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Benefits of mentoring youth
Benefits of mentoring youth
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Becoming a mentor can have a tremendous impact on the life of a youngster. Children need someone to look up to that doesn’t necessarily need be a part of their immediate family. Sometimes they have no siblings, or maybe their siblings or parents are busy. Perhaps they have no grandparents to do things with. These children are the ones that spend their afternoons in crowded after school programs where they may not get the attention the crave. This may lead to isolation and oppositely over hyperactive children starved for attention. In other cases, some children who are not so fortunate as to be offered after-school programs are subject to the world outside all on their own. In too many cases, these are the children that become statistics. These are the children who turn to drugs or crime, be it out of fear, or simply to feel accepted. Accepted in the wrong crowds still may comfort a lonely child.
One of the most renowned mentoring agencies is a non-profit organization called big brothers/ big sisters of America. A man who saw a young boy sifting through the trash for food created this establishment over 90 years ago. He took the boy home, fed him, and then met his poverty-stricken family. From that point on, he became a mentor to the little boy, and this inspired him to form the organization for other boys, and in following years, a group of Christian women created a program for little girls. The soon joined forces and became the big brothers and big sisters of America. I...
This book shows what a role of a mentor has on someone’s life. It is a simple story about an unlikely pair of friends who learn the meaning of trust to overcome their failures and turn those failures into
The author of the book talks about starting a nonprofit organization called Girls Education and Mentoring Services (GEMS) because she was a victim of child trafficking but she was able to break free from her past and start up her organization so that she could be advocate for girls going through what she did. This book is Rachel’s memoir and recounts events in her life that led to her becoming the person she is today.
Inner-city elementary age kids face many challenges in and out of the classroom. These challenges range from education day in and day out, as well as, sometimes growing up in an impoverished family and community. Factors also include peers which these kids come into contact with at school, in the streets and at home. Kids today need more than ever an extra push of positive motivation from mentors. I believe that this constructive mentoring begins with after school programs. After school programs give kids the opportunity to work one on one with an adult to reinforce encouragement and teach more than just text education. Because I have participated as a volunteer at an after school program, I have seen first hand the positive impact such programs can generate among elementary aged kids involved.
Mentoring can be that hand that reaches down and pulls you out of the pit. Mentoring can change lives forever and create permanent relationships. Mentoring can help a child get on the right track if they do not have someone else to help them. Whether they have grown up without active parents, have gotten into trouble from time to time, or even if they are a straight A student, the youth needs mentoring. It will build a country that has a solid foundation in which the current youth of America will one day lead. Mentoring proves that “regardless of background, [all children] are equipped to achieve their dreams” (Bruce and
Mentoring program becomes instrumental and breakdown barriers as employees are interacting and carrying out the organization’s vision. This allows employees to interact with employees of different cultures and backgrounds with the goal that one will learn more about the individual.
There is little scientific knowledge when it comes to mentoring effects on future outcomes; in addition posing confusion as to how these programs continue to emerge. A major component in regards to program effectiveness is in measurement or evaluation of its structure (Deutsch, N., & Spencer, R., 2009). This is done by conducting surveys, focus groups, and interviews (Deutsch, N., & Spencer, R. (2009); Karcher, M., & Nakkula, M. (2010); Diehl, D. C., Howse, R. B., & Trivette, C. M. (2011); Osgood, 2012; Williams, 2011). Studies gives the researcher insight into knowledge that otherwise wouldn’t be known, in order to understand mentoring reactions and relationship styles better (Karcher, M., & Nakkula, M. (2010); Christens, B. D., & Peterson, N. A. (2012); Diehl et al., 2011; Leyton‐Armakan, J., Lawrence, E., Deutsch, N., Lee Williams, J., & Henneberger, A. (2012); Meyer, K. C., & Bouchey, H. A. (2010).
A mentor is someone who shares one’s wisdom, knowledge or experience with one’s junior person so that the person could learn and grow. Mentors have many different style of training or passing on their knowledge to other people. The movie “Something the Lord Made” directed by Joseph Sargent shows a kind of mentoring style in between the two main characters Dr. Blalock and Vivan Thomas who invent a way to treat “blue babies” back in the 40s. Vivan Thomas is a brilliant black men who wishes to go to college, and to become a doctor; however, due to the Depression, he loses all his saving. Instead of going to college, Thomas finds an opportunity to work in the hospital. Dr. Blalock, Thomas’s employer, discovers Thomas’s incredible knowledge in medical, and promotes Thomas as his assistant instead of a janitor. Dr. Blalock is a mentor to Thomas. Dr. Blalock trained Thomas with only a high school certification becomes a medical scientific lab technician. Although Dr. Blalock’s mentoring style of Vivan Thomas is similar from my high school speech team coach Mrs. Kuznicki mentoring style of me, they both speak out their criticism of other without consider other’s feeling, and also acknowledge mentees for what they have done, but Mrs. Kuznicki treats me with more patient, less selfishness and encouragement than Dr. Blalock treats Thomas.
Flaxman, E. Evaluating Mentoring Programs. New York: Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1992.
This area of focus is flawed in that it only provides a mentor the requirement of volunteering 10-15 hours a year. Realistically, as a mentor, a person needs to be more involved with a person to make a real difference. The Tennessee Achieves website even claims that a mentor only has to give up on average one hour a month to an individual. This is not enough time to make proper acquaintances with a person, let alone to provide proper guidance and mentorship to a young aspiring adult who is trying to become successful under this
When people do respond to their summons, researchers say, things happen. The mentoring system is supposedly one of the most beneficial of volunteer activities, in terms of reaching "at risk" kids. The Philadelphia Summit on volunteerism that took place in April of 1997 targeted five basic needs of at-risk kids: a relationship with a caring adult, supervised and safe sites for play, marketable skills, a healthy start, and a sense of service. These five criteria, if met, are expected to lower teen pregnancy rates, high school drop-out rates, and the ...
Overall, the Big Brother Big Sister program is designed to assist at-risk children from ages 6-18 develop long lasting positive relationships, while mentoring, counseling and having fun at the same time, believing “that every child has potential.” Each kid is different, making the match unique. Mentors must also recognize that the kids are not the only one’s who learn, they themselves can always learn something from the kids.
I cannot recall a more rewarding experience than helping facilitate a child’s education while enabling parent participation alike. These experiences have drawn me to my current position as an Educational Assistant where I am constantly interacting and establishing relationships with students, learning about their goals and aspirations. It is that same desire to empower our future students that has steered me towards a career as a school counselor. By enrolling in the Masters in counseling program, I aspire to develop methods and experience to become an effective, experienced, and adaptable school counselor that promotes self-awareness, allowing students to realize their full potential and impetus them towards a promising future. I want to learn skills that facilitate personal and career development, ensuring that our students grow accomplishing their goals and ambitions. To discover techniques that help students improve in all areas of academic achievement, establishing relationships with students and parents alike. By becoming a school counselor, I am determined to become an advocate for underserved youth. I aim to become an effective agent educational reform, providing support for students in the various institutions that may disempower
As a Lancaster native, I have had an opportunity to experience the many facets of life for youth within the county. I have had close friends lose their way and sense of direction, due to a lack of leaders and positive mentors. I was fortunate to have these positive figures in my life to deter any unhealthy or destructive behavior. As I view things now, I see that more and more young men and women are falling victim to this trap, and have not found a way to end this detrimental cycle. A major issue concerning this matter is a lack of adequate funding for the mentoring programs. There are many individuals who would love to volunteer and assist with the programs, but there should be finances in place to take the youth on field trips of some sort that is related to the program that will make things more appealing, su...
One of my mentors was able to show me life outside of poverty. They showed me doors of possibilities and started a fire in my heart that would set a blaze of zeal. Going from a life of no direction or goals to having a vision for my life and wanting to purse a better life for my future has done a lot for me. It’s important to help everyone in their current situation because you never know what the outcome will be for that individual. Not everyone has the ability and drive to get out of their current situation. Sometime people don’t want to change from their current situation. For me it was simple I wanted more for myself, I’m glad I made the choice to do something about it. It’s had a lasting effect on my life. My wife and two girls will never know poverty because of my life decision that I made. Making sure I got out of that environment and wanting something better in
Many young people just need to be motivated and given a fair chance at success. Young people need mentors to help them find their way and to help them stay focused. Mentors play an intricate roll in your lives and are sort of liaisons between your parents or guardians and your educators.