Week 7
1016 words by gonayiga
A positive role model is a person who carries out a role and demonstrates positive ways of thinking and actions along with good values. Role models also possess the qualities that the people who look up to them would like to have. Role models have a profound impact on children and teenagers. According to Dr. Amy Beth Taublieb, a clinical psychologist in Buffalo, NY, “Children choose modesl ofr themselves aas early as the preschool years…The type of models changes with the developmental leve of the child.” In Dr. Taublieb’s observations, “a lot of teenagers choose models for themselves who they see as having similar characteristics that they lack.” The students at St. Augustine High School who are required to stay after school because of their lack of production in school are in need of role models. The role models they need are successful young adults that have been in the same position as them and can relate to today’s issues that affect teenagers of their age groups. Mentoring.com states that ‘youth who participate in mentoring relationships experience a lot of personal benefits and in terms of educational achievement, mentored youth have better attendance; a better chance of going on to high education; and better attitudes towards school.’ These are the goals of the Men on the Move outreach program. The objectives of the program are meant for the personal development of young men so they can become leaders, better students, and eventually contributors to society so they can be positive role models to the next generation. Mentoring also promotes health and safety. When the youth are mentored, chances of substance abuse and negative behavior are extremely low compared to someone without a good role model in their lives. In 2002, a United States Census said that there are 35.2 million youth between the ages of 10 to 18. Joy Dryfoos is a youth expert, researcher, and author of the book, Adolescence at Risk. According to her, 10 percent of young people are at very high risk of not becoming successful adults. These young people have mutliple problem behaviors, commit serious offenses, drop out of school are drug users. Fifteen percent of youth are high risk. These youth are the ones who “… participate in two or three problem behaviors but at a slightly lower frequency and with less deleterious consequences.” Without positive role models to mentor the youth, they are at a higher risk of having behavioral problems and getting into drugs and other negative activities. MENTOR, a mentoring organiztion, determined that youth in the high risk category are in need of mulitple interventions and “mentoring would not be nearly as effective for them as it would be for youth in the other risk categories.” One common thing that troubled young people have is the feeling that nobody cares about them. Therefore they have no reason to care about what they do and the consequences of their own actions. Mentoring lets the young person know that somebody cares and is willing to look out for them and also has their best interests at hand. Statistics show that mentors keep students in school. Mentors who meet with students on a consistent basis are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school and 37% less likely to skip a class (Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters). Mentoring has helped to improve a young person’s self-esteem and provide suport for students that try to think through new challenges. “Young people who meet regularly with their mentors are 46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking,” (Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters). Because of mentorship, the youth are encouraged to set career goals and are more proactive towards taking steps to achieve them. Mentors can also be a useful connection for the young people who are being mentored to new career ventures such as internships. The Big Brothers Big Sisters program found that the involvement of a mentor in a young person’s life for a year reduced first-time drug use by 46%, skipping school by 52% and violent behavior by a 30 %. The youth of the world do not always have both a mother and father and if they do there is a chance that they have a dysfunctional family. These youth are fighting an uphill battle to become successful adults in the world. Mentoring can be that extra push that can help young people realize their potential and let them know that somebody cares for them and wants to see them do the best that they possibly can. I myself have benefited from having positve role models in my life that have been there for me from the best of times to the worst of times. Without that extra positive influence there is no telling where I could be or what I could be doing. Being a role model is not just good for young people but for the mentor themselves. There is a great self-gratifying feeling that comes along with it. The feeling of having a positive impact on a young person’s life is one of the best feelings someone can have. The world needs mentors and positive role models for the advancement of society.
“God’s House” tells us a lot about God. One thing that it tells us about God is how he wants things to be precise and as perfect as can be. There are different instances where God has commanded someone to carry out a deed and he is very particular about how he wants it to done. One example of this is when he instructed Moses on how to free the Israelites. Moses made one mistake in the plan and was not allowed to see the Promise Land. Another example is the construction of the Tabernacle. The idea of the Promise Land is problematic because it excludes a lot people. The Promise Land was meant for descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This has lead to many conflicts between the Israelites and the people who were there before them, the Canaanites.