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The Benefits of Mentoring

Mentoring a youth can be very rewarding. Mentoring is a way to provide youth with tactics and wisdom so that they are able to succeed and achieve their goals. Below are several examples/statistics of how mentoring can benefit youth and some questions to think about as you are reading through this article.

Mentors help youth start focusing on their future:

*Mentors help young people set career goals and start taking steps to realize them.
*Mentors can use their personal contacts to help young people meet industry professionals, find internships and locate job possibilities.
*Mentors introduce young people to professional resources and organizations they may not know about.
*Mentors can help their mentees learn how to seek and keep jobs.

Remember what it was like looking for your first part-time job? How’d you go about creating your career goals? What helped you when being interviewed for a job? Who do you know that could be a resource for a youth looking at different career fields?

Mentors help youth focus on improving there self:

*Mentors help improve a young person’s self-esteem.
*Mentors provide support for students trying new behaviors.
*Youth who meet regularly with their mentors are 46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking (Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters).
*About 40% of teenager’s waking hours are spent without companionship or supervision. Mentors provide teens with a valuable place to spend free time.
*Mentors teach young people how to relate well to all kinds of people and help young people strengthen their communication skills.

What were challenges you faced when you were a kid? What temptations did you face? How did you overcome them? What activities are you already doing that you can include a kid in?
You bring more than you realize into a mentoring relationship.

Mentors help youth focus on their education:

*Mentors help keep students in school.
*Students who meet regularly with their mentors are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school and 37% less likely to skip a class (Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters).
*Mentors help with homework and can improve academic skills.

How did you prepare for tests? What worked well you for studying? What kind of plans did you make for college? How did you prepare?
Are those things that you could share while mentoring?

Take some time to listen to what Colin Powell has to say about the benefits of mentoring.

If you have any questions or want to make a difference in a youths life please contact www.cabriniconnections.net