The Politics of Mentoring: A Call to Service

Author: Crystal Fontaine

“We need your service, right now, in this moment-our moment-in history”. President-elect Obama quoted these very words during a speech made in Colorado last year, claiming since he began running for the presidency that the central cause of his presidency would be molded around service. It is not the service through military arms that Obama speaks of, but the service provided by the “average Joe” – the service that incorporates volunteering and giving back to our communities. The President-elect and the former Delaware Senator plan to set an example the day before the Presidential inauguration by completing community service in order to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.

In a recent public service ad featured in the New York Times, President-elect Obama is shown encouraging the readers to “Be the Change: Mentor a Child”. The advertisement, from Service Nation and other groups, summons a course of action to correspond with January 2009 National Mentoring Month. National Mentoring Month is to help recognize the contributions of adults and students who are already volunteering and to encourage for more people to volunteer within mentoring programs. There is currently a serious mentoring gap in America, with nearly 15,000,000 youth in need of mentors. The month is designated to create awareness to the critical role of mentors participate in assisting youth recognize their full potential.

According to Mentoring.org, mentoring is to offer a structured and trusting relationship that brings youth together with compassionate individuals who provide guidance and encouragement, developing the aptitude and character of the mentee. Mentors help in so many ways by encouraging students to stay motivated and focused and presenting a constructive way for young people to spend their time among various other things. There are many programs across the nation that focus on mentoring. Across Ages, located in Philadelphia, focuses on 6^th graders in distressed areas, emphasizing in reducing substance abuse.  Another program that is widely known throughout the nation is the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, which promotes positive youth development through one on one mentoring of adolescence who come mainly from single-parent homes.

In a 2002 research report by Child Trends, the report shows that mentoring presents a great approach for youth development. Within the statement, Child Trends found that children who go through the mentoring experience have positive academic returns under overall academic achievement. In a provided example, children within Big Brothers and Big Sisters showed significantly better attendance, skipping half as many days as the control group in the study. There was also a correlation of students having better attitudes in general towards school. According to the study, a longer mentoring relationship equals a better outcome.

In a time of economic distress, the New Year has once again come upon us. This New Year is bringing about monumental changes: a new president, a new vision, and a new start. With this new perspective, perhaps we should focus more on providing our children with better futures and better outlooks toward the future instead of focusing on short- term negative economic trends. Mentoring is just one of the many positive ways that we can help the children of this country succeed and become our future.