Palm Beach County-Best of Everything
January 2016 marks the 15th observance of National Mentoring Month, a campaign aimed at expanding quality mentoring opportunities to connect more of our community’s young people with caring adults. There is a powerful mentoring effect demonstrated by research and the experiences of young people who are connected to a mentor in real life.
Mentoring is linked to improved academic, social and economic prospects for your people, and that ultimately strengthens our community. Research has shown that when matched through a quality mentoring program, mentors can play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to make responsible decisions, stay focused and engaged in school, and reduce or avoid risky behavior like skipping school, drug use and other negative activities.
For example, in a recent national report called The Mentoring Effect, young people who were at risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor were 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college than those who did not have a mentor. They were also:
- 81 percent more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities;
- 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities;
- more than twice as likely to hold leadership positions in a club or sports team.
This same report found that one in three young people in our country will grow up without a mentor. Today in our community there are numerous young people who could benefit from having a mentor. As we focus on engaging more community members in volunteering as mentors, we will share a simple message: Mentor in Real Life. Mentoring relationships are basic human connections that let a young person know that they matter, and mentors frequently report back that their relationships make their mentees feel like someone is there to help them make the right choices in life.
To celebrate National Mentoring Month, please join us on January 26, 2016, for the My Brother’s Keeper Network Male Mentor Recruitment Event and Task Force meeting. To sign up as a mentor, please call (561) 242-5713 or email James Green at jgreen1@pbcgov.org. To learn more about the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative, please visit our website, www.mbkpbc.com.
