Young, Black and On Track: How Mentoring Can Help African-American Boys Succeed

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 8/10/03 | Tavares Stephens

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((ping))

[mcenedo]

bump

[Luke Skyfreeper]

Gentlemen, I just came up with a radical thought.

How many men are there on Free Republic?

Suppose we were to get hundreds, yea, thousands of male Freepers -- yes, black, white, yellow, I don't give a flip what color or race -- to take up the task of mentoring ONE BLACK YOUNG MAN A YEAR for the next 5 years?

What might that do for such young men, and what might the eventual political reverberations be?

Or am I simply crazy?

[sweetjane]

Sounds like a conservative "teach your children well" ping to me.

Let them know they are loved, show them what they can accomplish, tell them how to do it, let them know that they can transcend the upbringing that many of them (us) face, whatever color/race they happen to be.

To me, showing them how to do it and explaining why they should do it are key.

[sweetjane]

No, you are not crazy.

I'm not male, but I have young black males in my proximity. I will make an attempt to reach out to them, as I do to all children in my neighborhood. We have Asian, Muslim, WASP, and African-American kids in our neighborhood. They all have the same needs.

My goal will be to reach out to ALL kids. Even if it's just taking them to our community pool. I will ask them about their dreams and desires and see if they have an idea of how to proceed. I have good ideas about how to prepare for college, take tests, financial aid, etc. Also some knowledge of alternatives, including trade apprenticeships and military service, etc.

I will ask my husband to do the same. But usually when he ends up in the pool with the kids it turns into a big free-for-all. Positive active male energy is good.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

Good deal!

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Thanks for posting this. Hopefully, many good men out there would heed the call and make the effort to get involved in mentoring the "fatherless". As much as I hate to admit it, you MEN are the key to turning our society around.

Studies I've read and from my own life observations, I've seen that children of both sexes do look more to the males for guidance and modelling after.

One study that blew me away says that:
If Mom only attends church, child in adulthood has a 15% probability of attending church.
If Dad only attends church, probability increases to 55% for the child to follow in his footsteps later on in life.
Of course it makes sense that, if both parents attended, the probability is higher (72%).

I know the study does not exactly pertain to academic mentorship but I've seen the above validated over and over in different areas of life. Unfortunately, I've also read somewhere that about half of the children in the U.S. do not have a father in the home. This just spells disaster. The single mothers are doing their best, of course, but nothing takes the place of a father in the home, even one who is not so great.

So please, men, I urge you to think about mentoring a child within your sphere of influence.

[LibertarianInExile]

I had heard that children of single mothers were less 'well adjusted' than children of single fathers, but find no stats to bear that up are readily available. 55 vs. 15% is a significant difference. Whence came these numbers?

[fightinJAG]

I was just thinking the same thing as I read this (except I'm a gurl). I know this guy is right: mentoring can make an incredible difference.

[fightinJAG]

God bless you, sweetjane! I believe this is the work of a lifetime that pleases God.

[fightinJAG]

I agree that men are key to the process of growing children into solid adults.

I always think of this observation: whenever we are on vacation, say at the beach, the number one expression we hear children use over and over again is: DADDY, LOOK!!

[T-Bird45]

The students' decision to seize opportunities to improve their own lives

I think this is the key point the author makes in this fine article. Kind of like AA, it won't work until the individual is willing to take charge of their own lives rather than drift to the direction of the cultural winds.

On your "radical thought", I second that and will adopt it to my personal circumstances of working in an inner-city career-technical school with a significant minority enrollment. Great post...thank you.

[mhking]

No, Luke, you aren't crazy.

We've moved into a new subdivision which is unique in that respect. The developer is a Christian organization, Wellstone Properties. Wellstone has made it's way for many years building and developing churches across the nation, and particularly in the south.

My subdivision, Mt. Gerizim Crest, is designed to become a community, not just a place to lay your head. From the beginning of the occupancy of the first homes to about two years after construction is completed, a minister - a chaplain if you will - is employed by Wellstone to help see to the needs of the residents, and to guide them in creating that community.

As a part of that process, the minister has gathered the men of the community together to build a mentoring program for the boys in the subdivision. He pointed out that while there are many nuclear families like mine here, there are others with single parent households. Households where a positive male image is needed. And if you can't find that close to home, where else would you find it?

Black conservative ping

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[Cincinatus' Wife]

A cry in the black education wilderness

[Neets]

Thought this thread might interest you.

[optimistically_conservative]

Why African-American boys often fail in school

[Shark24]

As a mentor coming up on four years with two brothers (One 15 years old, half african-american. One 12 years old, white. Dads never been in picture. Mom in and out of prison so grandma is raising) let me make a few points. Mentoring can make a differance in the lives of "at risk" youth but the more important item is what is going on in their home life. The mentor can be a role model, validate the good choices the mentees make, provide inspiration and give them some positve life experiences they would not otherwise have but the daily love and discipline has to be there or the chances of mentoring making a differance are poor.
I try and alternate activities between fun, educational and work. They like doing the work as I pay them and it gives them some personal spending money. As I am a volunteer at my chuch with youth service projects, they have also helped with projects for other people in need. As the younger brother says "we get to have fun helping other peope".
Make sure you mentor through a qualified organization that covers the all the legal and insurance issues. They can also provide guidance if you are experiencing problems athough I've found my 5th grade educated immigrant father gave me all the guidance I've ever needed. Good luck

[happygrl]

These young men begin to recognize the value and importance of education. It feels good. It is empowering. It is, finally, relevant to who they are and what they want to do.

Thus, these young men learn to nurture ideals of achievement. They seek out and find ways to achieve during and after high school.

This doesn't sound like anti-intellectualism to me.