The Key to Thriving, Motivated Kids – Give Them Mentors
by Tami Silverman, President & CEO, Indiana Youth Institute
Kids and youth thrive when they have caring and supportive adults in their lives, and mentoring offers an outstanding way to foster such relationships. January is National Mentoring Month, and throughout the month Indiana Youth Institute will celebrate individuals and programs providing quality mentoring relationships to young people, especially at-risk youth.Mentors help the kids with whom they interact to face the day-to-day challenges of growing up. Through their words and deeds, they assure young people that there is someone who cares about them and demonstrate that all mentees matter. Research shows that quality mentoring relationships produce positive results in the lives of mentees, including improving school attendance rates and increasing the child’s chances for future success.
While all children and youth can benefit from a quality mentoring relationship, at-risk kids realize the biggest benefits. With a mentor, at-risk youth are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school and are 55% more likely to be enrolled in college. The same students are 46% less likely than their peers to use drugs while also being 81% more likely to report regular participation in sports or extracurricular activities. At-risk youth with a mentor are 78% more likely to volunteer regularly within their community and are an outstanding 130% more likely to hold a leadership position on teams and/or in clubs.
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