Entries by Jean Rhodes

Invisible Digital Companions: How Mentors Can Help Youth Navigate AI

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By Jean Rhodes I recently listened to a fascinating episode of the American Psychological Association’s Speaking of Psychology podcast featuring Dr. Ashleigh Golden and Dr. Rachel Wood discussing AI companions and mental health. The conversation left me thinking about how little many parents and mentors may understand about how teens actually use artificial intelligence, and […]

Everyone wins: The reciprocal benefits of cross-racial mentoring relationships

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  Jones, K., Parra-Cardona, R., Sánchez, B., Vohra-Gupta, S., & Franklin, C. (2023). Motivations, program support, and personal growth: Mentors perspectives on the reciprocal benefits of cross-racial mentoring relationships with black youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 150, 106996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.106996 There is a lack of research on how mentors’ motivations, personal experiences, and support from the […]

The five most popular Chronicle posts of 2025

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by Jean Rhodes This year has been shaped by a mix of profound challenges and meaningful progress. Cruel and capricious federal policies under the Trump administration, painful geopolitical events, rising mental health struggles among adolescents, and rapid advances in AI technology have created a landscape marked by uncertainty and strain. At the same time, these […]

Do “credible messengers” make better mentors?

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By Jean Rhodes In his comprehensive new National Mentoring Resource Center review of credible messenger and lived experience mentoring (LEM) programs, David DuBois explores an under-researched topic in youth development and criminal justice reform. The report evaluates mentoring models in which mentors share meaningful life experiences with at-risk youth, such as previous criminal legal system […]

College’s real edge is social capital, not chatbots

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 In a new study, Emily Hersch and colleagues report that students who completed “Connected Scholars,” a semester-long social capital course at UMass Boston, were dramatically more likely to stay enrolled and earn their degrees on time than similar students who did not take the class, even after accounting for many background differences. At a moment […]

Mentoring Programs in the Age of AI: Perils and Promise

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By Jean Rhodes Mentoring programs are entering an era in which many young people already treat AI chatbots as quasi‑helpers, whether adults like it or not. National survey data show that about one in eight U.S. adolescents and young adults has turned to large language model chatbots such as ChatGPT for mental health advice, with […]

The Recent Government Shutdown Hurt Children and Adolescents: Well-Trained Mentors Can Help

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By Jean Rhodes The recent government shutdown led to widespread economic uncertainty which permeated the lives of children and adolescents. And according to a new research, this stress may have lasting effects on young people’s academic prospects, emotional resilience, and sense of selves. In the study, “Perceived economic hardship and adjustment outcomes of children and […]

Inside the Male Mentor Shortage

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By Jean Rhodes Over the past half-century, the presence of men in boys’ daily lives has declined sharply. Between 1970 and 2023, the proportion of U.S. children living in single-parent families more than doubled, driven largely by increases in female-headed households (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2023). Teachers, coaches, clergy, and other community […]

A Groundbreaking New Evaluation of Big Brothers Big Sisters

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By Jean Rhodes This summer, a rigorous four-year RCT of the BBBS community-based mentoring program reported findings that are incredibly promising. The study,  conducted by mentoring researchers David DuBois and Carla Herrera, represents the largest, most rigorous, and longest evaluation of Big Brothers Big Sisters to date. In it, they followed over 1,350 youth across […]