Why mentoring matters? As a mentor of African-American boys, I can tell you our young men are in a lot of trouble. Many young African-American men today do not care about education, their appearance, or hard work, and many of them do not have respect for their elders or women. This does not apply to all young African-American men, I know there are some out there that are doing, and trying to do the right thing and are the complete opposite of the young men I described earlier.
I have seen the positive effects of mentoring, and the positive change it can bring to a young person’s life. I have seen angry young men with low self esteem come into our program and turn their lives around in a few years with the help and guidance of positive male role models. Any time, you can spend with a child is worth more to them than you can imagine. The problem is there aren’t enough mentors stepping up!
We need to start holding ourselves, our children, our teachers, and our school administrators accountable when it comes to our children’s education. When we do this; we will finally stop the pipeline that goes from African American neighborhoods straight to the local detention centers, and prisons.
When I was a boy, nearly every man in my neighborhood was a mentor. They made sure we stayed out of trouble. They made sure we were behaving ourselves, and they made sure we were safe and taken care of. All a child needs to flourish is for someone to teach the, take care of them and look out for them. I encourage anyone who is reading this article to become a mentor to a child, and a donor to a mentoring program. Do it today, because there is a child out there that needs you.
Article Appeared @http://blackstarjournal.org/?p=4976