Saving At-Risk Youth by Mentoring

The youth, it is said that they are the hope of the new generation. But what happens if at an early age they fall victim and/or exposed to a society that is plagued by racial discrimination, use of illegal drugs, pornography that led to rape and unwanted pregnancies, robberies, gang wars in schools that cause death by shootouts, and to many to mention and indeed very depressing. This is the society that youth today see everyday. It is a reality and a sad fact that we must accept as part of our daily lives. What can we do to lessen the effects of the ills of society to our youth? Saving at-risk youth by mentoring may just be the answer, it may not eradicate the problem at once, but it is a start.

Mentoring our children does make a huge difference. It is a way to reintroduce a positive regular activity by a grown-up to a child. Children who are mentored while growing up are unlikely to succumb to using illegal drugs, unlikely to start depending on alcohol, and unlikely to miss out school. If we incorporate mentoring in our home, school and even the church it can, and it will help greatly in decreasing the cause and effect of suspension due to the use of illegal drugs, crimes related to drugs, babies born who are drug affected and possibly more. It is just a matter of how we really want to help eradicate the problems of our youth.

At-risk children badly need the guidance and friendship that youth mentors give. A child will definitely yearn for adult support when faced with parent抯 divorce, family heartbreaks, and financial troubles. These children need mentoring with their family problems, school works, peer pressures or just someone who would listen and give an unwavering support.

Regrettably, teachers in school who teach at a crowded classroom will have no time to provide individual attention. Guidance counselors are very busy too, because they deal with the whole population of the school. Most of the time guidance counselors can only give less than four hours of career guidance to a student in their four years in high school (that is just like one hour a year!). There are millions of at-risk young children who desperately need mentoring. Nowadays, communities are seriously looking into setting-up programs for volunteer youth mentors, because they see and understand that need to help these children cope up with their daily lives.

At-risk children who are guided by an efficient role model mentor are more than likely to have a progressive educational performance, self-esteem, good decision-making traits, and a sense of fitting in. Youth who enters mentoring programs will be inclined to have good interactions with their teachers, parents and other siblings as well as their peers. They will also be more inspired to focus on their studies and eventually finish their schooling.

A youth mentor assists at-risk children in setting up their goals and ambitions, resolve their personal problems, and make appropriate decisions and choices in life. However, youth mentors are not there to replace what a parent can give to their children. Youth mentors are simply there to give help and be role models for at-risk children. Simple and easy activities like doing school assignments and projects, going to parks and museums, engaging in some sports and playing games, and doing art and crafts projects is enough for a child who is more that eager to be guided and to feel a sense of security that they are protected from the evils that lurk in the dark. In the end saving at-risk youth by mentoring will have a great impact in the society we live in for years to come.

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Youth The Concepts Behind Christian Mentoring

The process of guiding and mentoring people is a highly delicate one: mentors need to be able to allow their prot間閟 to progress and get out of their shells, but they have to strike the balance between directing the movements of their followers while still allowing these fledglings time to find the strength of their own wings and fly with their own will. One such form of mentoring is Christian mentoring, in which a Christian looks after a prot間?who may or may not be a Christian, but who will benefit from the strength and wisdom of the older or more experienced person.

One such mentoring relationship, at least in the Christian sense, is that between a senior pastor and his junior. The former will guide the younger in speaking the voice of God, and in bringing a sense of unity and Christian goodness to a flock. Another such Christian mentoring relationship is that between parents and children, where Christian parents have to guide their children in following the Christian way of living. Christian mentoring, therefore, is the passing down and sharing of knowledge and wisdom by someone who is an expert in a field, and with the precepts and principles of Christianity guiding the mentor and prot間?

In general, Christian mentoring programs will help people guide those who are younger than they in living a Christian way of life. Some mentoring programs will even exhort would-be or aspiring mentors to do two things at the onset: find a good mentor who will pass down knowledge and get an aspiring mentor started on good living and good Christian teachings; and, at nearly the same time, find a prot間?who might benefit from your teaching and wisdom further down the line. Once these two persons are identified, a would-be or aspiring mentor is exhorted to be as creative as possible in meeting such people. These meetings might be as simple as stopping over at someone抯 house, meeting over for coffee, or having dinner together.

Another way for the mentor and prot間?to meet is through a shared hobby. Such a hobby might include running, biking, writing poetry, reading books, or even cooking. Despite the image of intense and sometimes alienating spirituality attached to Christian mentoring, many Christian mentoring programs are actually more about building a stronger relationship between mentor and prot間? The shared hobby may actually be a simple beginning: many mentors will share tasks with their prot間閟, such as smaller jobs at one抯 office, training the prot間?in various tasks, or simply listening to the prot間?talk.

What makes Christian mentoring unique, however, is its emphasis on things that would otherwise make people appear vulnerable in the secular arena. For instance, mentors and prot間閟 are required to listen to each other intently, and to avoid speaking about oneself as much as possible in order to learn better. Second, mentors and prot間閟 are required to be as real and as truthful to each other as possible. Honesty is certainly the best policy in Christian mentoring, and if a prot間?is feeling down, awkward, unwanted, or simply out of sorts, he or she is encouraged to talk to his or her mentor and humbly ask for guidance.

There are many different kinds of Christian mentoring programs out there. If you need more information, talk to your local Christian pastor, or do research over the Internet. Many such mentoring programs also have their own websites and mailing lists that can make it easier for you to read about their activities and enroll in their program.

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