January has been recognized as National Mentoring Month, and while the idea of mentoring is something that’s been around for decades, it has begun to significantly expand and gain momentum within the last twenty years. Research shows that children who are involved in a quality mentoring relationship also have positive outcomes in the areas of school, mental health, problem behavior and health.
The high school dropout rate has been an issue that’s gained national attention which has in turn initiated a national movement to meet and maintain a 90% graduation rate by 2020. An estimated 1.3 million students drop out of high school every year and on a local level, Communities in Schools of Houston estimates that “51% of students in the Houston Area fail to graduate within four years of entering high school.”
Dropping out of school is usually not based on just one factor, but rather a culmination of several different risk factors over an extended period of time. There are several predictors as well as external risk factors including, but not limited to teen parenthood, discipline problems at school, substance abuse, lack of self-esteem, and absenteeism.
According to the research, mentoring has been specifically linked to two of those indicators — behavior problems and high levels of absenteeism. A Public/Private Ventures evaluation of the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs showed that students who regularly meet with their mentors are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school, 46% less likely to start using illegal drugs, and 27% less likely to start drinking. In addition, a Public/Private Ventures study funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and distributed by MDRC showed that there was also a significant reduction in depressive symptoms for youth in a mentoring relationship.
In a time when juvenile substance abuse rates are rising and mental health funding is decreasing, if a positive mentoring relationship can help even one child, it’s more than worth it.
MENTOR estimates that there are more than 15 million young people who need or want mentoring, but are not currently receiving it. If you would like to learn more about becoming a mentor, visit www.mentoring.org to connect with mentoring programs right in your neighborhood.
Listen below for our commentary on the impact mentoring can have.
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