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Mentoring young people involves building trust through empathetic listening and recognizing their emotions. It is important to be optimistic and let them dream about their future. Instead of telling them what to do, guide them in their decision-making process. Creating a judge-free zone and being a supportive listener is crucial. The goal is to develop autonomous young adults. Finding the right balance between giving autonomy and setting rules is important. It requires patience and many conversations. Whether you are a teacher, a parent, an aunt or uncle, or a mentor through a mentorship program, mentoring young people starts with building trust through empathetic listening. Young people want to be heard and want someone to recognize their emotions. Emotions can soar high or dip low during this hormonal time in their lives. They often need someone just to listen as they express these things. Secondly, it is important to bring an optimistic and positive attitude. Let young people dream and create visions for their future. Resist telling them that it's never going to work or that it's a stupid idea. Listen and dream with them. Next, be careful to guide them on their decisions and not tell them what to do. The goal is to create autonomous young adults from these young adolescents. We must talk out their decisions with them and let them live out some mistakes so they can learn from them. Sure, we still have lines to draw to keep them safe, but giving them some leeway to make choices when the consequences aren't lifelong allows them to gain confidence and helps to develop a trusting relationship between the adult and the young person. Another vital part of keeping a mentorship attitude is creating a judge-free zone. It's a bit more difficult to do between parent and child, but there can be code words or statements that are agreed upon by both parties to help set up this judge-free zone. The young people need someone they can talk to about a variety of topics. Sometimes as an aunt or a neighbor or a Sunday school leader, you may have the opportunity to allow a young person to speak to you about a situation where they need some guidance. Try your best to listen with grace and understanding. Finally, keep in mind the goal is autonomous young adults. When in an authoritative role like teacher or parent, it can be tough to know just how much autonomy to give the young person and how many rules to place to keep them safe. Davis and McQuillan said there is a sweet spot that each adult needs to work toward in working with young people. It is obviously much easier when working with youth through a specified mentorship program, but it is not impossible as a teacher or a parent. It takes patience and many conversations with the young person.