Masculinity, mateship and mentoring: that’s what year nine boys at Sydney’s Sir Joseph Banks High School learn when they take part in the Triple M program.
Dave Garlick, who runs the program, says it’s all about “capturing year nine boys in that emerging identity time in their life.”
The course helps build confidence in the boys, improve communication and teach respect.
For some of the boys showing behavioural issues, Triple M has given them a safe place to understand their conduct and work on changing.
Students like Sharnn and Mali, who have struggled with their anger, say Triple M has given them the chance to make a change and get back on track with their schooling.
Dave Garlick teaching the boys during a Triple M session. Photo: Insight Source: Insight
“They [the school] brought out that program, it helped us to become better people, you know? To try, you know, do our best in school,” Mali tells Insight host Jenny Brockie.
“When you speak about it [anger issues], it feels like the burden is lifted off your shoulder and you feel more at peace,” fellow student Junior says.
Dave hopes by engaging teenagers in these activities, it helps them to form identities.
“I think all young people, full stop, need a variety of mentors in their life."
“They need people that show that they care. They need people that help them learn about themselves and learn about their place in the world, and they need positive examples.”
One of the other tools the school implements to help students regulate their emotions is a Time Out card. This gives them the opportunity to take a break, calm down and then return to class feeling in control.
One thing they use it for is dealing with anger.
“We talk about what caused the anger? What was it? What was the situation? What was the trigger? What did your body tell you to do? And when you realise that your body's telling you you’re angry then here's the process and we practice,” he says.
Both Time Out cards and Triple M can help the students understand their emotions better.
“I think the thing in general is you’ve got to build relationships and you build relationships through shared experience. Finding things that that group of young men enjoy.”
“Your body always gives you a sign and showing these boys that you can recognise that you're about to get angry and choose to do something else… when they find success with that, it's very empowering,” he says.
“They realise if they can change that and have some control of themselves in that instance, then that can translate elsewhere.”
But it's not just about understanding behaviour. For the boys who take part in Triple M, they also walk away having learnt practical skills such as cooking, ironing, and public speaking. And the program offers them a chance to connect with students they may not have otherwise socialised with.
“Mr Garlick, he got us working in groups, like the people that they didn't get along with each other, they put them together and they let them work with each other and they weren't really close before but they even got closer than the other friends, so they brought them more closer,” Elias says.
One of the keys to Triple M's success is fairly simple.
“I think the thing in general is you’ve got to build relationships and you build relationships through shared experience. Finding things that that group of young men enjoy,” Dave says.
For Sharnn, he has shown marked improvement since taking part in the program and his participation has been reflected in his school marks. As for Mali, he now acts as a role model for younger students in the school.
