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Facts About Mentoring
Young people in mentoring programs are...
46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
27% less likely to begin using alcohol
53% less likely to skip school
33% less likely to engage in school violence
More than one in four American children live in one-parent families and one in two will live with a single parent at some point during childhood.
All young people need mentors,
but children who are at risk for self-destructive behaviors are most in
need and least likely to have natural and/or informal mentors present
in their lives.
Over 12 million at risk children in the US today, only 300,000 to 400,000 are presently enrolled in formal mentoring programs.
The largest mentoring program in the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters,
reaches 105,000 young people, with thousands more on the waiting list.
The term “mentor” dates back to Homer’s Odyssey (700
BC). Mentor was a wise and trust-worthy friend of Odysseus to whom the
king entrusted the safe-keeping and development of his only son,
Telemachus.
Typically, mentors in community-based programs meet with their mentees
for just two hours or less a week. Site-based programs in school, work
places, and elsewhere generally require a one hour per week commitment.
The 1990’s saw a significant increase in corporate involvement in
mentoring, as companies joined with local schools and community
organizations to link employees in mentoring relationships with local
youth.
In a recent survey, almost half of Americans said that they would be
very comfortable volunteering to be a mentor, but only one quarter said
they had mentored or done something like it in the previous six months.
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