Why Turning an Adolescent Into a Mentor is a Good Idea: From Mentor to Teacher

Part of growing up often includes the transition from being a mentored child to an adolescent able to mentor others. While it is not always an easy transition, turning an adolescent into a mentor can prove beneficial for everyone.  

“Mentors can, among other things, provide exceptional learning experiences for their mentees and, in doing so, expand their mentees' awareness, insight and perspective.”

What is a mentor?

Dictionary.com suggests that a mentor is a “wise and trusted counselor or teacher” or an “an influential senior sponsor or supporter.”

What are other benefits of turning an adolescent into a mentor?

Adolescents may have relationship problems, may be upset or are in trouble with the law, etc. Learning to be mentors can help change their lives and prevent others from making the same mistakes they have made. 

Mentors may fill the need for big brothers or sisters. While most people may not regard adolescents as mentors because of their age, many of them are able to take on specific mentoring tasks and handle them well. For example, picture an adolescent in your own home or school setting with younger children surrounding him or her, as he or she engages in leading and guiding them through the various steps of a Lego building project. .

Adolescent mentors work well with children on a one-to-one basis. For example, picture a school setting where a child sits on the floor in front of an adolescent who is giving him or her instructions about how to work with pastel crayons.

Mentors working with mentees can free up valuable time for parents and teachers alike. Those who make the effort to train adolescents how to mentor children, find that delegating tasks to them works in their favor. 

It allows time for them to work on other things. For many parents, the tasks of daily living are time consuming and can be done while an adolescent mentor mentors their children. For many teachers, an extra pair of hands is welcome, particularly when there is a child who needs help on a one-to-one basis.

Parents and teachers with adolescent mentors learn the unique capabilities of their mentors. They can see what the adolescent’s skill sets are and how well they follow directives and work with mentees.  After a while, there is no longer any supervision needed, as the adolescent mentors prove to be reliable and responsible with children.

Children respond well to adolescent mentors and are happier and more content than when they are under the constant supervision of only parents and teachers. They tend to relax and be themselves, as many adolescent mentors enjoy children, relate well to them because they like children and know what makes them happy. Children develop growing respect and love for their mentors.

Many adolescents have developing or advanced mentoring skills and serving as mentors for children allows them the opportunity to explore and develop these skills further. For example, an adolescent can work with a child who is learning how to use a computer. Parents and teachers do not always have the time or energy to explore these areas of discovery and are overjoyed to see how horizons expand, when adolescents begin to mentor children.

In many home and school settings, there are large numbers of children of all ages. Having adolescents who are willing and able to assume some of the responsibility through mentoring can be an excellent learning-teaching experience for the adolescents and children, as well as a blessing for parents and teachers.

Mentoring is good preparation for training as a teacher for any adolescent who is interested in pursuing a mentoring opportunity. Some adolescents seem to be natural born mentors and continually thrive in that kind of an environment while others benefit from training to be mentors initially and later become professional teachers.