Mentoring Helps Families: Part 1

It is well known that mentoring helps youth, but did you know that it can help families too? Kids want and need to learn about life, but sometimes the adults in their lives (including their teachers) are too tired and spread thin to take the time to teach them the variety of subjects they need to know. Having an enthusiastic volunteer mentor who is consistently there for them is important. Mentors volunteer because they have the energy and time to impart knowledge to the next generation.

Mentors can cover many subjects that will be beneficial for their mentee. Subjects like:

-mental health
-nutrition
-how to deal with bullies
-managing a home
-what it’s like to be an adult
-important steps to reach goals

Having a mentor around can also help the family of the mentee. The mentor could teach their mentee about how to do basic chores around the house, for instance. Learning how to manage a home could allow the mentee to help their parent(s)/ guardian(s) run the house. By learning to take more responsibilities around the home, the mentee is not only acquiring good habits for the future, but they are also taking some stress away from their parents/guardians, which will potentially help the family dynamic. Another example is, perhaps the mentee will become interested in cooking due to conversations with their mentor about nutrition. With that knowledge, they can help make meals for the family. All of this contributes to the mentee feeling more balanced and empowered. That feeling of balance can positively influence their family’s dynamic.

Kids are also very in the moment. Having someone there to talk to might make them think about their own future and what they can accomplish by the time they are the age of their mentor. This is extremely important because it sets up the notion of life planning where the mentee may not have had that concept before.

The idea behind mentoring is to set up the mentee for success in life, not to only benefit them for just how long the match is active. Having a mentor is a true opportunity to help families and make the homelife more stable. When that happens, there is a ripple effect. A strong foundation is built where the entire family can prosper.