The Canadian Mentoring Gap

 There is a Mentoring Gap in Canada, and youth need mentors more now than ever before, especially now because of the ill effects of the pandemic on the mental health status of our youth today. A study by MENTOR Canada & SRDC (2021); Mapping the Mentoring Gap - The State of Mentoring in Canada found that:

• Over 44% of youth grew up without the support of a mentor 
• 1 out of 2 youth remembered a time when they wanted a mentor but didn’t have one.
• 55% of youth who faced barriers to accessing a mentor, said they couldn’t find one.

Kids.Now Canada is the Answer to the Mentoring Gap in Canada

 kids.now, Canada’s national charity for positive youth development offers a free, afterschool, leadership, and life-success skills program for youth in grades 5 to 8 at schools and community organizations to build resilient youth. 

The 12-week, kids.now program is delivered by fully trained volunteer mentors. Each week, groups of 10 participants are led through interactive activities, team-based exercises and group discussions that focus on goal setting, communication and presentation skills, conflict resolution, stress management and other skills that last a lifetime.
 

Change Your Life...and Someone Else’s

If you knew donating just 2 hours of the 168 you have available per week could change 10 youth lives forever, would you, do it? 
 
When you volunteer as a kids.now mentor, you become a positive influence during a critical developmental period in a youth’s life. It’s a time when youth make choices that can change the course of their lives now and forever. 

Here’s Your Opportunity to Create Opportunities for Youth in Your Community.

The same study above (Church-Duplessis / MENTOR Canada et al., 2021) found that Mentored Youth:

• Were 53% more likely to report good mental health, compared to their non-mentored counterparts.
• Report that their mentors boosted their self-confidence; for every 3 out of 4 youth.
• Were 2 times more likely: 
• To feel that they belonged to their local community.
• To complete their high school education.
• To be interested in mentoring others in the future, compared to their non-mentored counterparts. 
• Were 78% more likely to have an occupation: are employed or are studying.
• Were 95% more likely to pursue post-secondary education, after graduating high school. 

Let’s Raise these Stats and Reduce the Mentoring Gap Together to Build Resilient Youth!!

Do you have what it takes to join Kids.Now? Are you:

• Fun and enthusiastic? 
• Able to relate to youth? 
• Open to other cultures and diversity?
• At least 21 years old? 
  • If you are under 21, come back when you are 21 and apply, we will be waiting for your application!!
• Committed to making a positive difference in youths’ lives?
• Interested in developing new skills that could improve your own life?

If you answered “yes” to the above, then kids.now is the right choice for you.

Now here’s the best part: As a mentor, you’ll improve your life too! 
Research (Astin and Sax, 1998; Astin et al., 1999; Cohen et al., 2014, as cited in Giancaspro & Manuti, 2021) confirms that people gain a multitude of skills from volunteering including:

• decision making
• leadership
• creative thinking
• strategic thinking
• enhanced interpersonal skills 
• improved ability to understand people
• motivate others
• conflict resolution
• deal with difficult situations

 In fact, kids.now coaches often confirm they apply the skills they developed through the program to their daily lives, and our mentors in the past have been previous kids.now participants!! 

What’s involved?

• One training session with other coach-mentors, and additional ongoing support and training to assist your journey to be an amazing mentor.
• Weekly 1.5-hour sessions for 12 weeks (fall or spring programs)
• Half-hour prep time each week for 12 weeks.

Contact Details
Christina Arunasalam, Program Manager

Kids. Now Canada, 1500 Avenue Rd #1314, Toronto, ON

For more information: visit http://www.kidsnowcanada.org/volunteer/mentor/

References

​Church-Duplessis / MENTOR Canada, V., Hackett / SRDC, C., Basharat / SRDC, S., & Rae / SRDC, J. (2021, March). Mapping the Mentoring Gap: Executive Summary - The State of Mentoring in Canada. State of Mentoring - Mapping the Mentoring Gap. Retrieved from https://www.mentoringcanada.ca/en/state-of-mentoring/national-youth-mentoring-survey

Giancaspro, M. L., & Manuti, A. (2021). Learning to Be Employable Through Volunteering: A Qualitative Study on the Development of Employability Capital of Young People. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 574232. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.574232