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In the bottom drawer of my rather cavernous, and somewhat dusty, file cabinet—wedged between a pile of discarded Cape Cod souvenirs and an assortment of T-shirts—sits the treasure of a life's work with children: letters from my campers. Each one is different. Some are written carefully by hand, others hastily scrawled on pieces of scrap paper; some are typed, some are in pencil, and others bear the bright, and alternating, imprint of crayon. Although not one has likely seen the light of day since its receipt, I know they are there and what they represent . . . testament to the power of camp counselors to shape and transform young lives. If only we can get them to embrace it. Indeed, achieving and sustaining "buy-in" from this most peripatetic of generations requires a freshness of approach in communicating perhaps the oldest credo of camp. Yet, when done effectively, we can truly empower a new wave of camp counselors to embrace their crucial role as mentors of youth. Before we get to the communication part, however (look for "Letters From My Campers – Part II, A Counselor's Guide to Mentoring Youth" in the upcoming May/ June issue of Camping Magazine), we must fully understand the construct of mentoring and the outcomes it promotes. The Value of Mentoring Youth Youth mentoring has become a staple of the American landscape, growing exponentially through community and, increasingly, school-based programs designed to boost social and academic functioning. For example, according to "School-Based Mentoring: A Closer Look," a report from Public/Private Ventures, a national nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the effectiveness of social policies and programs, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America's school-based matches grew from 27,000 in 1999 to 90,000 in 2002, an increase of 233 percent. This explosion of mentoring programs has been accompanied by increasing efforts to systematically evaluate their effectiveness. What We Know A review of available data on the impact and efficacy of youth mentoring points to evidence of its positive effects on youth. For example, mentoring has been shown to:
We also know that mentoring is closely linked with other important psychological/sociological constructs, such as youth development, resiliency, and risk/protective factors. Youth Development • Other Adult Relationships: Young person receives support from three or more non-parent adults. • Caring Neighborhood: Young person experiences caring neighbors. • Caring School Climate: School provides a caring, encouraging environment. Resiliency Tellingly, there is also evidence of the importance of caring friends and peers in school and community environments in the development of resiliency among youth. Risk and Protective Factors Similarly, "Building Protection: The Social Development Strategy," published by Channing Bete Company, Inc., lists "Bonding — strong, attached relationships with adults who hold healthy beliefs and clear standards for young people (Channing Bete Company, Inc. 2004)" as a strategy for battling risk factors that relate to such problematic adolescent behaviors as alcohol and other drug use, delinquency, dropping out of school, becoming pregnant, and violence. Formal Versus Informal Mentoring Essentially, there are two types of mentoring, formal (or "planned") mentoring, which tends to be community and school-based programs where young people are matched with an adult or older student, and informal (or "natural") mentoring, reflected in relationships that occur outside of formal programs through friendship, collegiality, teaching, coaching, and counseling, for example. While the preponderance of past research on the outcomes of youth mentoring have focused on formal programs, recent Teens Today research from SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) points to the enduring efficacy of informal approaches, such as those intrinsic to camp communities. What We've Learned Teens who identify at least one influential, "natural" mentor in their lives report that they have a higher sense of self and are more likely to take risks that affect their lives positively. In the study, 46 percent of teens with a mentor reported a high sense of self versus 25 percent of teens who did not identify a natural mentor in their life. Additionally, teens with mentors reported that they are significantly more likely than teens without mentors (38 percent versus 28 percent) to challenge themselves by taking positive risks, such as joining an athletic team or volunteering to perform community service. Notably, more than half of teens (56 percent) say the absence of a mentor would negatively affect them. The study also reveals that the breadth and depth of mentoring—the number of mentors teens have or the range of topics they can discuss with a mentor—significantly influence decisions young people make around drinking, drug use, and sex. Teens' Sense of Self Higher With Mentor Additionally, teens with mentors are significantly more likely than those without mentors to also report frequently feeling happy (94 percent versus 86 percent) and less likely to report regularly feeling depressed (24 percent versus 31 percent) or bored (66 percent versus 75 percent). Mentoring Influences Positive Risk-Taking Behavior Earlier Teens Today data reveals that teens who take positive risks (Risk Seekers) in their lives, their schools, and their communities are 20 percent more likely than teens who do not take positive risks (Risk Avoiders) to avoid alcohol and other drugs and 42 percent more likely to avoid drinking because of concerns about academic performance. Many of these teens are also more inclined to delay intimate sexual behavior. Breadth and Depth of Mentoring Has Bearing on Teen Decisions Around Drinking, Drugs, and Sex Additionally, teens with a high level of mentoring took more positive risks (48 percent versus 29 percent); reported a higher sense of self (59 percent versus 36 percent); and reported lower levels of depression (21 percent versus 26 percent). Finally, "high mentored" teens are significantly less likely than "low mentored" ones to have driven a car under the influence of alcohol (13 percent versus 26 percent). To Whom Do Teens Look as Mentors? The Teens Today report reveals that teens rank family members, friends, teachers, counselors, and coaches among the most influential people in their lives. The characteristics young people tend to ascribe to them include trustworthy, caring, understanding, respectful, helpful, dependable, fun, compassionate, and responsible. Being a good listener and offering good advice were also seen as key skills of successful mentors. Decision-Making Differences Between Campers and Noncampers When sorting the data by those who report attending a summer camp versus those who say they have not, some interesting observations can be made. For example, young people who participated in camp are significantly more likely to report being highly mentored (37 percent versus 23 percent), taking positive risks (48 percent versus 30 percent), and having a high sense of self (53 percent versus 40 percent). In addition, these young people are significantly less likely to say they:
In the aggregate, young people who have not spent time at a summer camp are twice as likely as those who have to report that they are Repeaters, as opposed to Avoiders, of destructive behaviors (8 percent versus 16 percent). A Call to Action It is common, in this day and age, to believe that true heroes no longer exist for our children. What a sad commentary on a society at a time when heroes are more important than ever. During adolescence, boys and girls reap clear and consistent benefits from the active involvement in their lives of caring, supportive adults. Their letters bear witness to that. Our challenge is to encourage, or perhaps simply reinforce, mentoring behaviors of camp staff, creating a call to action—a campaign for heroes, of sort—to invest time and energy into young lives in need of mentoring. Our counselors can indeed make an important difference in the lives of their campers. We need now only to convince them.
Stephen Wallace, M.S. Ed., has broad experience as a school psychologist and adolescent counselor. He serves as chairman and CEO of SADD, director of counseling and counselor training at the Cape Cod Sea Camps, and adjunct professor of psychology at Mount Ida College. For more information about SADD or the Teens Today research, visit www.sadd.org [4]. For more information about Stephen's work, visit www. stephengraywallace.com [5]. © Summit Communications Management Corporation 2008 All Rights Reserved Originally published in the 2008 January/February issue of Camping Magazine. |