The numbers are clear: Young people who are provided resources and support from a mentor see benefits both in the short and long term. According to data provided by MENTOR National, a service agency based in Boston, youth who have a mentor are:
92% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities;
75% more likely to have held a leadership position in a club or sports team; and
22% more likely to have experienced a strong sense of belonging while growing up.
Likewise, MENTOR found that adults who were mentored as youth report lasting, tangible effects:
74% say that their mentor contributed significantly to their success later in life.
69% of young adults say that this relationship helped them with issues related to their education.
58% say their mentor has supported their mental health.
While potential is equally distributed among all children and adults, opportunity is not.
“Systemic and growing inequity manifests as gaps in opportunity, networks, and access to adult relationships outside of families,” according to MENTOR. “Mentoring unites us. It is a key response to these issues. At a time when research shows that loneliness and isolation are trending upwards, we know that relationships are powerful tools. They bring us together, navigate us to greater connection and opportunity.”
Holyoke Public Schools has established a mentoring program for its middle school students at Holyoke STEM Academy, Metcalf and Sullivan schools to help them prepare for the transition to high school in the fall. Now in its second year, the HPS mentoring program is one of a variety of ways students are supported through their middle school years. Learn more about that program below.
“Mentoring helps create more opportunities now and in the future when we pair our students with adult mentors,” said HPS Director of Student Support Services Giselle Rojas. “Mentors build our students’ network of people they know and this puts more people ‘in their corner,’ which has long-term, lasting benefits.”
The need is great nationwide, as well as here in Holyoke.
“More than 1 in 3 young people in America are growing up without a mentor outside their family,” MENTOR states on its website. “By growing the mentoring movement, we have a chance to close this mentoring gap and increase young people’s access to supportive, caring adult relationships. MENTOR’s research shows the majority of Americans agree that mentoring relationships are powerful tools for connection and are critical for our country’s future. Nearly 9 in 10 people feel that more mentoring is needed in our country.”