By Jean Rhodes When asked how he felt about the timing of his forthcoming movie, comedian and commentator Jon Stewart replied “it’s like showing up to a plane crash with a chocolate bar. There’s tragedy everywhere, and you’re like, ‘‘Uh, does anybody want chocolate?’’ It feels ridiculous. But what doesn’t feel ridiculous is to continue […]
By Jean Rhodes Apologies for this bit of shameless self-promotion but my new book on youth mentoring, Older and Wiser: New ideas for Youth Mentoring (Harvard University Press) is now available for pre-order (out in August). This book is a synthesis and analysis of the research on youth mentoring, a topic to which I have […]
by Jean Rhodes and Cherrelle Jones (clinical psychology doctoral student, UMass Boston) As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on and thousands of protestors gather in the streets day after day, we are viscerally witnessing the many ways that racism, and other systems of oppression, negatively impact the lives, the health, and the mental health of racial […]
By Jean Rhodes In a recent issue of the Journal of Youth Development, researchers describe the leisure paradox: Just as social distancing and the end of the school year have left young people with more free time than ever, there has been an abrupt halt to the summer camps, sports leagues, and other leisure activities […]
“Ultimately you can have all the tech in the world, but really great learning is a human endeavor. It’s about the teacher and student relationship.” Todd Rose, Harvard Graduate School of Education and co-founder of Populace By Jean Rhodes In addition to lost learning opportunities during COVID-19, many students are also losing vital […]
by Jean Rhodes COVID-19 has deeply affected the lives of children, many of whom are struggling to understand what is happening in their families and communities. They may be grieving losses, missing friends, worried about loved ones, and struggling to hold it together. And, just when emotional support is most needed, school closings have cut […]
By Jean Rhodes and Kirsten Christensen In a recent study of nearly 2,000 mentors from thirty nationally representative youth mentoring programs operating across the United States, mentors were asked how they spent time with their mentees (Jarjoura et al., 2018). The responses reflected a “non-specific” approach that emphasized friendship and broad (as opposed to more […]
By Jean Rhodes Although COVID-19 appears to spare children from the most serious health problems, marginalized youth are likely to bear the heaviest burdens of trauma and economic fallout. This has serious implications for mentoring programs, which often serve particularly high risk youth. For example, an analysis of the two million young people aged six […]
By Jean Rhodes How should parents, mentors, and other caring adults talk to children and adolescents about the growing COVID-19 pandemic? As a mentor, it is certainly appropriate to acknowledge some level concern, and to provide age-appropriate, accurate information that encourages actions that reduce the risk of exposure. But, if children see adults as overly […]
by Jean Rhodes Mentoring programs have not always appreciated the vitally important, positive role of caregivers in the success of mentor-youth relationships. In a large, multisite study, researchers found that staff and mentors often viewed mentees’ parents and communities primarily as “negative influences” (Lakind & Eddy, 2015). Such beliefs have a long legacy in youth […]
MENTOR: The National Mentoring PartnershipNovember 12, 2014 - MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) is the unifying champion for expanding quality youth mentoring relationships in the United States. For nearly 25 years, MENTOR has served the mentoring field by providing a public voice, developing and delivering resources to mentoring programs nationwide and promoting quality for mentoring through standards, cutting-edge research and state of the art tools.
Academic Web PagesAugust 6, 2012 - Academic Web Pages is the leading provider of customized websites for researchers, centers, nonprofits, and universities. AWP designed and has contributed generously to the creation of the Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring.
