Mentoring Youth - Setting Them Up For Success

The young people of today are our future; the future of our country, of our businesses, of our churches and of our world! It seems crazy to dismiss that concept, and you hear it quoted so many times, but do we REALLY appreciate what this means? Kids are so often left to fend for themselves, without being given any direction.

There are so many kids who are lost. Lost in the shuffle of work, other siblings and the worries of life. Lost as to what their place in this world is. Lost as to how to handle the situations that they are presented with every day. They should not have to go through this alone! There are way too many teen suicides, and even more that seriously contemplate it but never follow through. Then you add those who are depressed but not to the point of being suicidal. Many turn to drugs, alcohol and sex as a way to stop thinking about all these things and to hide from reality. They often see it as the only way to cope, and it only makes things worse. This is NOT fair. A lot of this could be prevented if they were given some direction and a sense of belonging, accomplishment, purpose and some solid encouragement.

A lot of adults want to blame the kids for their misbehavior and their bad habits. I've got news for you: a lot of this comes down on you. Now, I'm not excusing the behavior itself, and I'm not saying that kids shouldn't be responsible for their actions. But adults need to understand the reasons behind these actions. Please don't just critisize and judge them and then tell them to stop, because that will not work. Understand what they are going through, and help guide them through it. Just because they have fallen into some of these habits does not make them bad kids.

Kids don't need you to judge them. Most of the time they know that the wrong things that they are doing are wrong, even if nobody has taken the time to tell them. What they need is someone to understand what they are going through. They need is someone to come along side them to guide them, encourage them, and let them know that they can change if they want to. Give them a sense of power over their lives. Let them know that their choices have concequences, and that they are the ones that are ultimately responsible for how their life turns out. Also let them know that they are not alone in the journey, that there are people that care about them and want to help them succeed; people who want to see their dreams come true and will help them.

Kids have HUGE dreams. They don't know boundaries, unless they have been instilled in them by someone else. Kids often have huge goals to conquer their desires in business, relationships and every other area of their life. Unfortunately, a lot of times when they share these ideas with the adults around them, they are told to be "more realistic" or to be ready to "settle" for something less. Nonsense! Let them know that they can achieve their goals. ASK them how they intend to reach them and encourage them to take the necessary steps to get there. Help them set up a plan of action, teach them to write down their goals, and show them how to seek out people who can help them.

You don't have to be some superhero to be a mentor to youth. All you have to do is listen, care and encourage. There are a lot of opportunities to get involved in mentoring youth. You could volunteer at your church's youth group. This provides a great opportunity to get to know a lot of kids and have the chance to encourage them. If your church has a small group youth program, it can be a great setting to start to develop some closer mentoring relationships. Another way is to be a "big brother" or "big sister". This program puts young people and mentors together and has made a huge difference in the lives of many kids. You can find out more about the Big Brother Big Sister programs at bbbs.com. There are a lot of different programs and opportunities out there, and you don't have to spend a ton of time. Do some digging around to see what kinds of programs are in your area, and find out how you can get involved.

It does not take an enormous amoung of time to be able to invest in the lives of young people. Maybe it's just an hour a week in the Big Brother Big Sister program. Maybe it's by reaching out to your kids and their friends and encouraging them whenever you can. Look for opportunities to be there for them when you are not "on the clock" at an organization. Make it a part of your life to show our future leaders who they can be. Be an example to them, and use the chances you get every day to be a positive impact in the lives of young people around you. Commit to making a difference!

There are a lot of tools available now to help mentor kids. Another way you can help besides giving of your own time is to provide resources for them that will help them grow and put them on the path to success. One of my favorites is Success Foundation, who's goal is to provide success tools to youth that would not otherwise have had access to it. Getting personal development tools into the hands of kids at a young age is huge in helping them to have the right mental attitude, understanding what it takes to be successful, learning to believe in themselves, and providing the tools and habits they need to achieve their dreams. Success Foundation has a great new book out called "Success for Teens" which shows step by step how to do these things, and gives stories of teens who have used them to overcome obstacles, get their lives back on track and achieve great results they never thought possible. There's nothing like another teen's success to help inspire other teens to do great things, which we all know they are more than capable of! On their website, you can get free copies of the book if you are a church, school or nonprofit youth-development organization. If you are not, you can still get them for as low as $1 a copy, which is pennies to help change and direct young people's lives. Utilize this tool and the many others that are out there to help get these critical things into the hands of our young people as early as possible.