Posts

When a mentor does more harm than good

Janet Murray, The Guardian A new study argues that those volunteering to help young people should always be trained and qualified When Helen fell pregnant at 15, her life was turned upside down. While her friends were out clubbing, she was stuck at home with a baby. She began to feel isolated and depressed. So […]

Combining mentoring with structured group activities: A potential after-school context for fostering relationships between girls and mentors

The Journal of Early Adolescence 2012 Deutsch summarized by UMass Boston clinical psychology student Laura Yoviene Problem: Most after-school programs are activity-oriented and aim to serve a specific purpose (i.e., sports, gang prevention), whereas mentoring programs offer a more relationally based intervention and have been linked to a myriad of positive youth outcomes. Accordingly,  with […]

Tactful mentors: A mentor is often someone older, but must she also be wiser?  

When I train mentors, especially those with considerable life and work experience, or when I discuss training with mentoring professionals who provide training to such mentors in their programs, I try to make clear my belief that mentors need to know that a youth mentor’s job is not to “talk at” or “inform” the mentee […]

How should mentors handle gift giving?

Editors Note: In this  feature Gail Manza and Susan Patrick draw from their new book Mentor’s Field Guide, which is framed as a series of 67 answers to the most common questions that arise in youth mentoring. This timely post might be helpful to volunteers as they navigate their way through the holidays. QUESTION 33. How should […]

Kids learn better when they manage their moods

Posted by James Devitt-NYU on May 21, 2014 Kindergartners and first graders from low-income families showed gains in math and reading after taking part in a program that helps them learn to manage emotions. Earlier studies suggest that poverty can affect a child’s readiness to start school, both emotionally and academically. Researchers tested an intervention […]

New study shows important pathway to mentor commitment

Gettings, P.E. & Wilson, S.R. (2014). Examining commitment and relational maintenance in formal youth mentoring relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 1-27, DOI: 10.1177/0265407514522145. summarized by Stella Kanchewa, M.A., UMass Boston doctoral student.   Background: Previous studies (e.g., Grossman et al. 2012; Grossman & Rhodes, 2002) have established the formation of an enduring relationship […]

Research Underscores Importance of Mentor Training

Martin, S.M., & Sifers, S.K., (2012). An evaluation of factors leading to mentor satisfaction with the mentoring relationship. Children and Youth Services Review,34(5): 940-945. Problem Mentoring relationships seem to be most beneficial when mentors have ongoing support from the matching agency, ongoing training, and confidence in one’s mentoring abilities. The study’s authors investigated whether these […]

Raising the bar: Levering the science of relationships to improve youth outcomes

by Jean Rhodes  This past week, Mentoring Central and Big Brothers Big Sisters announced an important collaboration that is likely to send ripples throughout the entire mentoring community.  BBBSA will adopt a customized version of Mentoring Central’s online mentor training program for use with up to 100,000 mentoring volunteers. The user-friendly course allows for “on-demand” interactive […]

2014 SAFE Training Certification

Friends for Youth has been the leader in the youth mentoring field in developing guidelines for programs to implement in order to select safe volunteer mentors. Based on research from our resource SAFE (Screening Applicants for Effectiveness): Guidelines to Prevent Child Molestation in Mentoring and Youth-Serving Organizations and more recently for our chapter, Mentor Screening […]

Different roles different styles: Study explores mentoring roles.

Different roles and different results: Is there an ideal mentoring style? Keller, T. & Pryce, J. (2012). Different roles and different results: How activity orientations correspond to         relationship quality and student outcomes in school-based mentoring. Journal of Primary  Prevention, 33, 47-64. Background: Recent mentoring research has shown that the quality of the mentoring relationship […]