Three Ways You Can Positively Impact Society through Youth Mentoring

Youth mentors are invaluable members of any society. They brighten a gloomy day. Sweeten a salty experience at school. Invigorate a deflated sense-of-self. Or even lend some hard-but-needed words to help youngins steer away from destructive temptations. All-in-all, the role of the mentor is to be a loyal role model who helps kids navigate out of adolescence and into adulthood.

But for as much as they’re beloved, by our young ones, it can take some serious cajoling to get adults to invest in their communities as mentors. 

At Full Circle of Lake County, our Mentoring program is built on an understanding of adolescent development rooted in recognizing how young people mature emotionally, mentally, and physically, and what mentors need to encourage and support that growth

Here are three distinct ways you can positively impact and strengthen Lake County’s social fabric: 

1. Deepens Empathy 

The creation of a meaningful and positively-impactful mentorship requires mentors to open themselves up to experiencing who the young person they are mentoring is (i.e. what the kid is about and what makes them tick) and finding ways to be flexible, responsive, and gracious no matter the course the relationship takes. This dynamic allows both mentor and mentee to bridge perspectives in a way that facilitates connection, and especially leaves the mentee with the knowledge that someone gets them and they always have a place where they belong. And in this time of increased social isolation, this invaluable sense of belonging among our youth will have tremendous ripple effects into their families, friendships, and the greater community.  

2. Bridges Social Divides 

One powerful way mentoring strengthens the fabric of communities comes through the way a mentor can intentionally engage and interact with youth and families from different social, racial, and economic backgrounds. Once trust has been established through consistency and forging a bond rooted in belonging, a mentor can have a unique role in helping close the gap between distant and dissimilar parts of society in a way that other community members will never have an opportunity to.

3. Promotes Community Engagement    

Again, once trust and respect is established, mentors can broach the often tense subjects a young person may be developing opinions about from race to sexuality to politics and religion, especially if they don’t feel comfortable expressing these developing opinions in a public or family setting. This sociopolitical development that a mentorship can foster is crucial in the lives of our youth, particularly when they are making sense of oppressive systems and thinking about engaging in social action. Additionally, this mentorship has the potential to boost the mentor and mentee’s self-esteem, leadership, and professional development skills, while also increasing their influence and personal stake in their community.

While this list could roll on forever, these are just a few of the big-hitting and immediate ways a youth mentorship can positively impact society.