Mentoring is essential for youths as it creates a positive influence on the lives of youths. Youths who have mentors have significantly higher graduation rates. The supportive and healthy associations formed between mentees and mentors are both long-term and immediate and significantly contribute to benefits for both mentees and mentors. The strong mentoring programs instituted by organizations do not only offer the critical support required for the youths but also assists in the creation of open and inviting cultures. This helps to essentially encourage the youths to contribute new ideas that are geared towards their improvement effectively.
Roscoe Millie
The Essence of Mentoring Programs
To begin with, mentoring programs help to create a culture of learning and offer the potential for the youths to achieve better educational performances. In the learning institutions, the mentoring programs evidently have an influence on the youths in many regards. In high school, the programs have been seen to bring about a lower rate of dropouts. The mentoring programs significantly aid in the change in attitudes for the students, and this will translate to better behavior not only at school but also at home (Hussain et al., 2019). Importantly, the youths who have gone through the mentoring programs have been able to establish more healthy relationships, and this is attributed to their ability to make better-informed lifestyle choices.
According to a recent comprehensive meta-analysis that carried out more than 73 independent program evaluations and published in the period between 1999 and 2010, some revelations found positive results across the emotional, academic, behavioral, and social areas of youth growth (Bruce & Bridgeland, 2014). Therefore, mentoring programs on the youths have led to the realization of positive outcomes and just to mention a few, better attendance, less drug abuse, improved social skills, improved interaction with peers and a better attitude.
The mentoring programs are also beneficial to the mentors themselves. The mentors are presented with an opportunity to reflect not only on their practices but also on their goals. The programs help to align the youths along a pathway that will lead to the achievement of the set-out goals. Mentors will also have the chance to be exposed to new ideas and approaches, and all these will be possible through the programs that will help bring together the management and workers. The development of the coaching styles and personal leadership among the mentors is not a benefit that one can fail to underline. Therefore, for an organization that invests in mentoring programs, this will help in the overall improvement in motivation, morale, and performance of the youths.
References
Bruce, M., & Bridgeland, J. (2014). The mentoring effect: Young people’s perspectives on the outcomes and availability of mentoring. Washington, DC: Civic enterprises with hart research associates.
Raposa, E. B., Rhodes, J., Stams, G. J. J., Card, N., Burton, S., Schwartz, S., & Hussain, S. (2019). The effects of youth mentoring programs: A meta-analysis of outcome studies. Journal of youth and adolescence, 48(3), 423-443.