Friday, May 16, 2008

The Role of the Mentor


A key objective of Boys Read's mission is to establish Reading Tribes. Boys need to see men who are as passionate about books as they are about sports. While doing research about boys and addiction, I stumbled across Ross A. Laird's website (rosslaird.com). Dr. Laird has an excellent description about the role of the mentor. When men serve as Reading Tribe leaders, they play an important mentor role in helping boys bond and connect with society.

The Role of the Mentor

The only way for an adolescent to develop integration, containment, and identity is
through mentorship. The impulse of kids to form groups is healthy. In evolutionary
terms, groups of young people seek leadership from adult mentors. In the absence
of healthy adult mentors, adolescents form a youth gang, which comes to be led by
the adolescent among them who is most aggressive, gregarious, or risk-prone. The
absence of mentorship for adolescents is the most serious problem in our society
today. Ross A. Laird, PhD

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