How to Begin a Mentoring Program for Youth

All young people will have a mentor. The problem is that it may not always be a mentor with their best interest in mind. Young people like to learn and especially from someone who accepts and likes them. Adults who have managed to steer their way through some of life’s obstacles need to be willing to reach back and help young people find their way. Contrary to popular thought, teens and older children like to hear what adults have to share.

Mentoring is a great way to invest what you have learned into the lives of the next generation. Young people are ready to face the world, but it is a daunting place. Bringing a positive influence into a young life may very well have a profound effect for years to come.

Becoming a mentor to youth is not hard to do. If you really enjoy the company of young people, you are already beyond half way. Young people are always on the look out for people who will accept and like them. Their natural desire to be a part of a group and feel like they belong makes them easy for a mentor to engage.

Starting a mentoring program implies that more than one mentor will be involved and that multiple young people will also be a part. There are two basic ways to go about beginning. The first way is to find a young person that you can have regular interaction with as a friend. It is best if you make the parents of the youth aware of what you are doing and why. You do not want to give the impression that you might be a predator.

You will want to develop some type of program with an activity. Sports can be used for this. Playing other games or shopping will work also. A time needs to be set aside after or before the activity for discussing life situations and conduct. You do not need a lot of time for this. In fact, mentoring works well if you mentor for less than 30 minutes and have 30 minutes to an hour of activity.

It is actually the activity where bonding and trust grows to make the mentoring effective. Plan what you will discuss. Be prepared for times when the discussion may take a meaningful tangent. One mentor can work with up to about 6 youth at the same time. By encouraging the first youth to recruit friends, you can often reach a group of 3 to 5 within a month or so.

If you want to expand the group into a program, you will need to go a slightly different route. Start by recruiting a small group of good people to serve as mentors. Establish some written guidelines of what to do and what not to do. You may need to do background checks. These are not extremely pricey unless you go through the FBI. These checks then might cost you $50 to $100 each. Using a simple driver’s license or social security number check can often be accomplished for $15 to $25 each.

Once your group is in place, you will want to contact someone like Family Services or the school counselor, and let them help you find possible candidates. They will let the candidates know of your work. If there is interest, they will give their clients your information.

Most of the time this way will take some time to get started, but it will move forward quickly if you are offering quality. Within a year you should have about 4 or 5 times as many young people as mentors. You expand the program by adding on more mentors. Along the way, you may need to shuffle some young people from mentor to mentor to find the best fit.