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## Other Youth Topics

## Breadcrumb

            -  Youth Topics 
            -  Mentoring 
            -           Benefits of Mentoring for Young People      

# Benefits of Mentoring for Young People

Mentoring is often one component of a program that involves other elements, such as tutoring or life skills training and coaching. The supportive, healthy relationships formed between mentors and mentees are both immediate and long-term and contribute to a host of benefits for mentors and mentees.

**Benefits for youth:**
                      - Increased high school graduation rates
                      - Lower high school dropout rates
                      - Healthier relationships and lifestyle choices
                      - Better attitude about school
                      - Higher college enrollment rates and higher educational aspirations
                      - Enhanced self-esteem and self-confidence
                      - Improved behavior, both at home and at school
                      - Stronger relationships with parents, teachers, and peers
                      - Improved interpersonal skills
                      - Decreased likelihood of initiating drug and alcohol use (MENTOR, 2009; Cavell, DuBois, Karcher, Keller, & Rhodes, 2009)

**Potential Educational Benefits**

*Better academic performance.* A 1995 study of the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) program found mentored youth earned higher grades than a similar group of young people who did not have mentors (Tierny, Grossman, & Resch, 1995). Further, the 2007 study of the program found youth in school-based mentoring programs turned in higher quality class work, did better academically (especially in science and written and oral communication), and completed more of their assignments than their peers who did not have mentors. These results, while positive, were small in magnitude and did not last into the following school year (Herrera, Grossman, Kauh, Feldman, McMaken, & Jucovy, 2007). While a trend toward improved academic performance has been found through research on mentoring programs, Jekielek, Moore and Hair (2002) indicate that studies of mentoring programs do not show consistent improved academic outcomes.

*Better school attendance.* Youth with mentors had fewer unexcused absences from class than students without mentors (Tierny, Grossman, Resch, 2000; Herrera, Grossman, Kauh, Feldman, McMaken, & Jucovy, 2007). For example, youth participating in the Across Ages mentoring program showed a gain of more than a week of classes attended, compared with those youth not participating in the program (Jekielek et al., 2002).

*Positive attitudes.* Teachers of students in the BELONG mentoring program reported that students participating in mentoring were more engaged in the classroom and also seemed to place a higher value on school than students who did not have mentors (Blakely, Menon, & Jones, 1995).

**Potential Behavioral Benefits**

*Decreased likelihood of initiating illegal drug and alcohol use.* A BBBS study showed youth with mentors were less likely to begin using drugs or alcohol during the eighteen-month period of the study than their peers. Specifically, 6.2 percent of youth with mentors initiated drug use compared to 11.4 percent of their peers without mentors, and 19.4 percent initiated alcohol use compared to 26.7 percent. These findings were more substantial for minority youth (Tierny et al., 1995). Findings from a study of the Across Ages mentoring program showed that mentees gained important life skills to help them stay away from drugs (LoSciuto, Rajala, Townsend, & Taylor, 1996).

*Decreased violent behavior.* Mentees in the BBBS program were 32 percent less likely to report having hit someone over the past year than the young people without mentors (Tierny et al., 1995). Jekielek et al. (2002) found that four mentoring programs showed reductions of some behaviors related to delinquency and negative behaviors, but did not eliminate all delinquent behaviors.

**Other Potential Benefits**

Mentoring has also been linked in studies to social-emotional development benefits, improvements in youth perceptions of parental relationships, and better prospects for moving on to higher education.

*This section has been adapted from Federal Mentoring Council and Jekielek, Moore, & Hair, 2002.*

**Benefits for mentors:**
                      - Increased self-esteem
                      - A sense of accomplishment
                      - Creation of networks of volunteers
                      - Insight into childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood
                      - Increased patience and improved supervisory skills (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.)

Mentoring can help youth as they go through challenging life transitions, including dealing with stressful changes at home or transitioning to adulthood. Close, healthy, supportive relationships between mentors and mentees that last for a significant portion of time (i.e., more than one year) are central to success. Without this, mentoring programs run the risk of harming young people who are paired with mentors ill-equipped to meet the mentees' needs. Specifically, relationships with mentors that last less than three months; where there is irregular and inconsistent contact; where there is a disconnect between the personalities, interests, and expectations of the mentors and mentees; where mentors are unprepared and lack skills to relate to youth; and where there is no emotional bond between the mentor and mentee have been found to be harmful to youth (Jekielek et al., 2002; Rhodes & DuBois, 2006).

## References

Blakely, C. H., Menon, R., & Jones, D. J. (1995). *Project BELONG: Final report.* College Station, TX: Texas A&M University, Public Policy Research Institute. (PDF, 2 pages)

Cavell, T., DuBois, D., Karcher, M., Keller, T., & Rhodes, J. (2009). *Strengthening mentoring opportunities for at-risk youth.* Retrieved from http://www.mentoring.org/downloads/mentoring_1233.pdf (PDF, 4 pages)

Jekielek, S., Moore K. A., & Hair, E. C. (2002). *Mentoring programs and youth development: A synthesis.* Washington, DC: Child Trends. Retrieved from http://www.mentorwalk.org/documents/mentoring-synthesis.pdf (PDF, 68 pages)

Herrera, C., Grossman, J. B., Kauh, T. J., Feldman, A. F., McMaken, J., & Jucovy L. Z. (2007). *Making a difference in schools: The Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring impact study.* Public/Private Ventures. Retrieved from http://files.bigsister.org/file/Making-a-Difference-in-Schools.pdf (PDF, 148 pages)

LoSciuto, L., Rajala, A. K., Townsend, T. N., Taylor, A. S. (1996). An outcome evaluation of across ages: An intergenerational mentoring approach to drug prevention. *Journal of Adolescent Research, 11*(1), 116-129.

MENTOR. (2009). *Elements of effective practice in mentoring.* Third Edition. Retrieved from http://www.mentoring.org/downloads/mentoring_1222.pdf (PDF, 20 pages)

Rhodes, J. & DuBois, D.L. (2006) Understanding and facilitating youth mentoring. *Social Policy Report: Giving Child and Youth Development Knowledge Away*. Retrieved from http://www.srcd.org/sites/default/files/documents/20-3_youth_mentoring.pdf (PDF, 20 pages)

Tierney, J. P., Grossman, J. B., & Resch, N. L. (1995). *Making a difference: An impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters.*Public/Private Venture.(PDF, 71 pages)

U.S. Department of Labor. Office of Disability Employment Policy. (n.d.). *Cultivating leadership: Mentoring youth with disabilities.* Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/cultivate.htm

## Other Resources on this Topic

### Announcements 

                          - 2014 National Mentoring Summit
                          - Building Staff Co-Regulation to Support Healthy Relationships in Youth: A Guide for Practitioners
                          - Department of Justice Awards More Than $136 Million to Support Youth and Reform the Juvenile Justice System
                          - Measuring Co-Regulation: A Draft Tool for Observing Educators in Youth-Serving Programs
                          - National Adoption Month 2022
                          - Nationwide Pre-Apprenticeship Initiative
                          - Report: Building Co-Regulation Capacity to Support Positive Development for Youth with Foster Care Experience
                          - Report: Mentoring in Juvenile Treatment Drug Courts
                          - Report: Promoting Healthy Futures: Afterschool Provides the Supports Parents Want for Children’s Well-Being
                          - Resource: $63 Million to Expand Community Schools and Increase Social, Emotional, Mental Health, and Academic Support for Students, Educators, and Families
                          - Resource: Building Educator Pipelines Through Service 
                          - Resource: Co-Regulation in Practice Series -- Strategies for Practitioners Who Serve Youth Aged 14-24
                          - Resource: Co-regulation: What It Is and Why it Matters Video
                          - Resource: Financial Aid Toolkit for Counselors
                          - Resource: How to Help Children and Teens Manage Their Stress
                          - Resource: John H. Chafee Foster Care for Successful Transition to Adulthood Program Resource List
                          - Resource: Mentoring as a Component of Reentry
                          - Resource: Mentoring for Enhancing Career Interests and Exploration
                          - Resource: Mentoring for Enhancing School Attendance, Academic Performance, and Educational Attainment
                          - Resource: Mentoring for Preventing and Reducing Substance Use and Associated Risks among Youth
                          - Resource: National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS) Aligned Programs in all 50 States
                          - Resource: NCFY
                          - Resource: Practitioner’s Toolbox
                          - Resource: Resilience, Opportunity, Safety, Education, Strength (ROSES) Program
                          - Resource: School Resource Officers, 2019–2020
                          - Resource: The Mentoring Toolkit 2.0: Resources for Developing Programs for Incarcerated Youth
                          - Resource: The National Partnership for Student Success
                          - Resource: Toolkit for Implementing Authentic Youth Engagement Strategies Within State Advisory Groups
                          - Resource: Tools for Mentoring Organizations to Strengthen Match Support and Closure
                          - Resource: We Meet Them Where They Are: The Importance of Mentoring as a Component of Youth Gang Violence Intervention
                          - Resource: Youth Advisory Councils
                          - Resources for Professionals and Others Supporting Young People During Times of Uncertainty
                          - Review: Mentoring for Children of Incarcerated Parents
                          - Share with Youth: Next Legends
                          - Webinar Series: Building Your Program: Empowering Grassroots Mentoring
                          - Youth Voices Have Moved to YE4C

### Feature Articles 

                          - A Match Made in Pittsburgh Cultivates a Young Girl's Strengths
                          - Engineering students mentor at middle school with STARBASE
                          - Girls Mentoring and Education Service
                          - Healthy Youth Development through Self-Regulation and Co-Regulation
                          - Just Launched! Redesigned YE4C
                          - Secretary Duncan Hosts First Meeting with National Council of Young Leaders
                          - Youth Speakers Share Their Hopes for the Future

### Programs 

                          - National Guard Youth Challenge Program
                          - Neighborhood Networks
                          - Reintegration of ExOffenders Program
                          - Seniorcorps - Foster Grandparent Program
                          - YouthBuild

### Publications 

                          - Adventures in Parenting
                          - Juvenile Mentoring Program: 1998 Report to Congress
                          - Juvenile Mentoring Program: A Progress Review
                          - Make a Friend-Be a Peer Mentor
                          - Mentoring Resources
                          - Mentoring-A Proven Delinquency Prevention Strategy
                          - My Brother’s Keeper Task Force Report to the President

### Resources 

                          - Report: Mentoring in Juvenile Treatment Drug Courts
                          - Report: My Brother’s Keeper 2016 Progress: Two Years of Expanding Opportunity and Creating Pathways to Success
                          - Resource: Mentoring as a Component of Reentry
                          - Resource: The Mentoring Toolkit 2.0: Resources for Developing Programs for Incarcerated Youth
                          - Resource: Tools for Mentoring Organizations to Strengthen Match Support and Closure
                          - The My Brother's Keeper Initiative

### Technical Assistance 

                          - AmeriCorps Resource Center

### Tools & Guides 

                          - 3 Bold Steps for School Community Change
                          - AmeriCorps: National Mentoring Month
                          - Best Practices Guide on Mentoring Youth with Disabilities
                          - Tip Sheet for Mentors: Supporting Children Who Have an Incarcerated Parent

### Videos & Podcasts 

                          - Become a Mentor - Etienne & Don'Trae 30 Second PSA 2014
                          - Watch: Youth Describe Their Most Meaningful Relationships

### Websites 

                          - National Mentoring Resource Center
                          - Resource: Mentor.gov
                          - The Mentoring Effect

### Youth Topics 

                          - Mentoring

## Youth Briefs

How Individualized Education Program (IEP) Transition Planning Makes a Difference for Youth with Disabilities
Youth who receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) and especially young adults of transition age, should be involved in planning for life after high school as early as possible and no later than age 16. Transition services should stem from the individual youth’s needs and strengths, ensuring that planning takes into account his or her interests, preferences, and desires for the future.

Youth Transitioning to Adulthood: How Holding Early Leadership Positions Can Make a Difference
Research links early leadership with increased self-efficacy and suggests that leadership can help youth to develop decision making and interpersonal skills that support successes in the workforce and adulthood. In addition, young leaders tend to be more involved in their communities, and have lower dropout rates than their peers. Youth leaders also show considerable benefits for their communities, providing valuable insight into the needs and interests of young people

How Trained Service Professionals and Self-Advocacy Makes a Difference for Youth with Mental Health, Substance Abuse, or Co-occurring Issues
Statistics reflecting the number of youth suffering from mental health, substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders highlight the necessity for schools, families, support staff, and communities to work together to develop targeted, coordinated, and comprehensive transition plans for young people with a history of mental health needs and/or substance abuse.

Young Adults Formerly in Foster Care: Challenges and Solutions
Nearly 30,000 youth aged out of foster care in Fiscal Year 2009, which represents nine percent of the young people involved in the foster care system that year. This transition can be challenging for youth, especially youth who have grown up in the child welfare system.

Coordinating Systems to Support Transition Age Youth with Mental Health Needs
Research has demonstrated that as many as one in five children/youth have a diagnosable mental health disorder. Read about how coordination between public service agencies can improve treatment for these youth.

Civic Engagement Strategies for Transition Age Youth
Civic engagement has the potential to empower young adults, increase their self-determination, and give them the skills and self-confidence they need to enter the workforce. Read about one youth’s experience in AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC).

## Main navigation

- Mentoring
- Practice
- Adult Mentor Characteristics
- Relationship Types
- Relationship Characteristics
- Benefits for Young People
- Challenges & Lessons Learned
- Successful Relationships & Programs
- Starting a Program
- Federal Support
- References

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## Latest Resources

### Announcements

Resource: National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS) Aligned Programs in all 50 States

Webinar Series: Building Your Program: Empowering Grassroots Mentoring

Resource: School Resource Officers, 2019–2020

### Feature Articles

Healthy Youth Development through Self-Regulation and Co-Regulation

Just Launched! Redesigned YE4C

A Match Made in Pittsburgh Cultivates a Young Girl's Strengths

### Publications

Mentoring Resources

My Brother’s Keeper Task Force Report to the President

Mentoring-A Proven Delinquency Prevention Strategy

### Resources

Resource: Tools for Mentoring Organizations to Strengthen Match Support and Closure

Resource: The Mentoring Toolkit 2.0: Resources for Developing Programs for Incarcerated Youth

Resource: Mentoring as a Component of Reentry

### Youth Topics

Mentoring