Louis Canfield: Why every kid needs a mentor
January is National Mentoring Month, and during my time at the Boys & Girls Club of Watertown, I’ve seen firsthand the incredible impact a positive mentor can have on a child.
Our staff mentors more than 300 youth a day, accepts kids for who they are in each moment and gives them supportive, consistent space to grow on their own terms. This allows them the freedom to decide how they’d like to grow, in what direction and how quickly they’d like to get there.
Research shows that mentors play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to make responsible choices, attend and engage in school, and reduce or avoid risky behavior. In turn, these young people are:
55% more likely to be enrolled in college.
81% more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities.
78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities.
More than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or with a sports team.
Yet, the same research shows that one in three young people in our country will grow up without a mentor. Every kid can benefit from a positive adult mentor in their life.
At the club, we strive to be a system of support and acceptance while providing our members with a place they can explore. Where they feel comfortable making a mistake. Where they can come for guidance without judgment. Mentorship is about allowing youth to walk their own path and providing a support system for their journey.
A mentor should accept a mentee for exactly who they are and yet encourage them to seek out experiences and ideas that challenge their understandings of the world and themselves. When they’re ready to grow, mentors help make connections to empower them to get started.
It is important to recognize that every young person is a unique being and celebrate these differences. A mentor takes time to know, understand and accept a young person for who they are, what they’re going through and who they have the potential to be.
As a mentor, it can be tempting to give advice like “this is what worked for me,” especially when I see a young person move in a different direction than I might choose. When that happens, I’ll discuss potential consequences of decisions with a mentee, but with the understanding that a young person’s choices are going to be different from my own. Mentorship should be guidance with freedom.
A strong mentee-mentor relationship is built on consistency, communication and – most importantly – trust. It is important to create an environment for youth to make mistakes, try new things and dream big. They learn that this support system is always here for them.
Louis Canfield is director of operations for the Boys and Girls Club of Watertown.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Canfield: Why every kid needs a mentor
