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Does Mentoring Work? 

Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado – Would eleven Kids be dead if two young classmates

had had a mentor to help them understand some positive alternatives to their horrific action?

Mark at six years of age was taken from his mother by social services. He had been hit often by his

mother who was a substance abuser of alcohol and drugs, and Mark had been molested by a boy

friend of his mother. He was placed in several foster homes over the next three years but he acted

up so often that he was finally placed in a foster care group home. When Mark was fifteen the

group home started a mentor program and Daniel was matched with Mark as his mentor. Daniel

met with mark at least once a week for about an hour and talked with him from time to time on the

phone. Mark had the following to say about his relationship with Daniel: "Daniel saved my

life. Months grew into a couple of years where he mostly listened to my pain and frustration with

life. I hated myself and most people around me. Slowly Daniel began to show me that I was worthy

of the many pleasures in life and even though things started off bad, it was within my power to

make changes and to succeed." Today Mark has graduated from high school with mostly A’s and B’s

in his senior year and is attending the State University working on a degree in business

administration.

Mentoring Does Work! 

In a Pew Public/Private Ventures Study of 959 boys and girls with 60% members of a minority group,60% boys, and 80% from low income households, 487 were matched with mentors and the

remaining 472 were the control group with no mentors.

After 18 months with mentors, an evaluation of these children revealed the boys and girls were:

  46 % less likely to use illegal drugs

  27% less likely to use alcohol

  37% less likely to skip class

  53% less likely to skip school

  33% less likely to hit someone

Mentoring Works - Jennifer’s Story 

Jennifer, a junior in high school, was matched with Marianne as her mentor. Jennifer lived in a

single parent home with four siblings. She volunteered for the mentor program because she did notwant to follow in the footsteps of her siblings and belong to a local gang. But she wasn’t sure it was

avoidable. Marianne and Jennifer became friends and decided they would work at improving

Jennifer’s grades - as she was failing some of her courses. After a couple of months her grades were

not improving and Marianne visited Jennifer’s home to find that, with kids and adults coming and

going, there was no quite place to study and do homework. Marianne invited Jennifer to come to

her office after school where she could sit quietly and study. Occasionally Marianne would give a

helping hand. Over the next couple of months, Jennifer’s grades improved dramatically and other

office workers liked having her around and offered her a part-time job. Here is what Jennifer has to

say about mentoring with Marianne: "...My mentor has done so much for me and I don’t know

where I would be without her. Now I have a 3.83 GPA (one B in Math, we’re still working on that

one). It seems like now, things are really starting to come together. I’m not nearly as confused as I

was before. I’m well on my way to being the first person in my family to graduate from college."

More Statistics on Mentoring 

A study by Proctor and Gamble of mentoring in Cincinnati schools showed that young people with

mentors were more likely to

  Stay in school

  Attend classes

  Be less disruptive when attending class

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  Get better grades

  Go to college

A Ford Foundation study of high school students from families receiving public assistance found that

those with mentors were more likely than those without mentors to:

  Graduate from high school

  Enroll in college

  Have fewer children

  Have fewer arrests

  Live without public assistance

  Become involved in community service

  Be hopeful about their future

California Mentor Foundation surveyed 124 mentor programs with 36,251 mentors and 57,659

mentees. The survey showed that:

  98% stayed in school

  85% did not use drugs

  98% Deterred from teen pregnancy

  98% Did not join a gang

Mentoring is vitally needed and does work.But what does it cost? Click here to continue.

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