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Building Electronic Bridges to Connect Mentors and Young People By Richard Buery Co-Executive Director iMentor An eighth grader in the South Bronx shares her concerns about college with her mentor, a lawyer who practices in downtown Manhattan. "I'm kind of scared to go to college in the future because I heard it was very hard and the professors are mean and don't give you a chance. I wonder sometimes if they are preparing you for life. Is that how life works? Was college hard for you?" Although the student and the lawyer have not yet met face to face, they communicate by e-mail, usually twice a week, about subjects ranging from music to school to college. For the lawyer, who regularly works twelve-hour days and frequently travels for cases, this is the first time since law school that she has had the opportunity to fulfill her passion for volunteering with young people. What We Do iMentor is a new, nonprofit, Internet-based mentoring program. Working with schools and community-based youth development agencies, iMentor has recently begun matching eighth through twelfth-graders from low-income neighborhoods in New York City with screened, volunteer adult mentors according to the students' career interests. Volunteer mentors provide ideas, advice, guidance and encouragement as they work with students to complete online activities, designed by iMentor to promote career exploration and increase their understanding of the Internet. When these activities are complete, twice a year, in Portfolio Exhibitions, groups of mentors and mentees will meet with the students' classmates, parents and school staff, to share what they've learned. iMentor will also schedule a few group social events each year to provide mentors and mentees opportunities to interact in person in a safe, supervised environment. Why Mentoring? Studies demonstrate the critical role that mentoring can play in the lives of young people. A 1995 report by Public Private Ventures noted that mentored children were less likely to start using drugs or alcohol or to skip school, and more likely to be confident about their schoolwork and to develop positive personal relationships. Unfortunately, according to the National Governors' Association, "the demand for mentors far outweighs the availability of adults who have volunteered to give the gift of their time to a child in need. Far too many children and youth are on mentor program waiting lists in communities throughout the nation." Why Internet-Based Mentoring? This approach tackles two important problems: Lack of technological literacy among members of low-income communities, and inability of youth programs to find enough adults willing to serve as mentors. By developing interesting classroom projects centered on use of e-mail and the World Wide Web, iMentor helps bridge the digital divide separating those who regularly use new information technologies from those who don't. iMentor allows volunteers to use their limited time effectively and efficiently in the service of youth, so we can provide rewarding service opportunities for more adults, and more mentors for young people. How to Get Involved iMentor has matched its first group of volunteer mentors with students at Christ the King School in the Bronx. We plan to add additional sites soon. If you know of a potential site please contact us. iMentor actively recruits volunteers to serve as mentors; candidates must be at least 21 years old and live in the New York metropolitan area. Contact us about that too. Contact iMentor, c/o Blue Ridge Foundation, 660 Madison Avenue, 20th Floor, New York NY 10021, telephone (212) 446-3320, fax (212) 446-6201, or e-mail Richard Buery at richbuery@iMentor.org. Visit our Web site at www.imentor.org.
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Interns & Volunteers.... New York Cares: Bringing Volunteer Technology Expertise to the City's Nonprofits (March, 2003) Intergenerational Technology Initiative Seeks to Bridge the Digital Divide (April, 2001) New York New Media Association and its New Media Internship Program (July, 2000) VolunteerMatch: Volunteer Recruitment for the 21st Century (July, 2000) Harvard Business School Alums Provide Valuable Volunteer Consulting (May, 2000) Building Electronic Bridges to Connect Mentors and Young People (December, 1999) High School ANGELS bridge the Digital Divide (June, 1999) Tech Volunteers Available for Free Consulting (April, 1999) Other Articles of Interest.... Building a Bridge Across the Digital Divide (November, 2000) TECH-U-NET: Providing Technology Guidance to Nonprofits (November, 2000) Educational Opportunity Centers: Adult Workforce Preparation and Academic Development (July, 2000) LEGIT: Training Teens for Better Futures (March, 2000) Communities Becoming LINCT in New York City (August, 1999) School-Based Technology Volunteer Program Helps the Disadvantaged... (August, 1999) New York Cares Launches Partners in Technology Program (April, 1999) |
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