Social referents
How to reach the students who never come to events
It’s hard to bring under-represented students into events, and hard to build trust with them. The students who can are social referents.
A short survey shows who your social referents are: the 20 or 30 students whose friends add up to almost everyone. Meet with them and you have a route to every student, and every student’s voice on how events are planned.
Why the usual outreach misses people
Posters and announcements reach students who already come to things. Everyone else comes when a friend says it’s worth it.
Flyers and announcements
The same group shows up.
Social referents
One trusted student in each friend group.
Who gets missed is different at every school. Often it’s:
- New students
- English learners
- Students who work after school
- Late-bus riders
- Special education
- Anyone who doesn’t see themselves in student government
Map who spends time with whom
Four questions.
- What grade are you in?
- Who is the person in your friend group you most look up to? (first & last name)
- In the last few weeks, which students at this school did you choose to spend time with, face to face or online? Name up to 10 (first & last names).Key
- Who at school is kind of friends with everyone? (first & last name)
Pick referents until everyone has a route
Download the responses as a CSV and load it here. Mark students “Plan to ask” until the bar is full, using the suggestions to fill gaps.
0 responses loaded · saved only in this browser
Invite them, then listen
Reach out one by one. Don’t say who named them.
Hey [name]! We’re trying to make [events] something more people at [school] want to come to. A bunch of students named you as someone people respect. Could you meet with us for 30 minutes on [day]? There’s food.
In the meeting, spend time listening:
- What would make your friends show up?
- Why don’t they come to school events?
- Does anything feel cliquey or unwelcoming?
- Who else should we ask for advice?
See active listening.
Design events with them, not for them
- Ask for inputDate, food, music, place, cost. Ask before the plan is set.
- Ask their friendsEach referent takes two or three questions to their group chats.
- Invite personally“Come with me” from a friend beats any poster.
- Close the loopTell students what changed because of what they said.
Meet every two weeks, feed them, and offer community service hours.
What the research says
- Roots (56 New Jersey middle schools). Referents met every other week and ran a campaign against conflict; conflict reports fell 30% (Paluck et al., 2016).
- ASSIST (59 UK schools). The most-named 17% talked to friends about smoking; smoking was about 22% lower two years later (Campbell et al., 2008).
Both changed a behavior, not event turnout, so this is our best bet, not a proven result.
Questions
Isn’t this just inviting the popular kids?
No. The survey asks who students spend time with, so it finds the center of every friend group, including groups that never come to events.
Should the survey ask for students’ names?
No, keep it anonymous. Keep the list of referents private, and never share who named whom.
What about students who named nobody?
No referent reaches them. Ask an adult they see every day, like an advisory teacher, coach or counselor, to invite them personally.
Want help? Email ben@fix.school.
Next steps
Active listening
How to make people feel heard in the first meeting.
Read the guide →Social referents
Use referents to change a norm at school.
Read the guide →Student council ideas
Changes students have already won.
Read the guide →Run it with us
How Doorstop runs a referent program with a school.
Read the guide →