Youth mentoring programs are becoming more and more popular, especially for children who are at high risk. Mentoring programs create supportive, healthy relationships between mentees and mentors which yields our youth to succeed. These relationships contribute to a plentiful amount of benefits by teaching very important life skills. Here are some ways mentoring programs have a huge influence on high risk youth:
 

Academic Success

Youth mentor programs have a strong impact on the academic success of young students. Mentees of these programs put a great emphasis on the importance of school and learning and help young students gain skills and habits that will help them become successful. That is one of the main goals of any youth mentor program; overall academic achievement. 

Research has shown that young students who have gone through youth mentoring programs are: 

• More likely to stay in school
• Have a better idea of what they want to pursue as a career
• Less likely to skip or intentionally miss class
• More eager to learn, read, and study
• More likely to get involved in extracurricular activities such as sports and school clubs

Youth mentoring programs will help children understand the importance of working hard in school, and gives them a helping hand and friend along the way. 

Self Confidence

Academics are not the only benefits youth mentor programs bring to the table. In fact, one of the greatest ways these programs influence youth is by increasing their confidence. Sometimes, higher risk youth do have as much confidence in themselves as they should, and mentees know this. This is why these programs make self-confidence the main focus. Children who go through mentoring programs have shown to:

• Increase their self-esteem
• Feel a sense of accomplishment
• Increase their patience
• Increase their understanding of many life situations

Community Involvement

Lastly, youth mentor programs put a great emphasis on community involvement and teach youth the importance of helping others. These programs influence children to do good in a world where a lot of bad happens and helps them understand that they can truly make a difference in not only their community but in the lives of others. 

Research shows that in youth mentoring programs, kids are:

• More likely to volunteer
• Treating others with respect and kindness
• Better understand the importance of empowerment
• And have a better understanding of issues happening within our world

Youth mentoring is a great way to help children grow as individuals. These programs focus on the academic success of all youth, help increase self-love, and put a great focus on helping others and their community. 

At DREAM, we offer youth mentoring programs to give youth at high-risk a friend and helping hand. We do this by building strong relationships with all of our mentors. We know how important youth mentoring is, especially in a time like this, and truly want to see success in all of the youth in our community. To learn more about our youth mentoring programs, to sign up or to get involved, please contact our team or visit our website today!