Being a mentor is about caring and giving support to your mentee. This can be done through a variety of activities ranging from playing sports to doing chores together. What matters most is that the student has someone to confide in and look up to, not the activities themselves. As a result, the mentees develop better relationships, are more confident in school and are more likely avoid harmful substances – each small changes that have proven to create a lasting impact on their lives.

A 1998 study performed by The Commonwealth Fund found that:

• 62% of students improved their self-esteem
• 52% of students skipped less school
• 48% of students improved their grades
• 49% of students got into less trouble in school
• 47% of students got into less trouble out of school
• 45% of students reduced their substance abuse
• 35% of students improved family relationships

You could always enroll in a mentorship program at your school or local community center, but if there isn't one, here are a few tips on setting up a mentorship program of your own. Keep in mind that you can probably create a program in your school where you assist a middle school in your area that graduates a large number of students to your high school. And since the issue is a bigger problem in inner city schools, don't be scared to reach out to inner-city elementary schools and middle schools which often produce more dropouts than usual the national average.

Step 1:

Create a clear statement of a program’s purpose and goals. What do you think are the most important things the mentees should take from these relationships, and what should the mentors gain from them? Write it down and make it readily available. This is something like a mission statement.

Step 2:

Organize a plan to find and partner mentors and children based on need and convenience. If you plan to share your assistance with another school, you'll want to find advisors to help you out as well as get approval from the school. We know that's a lot of work, and it will seem like more when you try to do it, but it is well worth the trouble.

Step 3:

Mentors should receive the appropriate support and training to ensure a smooth and enduring relationship. Training programs are available from the National Dropout Prevention Center (http://www.dropoutprevention.org/pubs/show_pub.php?pubID=00065) for this very purpose. Schedules and activities that are formally part of the program will also help guide the mentorship programs. These activities can be done all at once with groups of mentors and mentees at a time before or after school to make things convenient. The activities you choose will determine the kind of program. There's mentorship through sports, music, academics and more, so decide on a theme and design your activities and program, around that.

Step 4:

Always monitor and evaluate the program you've set up because there'll always be room for improvement. Older students and adult advisors can play a large role in supervising the program so the more the better. The program will start small, but with care and patience it can expand into something immensely useful, particularly to younger students who could use the help of a mentor.

Here are a couple useful resources with in depth info regarding just about anything and everything to do with mentoring:

• Mentor.org
• School-Based Mentoring: A closer look