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G. Ciências Humanas - 7. Educação - 16. Orientação e Aconselhamento

MENTORING PROGRAM: A SUCCESSFUL ONGOING EXPERIENCE IN A HIGH SCHOOL IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Regina Williams 1 (rewilliams1s@semo.edu), Cindy Jackson 1, Sandy Price 2 e Julieta Monteiro-Leitner 3

(1. Graduate student in the School Counseling Program at Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA; 2. School counselor, Poplar Bluff school district, MO, USA; 3. Assistant Professor, Department of Education Administration and Counseling, School Counseling Program at Southeast Missouri State University)

INTRODUÇÃO: Mentoring is a sustained relationship between a youth and an adult. In a well structured relationship, the adult provides help, support and guidance. This relationship has many advantages: a) Builds a positive, new friendship; b) Strengthens a students self-esteem & school performance; c) provides a mentor with the chance to re-experience the joy of adolescents. Numerous studies have evidenced the benefits of a mentoring relationship between a youth and an adult. Columbia University & the University of Massachusetts found that young people who overcome poverty to reach college share a common bond with a mentor or several mentors. A Terry Williams & William Kornblum Study of 900 Children concluded that having an adult mentor was the most significant factor in keeping teenagers off the streets. Mentors make a difference through their advice, their guidance and their example. Teenagers who meet regularly with their mentors are less likely to skip school or drop out, less likely to use drugs and alcohol, and less likely to get lost in a complex and scary world. A recent study showed that children who were mentored, compared with other children, were: 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs; 27% less likely to begin using alcohol; and 52% less likely to skip school. In addition, these youths were more confident of their academic performance, less likely to hit someone and more likely to get along with their families. All adolescents have the potential to succeed in life and contribute to society. However, not all adolescents get the support they need to thrive. When a mentor views a youth positively, that can start a change in the youth’s self perception and can even start to change the way they think parents, peers, teachers view them. In such cases, a mentor’s positive appraisal can gradually become incorporated into the adolescent’s stable sense of self. There are a lot of positive benefits to being an adult mentor. Being a mentor will help one to feel good about them and improve one’s sense of self-worth. It will allow them to help a young person become who he/she wants to be. Adult mentoring is also an opportunity to share their life experiences and make a positive contribution to the lives of future adults. From the mentor’s perspective, research has indicated that adult mentors who volunteer feel greater satisfaction with their lives & enjoy better health. It has appeared that youth have the most to gain from the relationship, yet the emotional rewards that mentors receive are numerous. The best mentors are those who share common experiences or backgrounds with the adolescent; who have struggled to overcome the same types of personal and social barriers as the adolescent. People in close geographic proximity, same race or gender, who have a strong rapport between the mentor and the adolescent are those who can have quite an influential presence on the youths’ loves. Studies have shown that there are advantages to the mentor being at least half a generation older than the adolescent. In this study, the presenters will impart information about an ongoing experience of a mentoring program in a Southeast Missourian high school. A team of school counselors in partnership with the school community has conducted the program, especially the committed involvement of parents or adults who are willing to be a mentoring figure for the youths. The relevance of this study lies resides on the evidence-based effectiveness of the mentoring program. The presenters are eager to share the results of this program, educate those who are interested in implementing in other schools and create a network of parents, educators, school counselors and psychologists to expand the implementation of this mentoring program.

METODOLOGIA: Students "at-risk" are encouraged to be part of the mentoring program. They are disadvantaged, “grade-up” students; those who are from single parent homes are the target population for this program. Quite often, students themselves request a mentor. In the Southeast Missourian high school where the mentoring program has been conducted for almost four years, mentors and mentees meet once a week for half an hour advisory period. They can also share 25 minute lunch to have time together (studying for a test and the like). They can also spend time together occasionally at outside activities such as waterpark, entertaining tasks, fairs, etc. During summer times, they can also get together at arranged group activities. The mentorship meeting takes place in a visible location such as the library, the cafeteria, the gym (with others present).

RESULTADOS: This study reports live testimonies of students and their mentors on how they have benefited from the mentoring interaction. These testimonies trace the pathways of mentoring’s influences. Themes emerged from the reports suggested that mentors contributed to the development of youth by: (a) enhancing the social-emotional development of the youth; (b) being a role model and advocate for the youth; and (c) improving the youth's cognitive development through dialogue and listening. Mentees’ reports suggested that mentoring demonstrates positive outcomes across three primary behavioral areas: Academics (improvement in grades is great, but it is not necessarily the ultimate goal): Youth participating in mentoring relationships experience positive academic returns such as better school attendance, increased interest in higher education, better attitudes toward school, and in some cases, improved grades. Risk behaviors: mentoring program targets the health and safety outcomes such as substance use and delinquent behavior. In both areas, mentoring approaches show promise in the prevention of substance abuse and the reduction of some negative youth behaviors. Psychosocial development: Mentoring enhances many aspects of young people's social and emotional development including positive social attitudes, satisfying relationships and young people's perceptions of their worth.

CONCLUSÕES: Based on the results of this successful ongoing experience in a high school of the Southeast Missourian region of the Unites States, Mentoring as an effective youth development intervention is supported by a growing social science base. Formal mentoring programs using evidence-based practices that support long-term quality relationships between adults and youth can be expected to produce positive impacts on a range of academic, psychosocial and health behavior outcomes.

Palavras-chave:  Mentoring; School counseling; Adolescent counseling.

Anais da 57ª Reunião Anual da SBPC - Fortaleza, CE - Julho/2005