The Soultown! Volume III: Issue 8 AUGUST 2019 | Page 19

COVER STORY Left, Coach Theron Montgomery encourages the youth IMPACTT team on the court. Right, Loo League Coach De’Carlos Anderson poses with mentee. “African American students also have a higher prevalence than Caucasian and Hispanic students of being involved in violence in and outside of school, having sex before the age of 13, and not consuming a proper diet which can lead to future health issues later in life”. The National Center for Health Statistics believes because of issues like these, we need mature adult mentors to teach our youth positive information to help them maneuver more effectively in today’s society. Some barriers and misconceptions impact recruitment and retention of African American male mentors. Within Man Up: Recruiting and Retaining African American Male Mentors, some of these barriers and misconceptions include: 1)Time restraints related to commitments to their job and family. 2)Previous challenges with the law. 3)Lack of trust for programs funded by the government. 4) Money may be needed to be a mentor. Unfortunately these barriers and misconceptions prevent individuals from becoming mentors, and as a result, fewer men are mentoring in our communities. This simply means that we need more mentoring programs to make sure that accurate information is available and easily accessible to potential mentors. Regardless of what town or city you may live in, consider this an invitation to all responsible African American men to give back to their community and volunteer. More specifically, find a young man that needs a mentor and help guide them in the right direction. Keep in mind that all mentor relationships don’t have to be through an organization. You can choose to simply work with a youth that you feel requires a responsible male figure in their life with permission from their parent or guardian. If anyone reading this article is currently involved in mentoring youth, please send The Soultown magazine ([email protected]) a picture of you and your mentee for my next article on mentoring. , & Branch, A. Y. (1993). Big Brothers Big Sisters: A study of program practices. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures 3. Criminal Justice Fact Sheet . (2019, July 31). Retrieved from NAACP.ORG: https://www.naacp. org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/ 4. Child Trends. (2018, December 12). Retrieved from High School Drop Out Rates: https://www. childtrends.org/indicators/high-school-dropout- rates 5. National Center for Health Statistics. (2018, December 12). Retrieved from Center for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ fastats/adolescent-health.htm 6. Miller, D. (2007). Man Up: Recruiting and Retaining African American Male Mentors. REFERENCES 1. Grossman, J. B., Rhodes, J. E., Reddy, R., & Lee, J. M. (2002). Volunteer Mentor- ing Relationships With Minority Youth: An Analysis of Same -- Versus Cross -- Race Matches. 2. Furano, K., Roaf, P. A., Styles, M. B., Aug. 2019 • The Soultown International Magazine • Celebrating 2 years • Connecting Our Cultures to Our Cyber & Conscious Communities • thesoultown.com 19