MENTORS NEEDEDToday, more than ever, our younger generation needs the guidance and support of those who are older and wiser to serve as mentors. Studies show that ten to fifteen percent of young Americans between the ages of sixteen and nineteen are considered at risk of becoming “disconnected” from society due to pregnancy, school dropout, illiteracy, poverty,alcohol and drug abuse. The future of many of these children is bleak, ending too often in early death from suicide, homicide, automobile accidents, or drug overdoses. Yet it is possible to change these statistics. If these children can be motivated to value themselves and believe in their own potential, their chances of becoming productive members of society increases. Your influence could mean the difference between a wasted life and a successful one. America's schools need the assistance of dedicated volunteers to help meet the challenges of low budgets, overcrowded facilities and overworked teachers. You can help in after-school programs, befriend a lonely child, chaperone field trips, or tutor. You can even work from home helping with holiday decorations, bulletin board displays or by making friendly telephone calls to “latchkey” children. For information about volunteer programs in your community, contact your school superintendent’s office.
Families, who have children with disabilities and chronic illnesses, can use a friend to help cope with the pressures of caring for such children. Family Friends trains adults fifty five and older to help reduce the burdens imposed upon all members of such families, not just the disabled child. A weekly visit from Family Friends give parents a welcome break from the constant demands of caring for such children,allows the other children the chance to get the special attention they also need, as well as provids companionship to the disabled child. Volunteers are supported in their efforts through monthly in-service meetings where further training, support and encouragement are given.
Every child deserves a stable home. For many abused and neglected children who end up in the foster care system, home is a succession of changing environments and brief encounters with dozens of strangers: police, social workers, foster parents, judges and lawyers. In this sea of abandonment, Court Appointed Special Advocates are the true friends these children need. They investigate all aspects of a child’s life; speaking with parents, foster parents, social workers, doctors, teachers and the children themselves then present their recommendations to the court. CASA volunteers provide the focused attention that can mean the difference between a future clouded with delinquency and crime or the chance at a productive life.
After one hundred years of matching at risk children with caring adults, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America can safely say mentoring works. The one-to-one relationship established between child and adult goes a long way in giving these children a chance to overcome the many challenges facing them. Research shows,children with mentors do better at school and get along better at home. Forty six percent are less likely to begin using illegal drugs, twenty seven percent are less likely to use alcohol, and fifty two percent are less likely to skip school. No special training is required to be a mentor; just the willingness to commit a few hours a week to make a difference in a young person’s life. |
