27. Do young people really need mentoring?

We are in the process of conducting a survey of the 32 high schools we serve as we decide whether or not to create a strategic plan to expand the program beyond out three pilot schools in 2009. 9 schools voluntarily participated in the survey. Our focus was on the Year 9 and 10 students (aged 14 - 16), as this is where the focus of our GR8 MATES program is. Those participating in the survey included School Principals, Welfare teachers and Career Advisers. The survey was carried out for the most part by one of our mentors who volunteered his time to assist us. The results were collated and put together into a Final Report. This has now been circulated to the remaining schools that we serve together with an Expression of Interest Form which we would like to see completed and returned.

My expectation is that we will receive requests for assistance from mainly government schools, as they serve a variety of socio-economic groups. Independent or Private schools usually have smaller numbers so are able to run their own programs. From experience, as they need the numbers to pay their fees, they tend to be more protective about their student population and releasing information about them. However, as our Report shows, teenagers are teenagers and it does not matter where they go to school. They are still dealing with the same issues, perhaps just at different degrees. The Catholic Schools often have pastoral programs in place, so might not see the need for the GR8 MATES mentoring program.

So, what were some of the findings from the survey?

Major issues facing this age group included:

• Parental expectations and pressures.
• Peer pressure (often negative) leading to antisocial behaviour eg, bullying, binge drinking, partying, inappropriate sexual behaviour etc.
• Family circumstances eg, single parent families; blended families; successful parents who did not see schooling beyond Year 10 as necessary; lack of male role models; both parents working long hours, resulting in students having too much freedom and so reacting against school discipline.
• Students living further away from urban centres are isolated, sometimes naïve, bored etc. and this can lead to inappropriate behaviour.
• Those from lower socio-economic areas in particular might also lack effective role models with regard to dealing pro-actively with aggression, drug and alcohol issues and non-physical ways of resolving conflict.
• Some students appear to lack the self-confidence and self-belief to go on to Year 11 and Year 12 (the final years of school in Australia).
• Some students battle with the management of time ie, balancing school, homework, part-time jobs, social time.
• A few students fail to see the relevance of school.

The main reasons why students (often more boys than girls) are disengaging from school during their Year 9 included:

• Low literacy and numeracy levels;
• Low self-esteem (in one school particularly noticeable with girls);
• Student frustration – not seeing the relevance of education and/or not coping with academics;
• Problems with school discipline because of a lack of boundaries at home;
• Low motivation often as a result of a lack of support from home;
• Lack of communication and social skills;
• Negative peer pressure – also, feelings of inadequacy as some students don’t have access to technology at home;
• Lack of financial assistance to diagnose and treat borderline disabilities;
• Absenteeism/poor reports/not completing set tasks;
• Antisocial behaviour;
• Weaker students battle with competition and could feel inadequate.

Reasons given for schools wanting to participate in the GR8 MATES mentoring program included:

• More focused students;
• Less disruption in the classroom, thus allowing more quality teaching time;
• Mentors would share their life experiences and networks with students;
• Good for other students to see other adults in the school;
• Students connect with someone!;
• Student benefits from working 1:1 with another adult (another view/values);
• More positive students;
• Increase school retention rates;
• Students likely to be happier within and outside school;
• Establishes support and connection with the community;
• Student has a significant other, so there is a better chance of success;
• Students become more engaged with life, which is likely to result in positive outcomes;
• The mentor is seen as a safe, non-judgmental person for bouncing ideas off;
• Students might develop a more positive view to completing School Certificate, perhaps even continuing to Year 11 and 12;
• Parents will be supportive as it helps them too;
• Students will appreciate a mentor listening to them;
• An important opportunity for the sharing of information about work and life in general;
• Students will feel better adjusted and this will be a win for the community as well;
• As disengaged students are not working to their potential in class, missing one hour of class a week should not be an issue.

From all the research I have done over the years, there are so many common threads with that research and we need to remember that the whole concept of youth mentoring is 'relatively' new to Australia. There have been some programs around for 20 or so years, but they are few and far between. Indeed, we are hearing of programs having to close down due to a lack of funding - nothing new!

It would be wonderful to see a government take a long-term vision of youth mentoring and its value instead of wanting quick-fix results so that it can earn votes at the next election. Here in Australia (and, I might add, New Zealand where I lived for 8 years), even though I have only been in the country for about 18 months, there are so many issues that a visionary government could resolve. In particular in government funded schools:

• teachers could be respected and valued for the influential contribution they are making to their communities as educators;
• teachers so often feel that the government is draining them of every last drop of blood with scant reward or recognition (I hear comments like this often);
• teachers need time allocated to them so they can develop positive and healthy relationships with their students. This is the Teacher-Mentor idea, whereby teachers, through their interactions with students eg, goal-getting, ensuring the student is an active participant at school etc., will be sowing the seeds of mentoring;
• Peer Mentor programs being run by dedicated teachers given time from the timetable to devote themselves to this work - where older students are 'buddying' younger students. Given that Generation Y are desperate for RELATIONSHIPS with older, wiser folk, there are so many possibilities.

Another area that is a serious cause of concern and which echoes loudly and clearly through the survey is the impact of different types of families on the students and their behaviour - single parent; blended; de facto relationships; same sex couples; families where domestic violence was present, drug and alcohol abuse (as well as families in which the children are 'spoilt brats' and mum and dad fight all their battles for them - the 'bubblewrap generation' as someone described this generation of children! etc. No government in recent times has had representatives standing up and championing for the traditional family unit, which, again, so much research suggests is the key foundation of a stable, successful country. Many will probably throw up their arms in disagreement with this statement and remind us all that we are living in the 21st Century and times change. Of course they do, but sometimes there are some core values, such as family and the values around that, that stand the test of time and we allow political correctness to destroy the very fabric of society that MOST people deep down want to see maintained.

I hope to conduct a survey of students later in the year ...... there's another interesting journey.

This is no rocket science. Let's wait to see how our schools respond to this Report :-)

26. The days are long, the journey is worthwhile :-)

The training of the third group of mentors is into it's second week. There are only 7 potential mentors in this group, but we decided to go ahead in the hope that once the program is up and running we will be able to attract more mentors. The need in the Hawkesbury area, where this program is being run, is great. Situated 30 - 40 minutes from Penrith, which is probably the nearest urban centre, many of the students lead very isolated lives in these semi-rural areas. While this has its advantages, there are also problems when young people are bored - alcohol abuse, inappropriate sexual behaviour, unmotivated students etc. etc. Most students are not very street wise and it's clear that an effective mentoring program could assist many of these students to reach their undoubted potential. However, finding the volunteers will be a major challenge in the future, new strategies will be needed and considerably more thought will have to go into this aspect of the program.

So, by the middle of May we should have approximately 31 active mentoring matches in our three schools and we have just taken the decision to run a second program in our first pilot school from mid-July. Again, the recruiting of between 15 and 20 mentors will get under way from tomorrow.

While all this is going on, we are still considering how feasible it is to expand the program further in 2009. Our needs survey of 9 schools has been completed, the findings collated and a Report been put together ready for distribution to the other 20 - 30 schools in our region to see how many would like the GR8 MATES mentoring program in their schools. I'll comment further on that in a separate blog shortly .....

I also serve on a Reference Committee of another federally funded program. This particular program assists students who have been out of school for at least three months to turn their lives around by gaining a Certificate in hospitality ie, working in a cafe. The 20 week course is fantastic, the opportunities for the students amazing. Just under 50% of the students participating last year completed the course, a good start when one considers the nature of the students participating. We had a Committee meeting today and heard some wonderful success stories - one student decided she should return to complete her schooling after this experience; another found a job and has commented on the growth of his self-confidence as a result of participating in the course - awesome stuff, even if they don't complete this particular program. As I sit in these meetings, I can't help but think how some form of mentoring would probably assist many of these students as well. They do have a caring Case Worker and, if one could imagine another significant adult in their lives, even if it's only for six months, might that be a turning point for many of them? I don't know the answer. It will mean expanding GR8 MATES into a community program as well and that has other implications. I expect that I will explore this possibility in the months ahead - maybe in 2009??

Right at the moment, with training on a Monday and a Tuesday night, I am finding the 14 hour days tiring, but, oh, soooo worthwhile! :-)

25. A WOW! mentoring moment and a whole lot more!

I always enjoy seeing mentors feeling as though they are achieving something in their mentoring journey. Yesterday was one such day.

One of the mentors has really been battling bravely with her mentee, who just could not get organised and motivated enough to achieve a task. Today, they sat together at the computer to download a vital document the mentee needed for a part-time job application. The mentee does not have email at home and the mentor is not allowed to use her private email address. She could have used my work email address but was unaware of this (another point for the learning curve), so both mentor and mentee were frustrated, the mentor because she was so pleased to see her mentee get angry when they could not resolve this matter - at least he is becoming keener to make some progress.

Students in Australia wanting to work on Construction sites need a 'Green Card', a health and safety certificate. Schools run courses for the students from time to time. This selfsame mentor had accompanied the mentee to see the teacher concerned a couple of weeks back, but he was unavailable at the time. They returned yesterday and were told there was a charge of $90 for the course. The mentee visibly dropped his shoulders as he accompanied the mentor back to the meeting room for mentors at the end of the session. Clearly, home finances were stretched and he knew he would not get that money from home. We spent time discussing this during the debrief. The mentee needed to start thinking about what could be done, rather than just giving up. With the assistance of the School Coordinator, the mentee was summoned to see his mentor very quickly, the purpose being to ensure that he collected the Application Forms in the meantime. While the mentee was being summoned, the School Coordinator approached the Principal and chatted about the issue. The Principal agreed to see what he could do to find 50% of the cost from other sources. When the mentee met up with the mentor, he was given this news and how his demeanor changed!! The mentor had persevered, shared the issue with others during the debrief, a solution had been found and we witnessed a wonderful WOW! moment in the program, which might be a significant moment in the mentee's life journey. He had seen how his mentor cared for him, was willing to explore options etc. etc. and the positives that came out of the combined efforts of a number of people. The mentor will hopefully discuss the whole process with him soon ie, how to achieve a goal by exploring ALL possibilities and developing a 'can do' attitude.

Small moments like that make me feel very proud to be associated with a youth mentoring program!

24. Sailing along and a new program begins

This has been a busy week.

The mentors and mentees met up again and all is going well with the program. Sometimes it is good to be reminded that these are moody adolescents, very normal ........ one mentor battled this week as his mentee was in one of those moods. The key is not to take it personally. Another mentor was tearing her hair out in frustration at the laid back attitude of her mentee, but she held it all together and knows that things must happen at the pace of the mentee. We chatted a little about this during the debrief and ideas were shared. I continue to encourage the mentors to promote the email component of the program, but a couple of relationships are hindered by mentees not having access to email from home. How much we take this for granted in the 21st Century! The mentees seem reluctant to go and use the school library computers to email their mentors and to check messages, probably because the peer pressure impact kicks in again. I encourage the mentors to keep going. There are a couple of other issues going on and it is great to see how the mentoring partnership could assist resolve some of these matters. As one mentor is beginning to discover, as she is at the school consistently week in and week out, the connection with her mentee, who might lack that consistent support and encouragement at home, is strengthening and he is even initiating some of the conversations!!! A number of mentees have asked their mentors to assist with Resume writing, a topic that is covered in our Student Manual.

Monday night was the first night of training for our second program which we are launching this year in Penrith. As mentioned elsewhere, the recruiting process has been difficult and I have just not had the available hours to do a more effective job. However, I am beginning to find that the churches are SLOWLY getting on board, highlighted by the active participation of a Pastor in this latest program. He is doing the training and will mentor a student and I am hoping that his involvement will result in more of his congregation becoming involved as the program grows in that area. So, wonderful to greet 13 new potential mentors at the training, which included 4 men. I hope all return for the second week - that's always the interesting moment!

Next Tuesday night I begin the training of the third group of mentors as we prepare to run our third program in the Hawkesbury area. Despite considerable community newspaper support, we have not been able to recruit the numbers we would like, but have decided to go ahead with the 7 or 8 mentors who have indicated their availability. It would be lovely to have a miracle and see another 4 or 5 arrive!!

Busy times, indeed ...... :-)

23. Positive progress

The second meeting of the new school year was a positive one for most of the mentors and their mentees. More and more sharing of personal stuff is taking place, together with the exploration of possible careers in the future and what will be required to get there.

A couple of relationships that appeared to be hitting a wobble are back on track and looking very positive. In one case we have rescheduled the meeting time so the mentee can attend a specific class she does not want to miss. Flexibility is the key!!

A number of mentors are assisting their mentees on the journey of finding some work experience which they are allowed to do this year. This means they can miss school for a number of days during the year to experience the opportunity of spending some time at a place of work which intetrests them. In some cases it might result in students wanting to head out of school at the end of this year to gain an apprenticeship. In other cases students are already saying they feel they should complete their schooling before heading into the workforce. Every case is unique.

I am also promoting the use of the email facility, as this continues to result in some wonderful correspondence.

This week sees the launch of the mentor training for one of our new programs being launched in 2008 ....... more on that later.

22. Ongoing recruitment issues

We had another article in the Penrith community newspaper this week promoting the mentoring program. It was superbly written, yet I only received two phone calls as a result of the article in an area with a population of 160,000! It will be interesting to see if I have any more. Both callers were men - and we still need more men - but both were uncertain if they would be able to get off work to participate. I offered to speak to employers, as I have all the global research showing how mentors benefit so much from a positive mentoring relationship and the subsequent spin-off for the company/organisation/business they are working for. This is going to be an important issue to keep throwing into the mix when youth mentoring is discussed in any circles.

I contacted a local church situated near the one school where we hope to launch a program shortly and popped around to visit the Pastor. He was very receptive to the idea of approaching a few people in his congregation to explore the possibility of them becoming GR8 MATES mentors. If he can encourage 4 or 5 folk to participate, we will be well on our way to having the ideal number for this new program. Tomorrow I will attempt to visit two more local churches, one recommended by the Pastor and see what I can do. This particular Pastor is also a member of a gathering of local church ministers who meet every couple of months. I asked if I could have 10 minutes at one of these meetings to talk about the program. This looks likely to happen.

The first night of training for the program in the Penrith school is due to start on the 18 February. I met with the Principal today and we agreed to push ahead even if we don't have the full quota of mentors. Better to start small and then hope that, once the program is up and running, the momentum will pick up, mentors will spread the word amongst their networks and we will be able to recruit more effectively.

A new local community newspaper is running an article in the Hawkesbury area tomorrow. Again, I will be interested to see if there are any phone calls, though I think I will be visiting a couple more churches in that area early next week ! The mentor training in that area starts on the 26th February, so there is a little more time, but not much - great to have a magic wand?!!! :-)

21. The new school year is under way

A very interesting gathering on Tuesday, as mentors and mentees met up for the first time since the Christmas break. Some of the mentees were enthusiastic, focused and keen to move forward. Some had acquired part-time jobs during the holidays. A few were still battling to settle back into school, a couple making mutterings about wanting to leave. This is the very reason why they are a part of the mentoring program. The challenge for the mentors is to encourage their mentees back on track to maximise their time at school, especially as there are some very small signs of an economy that might become a little more difficult in the months ahead. So, these youngsters would be well advised to work hard at school, even to stay for their final two years, acquire more employability skills and be better prepared for life after school. Relationships between boys and girls are also featuring in early discussions and I have been impressed at the sensitve ways mentors are discussing these matters. There was some good sharing during the debrief and, thereafter, via email and in chats with individual mentors, we explored a variety of strategies to consider in encouraging mentees to reach their potential. We should have an interesting few weeks ahead.

We saw the effects of negative peer pressure and, after 45 minutes, I could see how one mentor had already helped her mentee start looking at the decisions he was making and the reality of the consequences of some of his decisions.

This is a time during adolescence when one does notice the changes taking place in their thinking, planning (or lack of!), relationship issues etc. Some mentors acknowledged seeing these changes in the space of two months. One mentee has shed 9kg over the holidays, looks and feels good and is more motivated than at any time last year - an interesting mentoring relationship to observe. I would not be surprised to see this mentoring relationship continue well beyond the formal closure of the program.

During the holidays all the mentors received their mentor training accreditation letters from TAFE (Tertiary provider). I celebrated the occasion by presenting them all with special Certificates officially acknowledging them as mentors in the program now that they have been past the probationary period. We took a group photograph which I emailed to them all in the afternoon. Acknowledging and rewarding mentors is something I feel very strongly about, yet it's the cost of small gifts that is one of the first items to be slashed from a mentoring budget when the finances are tight. Fortunately, most mentors are volunteers who are unlikely to expect anything in return for their time, so it is not a big deal.

I also met with the school IT folk to look at ways to tweak the ementoring component of the program. At the moment the supervisors can't read any attachments. One mentor erred in placing a private email address when corresponding with the mentee during the holidays. This is not allowed and is a safety and security issue. We want the supervisor to be able to access a message like this and delete the address (in this case). Obviously the mentor would be informed immediately. How important a pilot project is, allowing us to experiment a little, make mistakes etc.

The mentors will be focusing on career options etc, during the next few months. Students in schools here will start selecting their subject choices for their final two years of school between May and September this year. It makes a great difference if one has some idea of a career and knows what subjects are needed and this will be part of the mentoring journey. Having said that, where students are not feeling good about being back at school, the mentors will focus more on empathising and having discussions about choices and the consequences of those choices, maybe even doing some role-playing around this. The Student Manual is expected to be used quite a bit during the next few months.

Flexibility when running a program is important. I have one mentor whose circumstances have changed, making it not possible for her to meet her mentee when all the other mentors are gathering. We have sat with her mentee and agreed another time. The two of them have a positive connection and were making good progress at the end of last year, so it seemed important to do our utmost to accommodate the mentor's request for a change of days. However, she will miss the camaraderie with the other mentors each week, the debrief times and so on. I will have the added responsibility of ensuring that she is being supervised and supported, but it's a small price to pay to see a successful relationship continue.