana State University (B31 Coates Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, Tel: (504) 388-2872). Rhonda let the list know that the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) has established a tutoring certification program with guidelines for training, which her organization uses to develop topics for tutor training. She also uses a videotape series called The Tutor's Guide which is distributed by GPN in Lincoln, Nebraska (1-800-228-4630). The series has 14 segments, each 12-15 minutes long and covers topics from general tutoring suggestions to working with specific subjects such as writing and populations such as ESL students.

Second year medical students, Lawrence Hookey and Valerie Taylor (lhookey@morgan.ucs.mun.ca) at Memorial University of Newfoundland, are setting-up up a peer counselling program within their medical school. They have been trained in some counselling skills such as basic listening responses and attending behaviour and want a peer program that could help students deal with specific issues such as drugs and alcohol and sexual abuse. They have completed a needs assessment and found that more than fifty per cent of the student body said they would make use of such a peer service. Their next step is to recruit volunteers from different groups within the school, and weight the pros and cons of establishing an advisory board.

From St. Lucia, West Indies, Tricia Thompson reports that her school, CARE, has established a peer counselling course as part of a program for students at the alternative school. The school works with students who have failed an exam or have been kicked out of other schools. The students enrol in a weekly peer counselling course, which is combined with other course work on self-esteem, parenting, spirituality, first aid, arts and crafts, math, physical education, and English. Tricia is using the Peer Counselling Starter Kit to train the students, and reports that the program seems to be working well. Tricia can be contacted c/o Presentation Brothers, Box 156, Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies.

The Saskatchewan Health Resource Centre produces a newsletter, Peers Helping Peers, that was sent to us by long-term peer support advocate, Shirley Highfill (Programs Branch, Saskatchewan Health, 3475 Albert Street, Regina, Saskatchewan, S4S 6X6, Tel: 1-800-667-7766). The newsletter describes the work of various peer helping teams around the province and included an insert listing video resources that are loaned by the Centre on conflict resolution, dating, suicide, teasing, family trouble, teenage drinking, how to benefit from mistakes, eating disorders, self-esteem, teen sex, school problems, alcohol in the family, and peer helping.

Saint Mary's University was the site of the first Atlantic Canada Peer Conference, and Saint Mary's Student Services counsellor and long-term peer program coordinator, Sarah Morris (smusp@tuna.stmarys.ca) (Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3C3, Tel: (902) 420-5601), reports that the conference was a success. Workshops for the one and a half day conference were available on True Colours, relationships and self-esteem, eating disorders and body image, and the an overview of how the peer program at Saint Mary's operates. A panel discussion that included peer volunteers and staff resulted in some frank and candid perspectives on roles, responsibilities, ethics, confidentiality, evaluation, and experiences.

Nationally certified Level II Peer Trainer, Michael Kellogg (Spectrum Community School, 957 Burnside Road West, Victoria, British Columbia, V8Z 6E9, Tel: (604) 479-8271; Fax: (604) 479-8204) and Level I Peer Trainer, Jennifer Howard reported on the success of the one day regional Peer Counsellor's Conference held at his school. More than 150 peer counsellors representing 20 lower Vancouver Island schools came together for a series of workshops in February, 1996 on conflict resolution, substance abuse awareness, safe sex and AIDS update, dealing with grief and loss, depression and suicide prevention, and dealing with dating violence.

As part of a study visit to Canada from England and Wales to examine how Canadians put peer helping into practice, Beverley Hill and Jo Scherer Thompson, met with six different school-based peer programs and three agency/community peer programs in the Toronto area, including well-known peer program leaders, Diane Eckler, Cheryl Brackenbury, Tony Holt, Sally Jordan, and Fran Chaplin. Their report found that peer programs in Canada have much more extensive goals than those developed so far in England and Wales. In addition to providing ways to help young people deal with present day problems, the duo found that Canadian peer programs typically provide education and skills to assist youth with what they will experience in the future. Their interviews with peer helpers yielded extensive comments on improved self-esteem, confidence and personal satisfaction and increased ability to help their friends and peers. As a result of their study visit, the pair made a number or recommendations for the development of peer work in Wales and England, including: personalizing the peer program in each school, involving more of the community in the planning, limiting the goals, insuring thorough training, and networking peer programs with each other.