The concept of youth mentoring is a wonderful idea. This is because experts in the society need to train and mentor the younger generation so that they can take over from the senior citizens when they (the elders) retire. Again, mentoring young people makes a lot of sense because the trainers have the knowledge, experience and skills the younger ones may not have. Passing on this knowledge to the younger people is a great idea because this ensures that the bright ideas of the older generation are put to work in the lives of younger people. Below are some of the benefits of mentoring.
Improves Self Confidence
From the perspective of the younger person, youth mentoring boosts self-confidence. Many young people are full of life and some of them have bright ideas. However, youthful exuberance is not the same thing as self-confidence. Some young people suffer from insecurity because they are not tried and tested professionals in their own right. Mentoring is a great way to boost self-confidence in young people. The mentor teaches the student certain skills and helps the student put these skills to work. Learning new things and putting the knowledge is great for your self-confidence.
Improves Relationship Skills
If you want to mentor young people, you have two options. You might opt for the one on mentoring style. In this case, you simply choose one people and you give him or her one-on-one mentoring. The other option is group mentoring. In this case, you are mentoring a small group of young people at the same time. In both cases, the people you are mentoring will learn invaluable lessons on human relationships. Mentoring improves interpersonal skills, teaches people how to work as a team and makes the young people better at managing complex business and personal relationships.
Great for the Mentor
It is not true that only young people get all the benefits of mentoring. The mentor also enjoys some of the benefits. For the mentor, this is an opportunity to give back to the society. Mentors also learn new things as they mentor younger people and this might boost their careers. Youth mentoring also increases the mentor’s sense of self worth. You teach younger people great skills and you watch them benefit from these skills. This is great for your self-esteem and it gives a wonderful feeling of personal satisfaction.
Final Word
It is almost impossible to say anything negative about mentoring because it is the ultimate win-win situation. It is great for the youth and it is beneficial to the mentor.