Five Ways You Can Be A Good Mentor for a Child

Whether you're mentoring through an organization or on your own, you don't need to be extraordinary in any way. Here are five tips to help you be a good mentor.

Whether you’re mentoring through an organization or filling the role with a child you already know, here are some guidelines to follow:

Be consistent.

The key to any effective mentor relationship, says Josephine Todisco, assistant director of services for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island, is consistency. Before you sign up, make sure you have the time for the commitment. Mentoring works best when it’s a stable relationship over a long period of time—generally a year or more—so make sure you have a schedule with room for that kind of obligation. “The last thing we want to do is set up a match and a few weeks later it falls apart,” Todisco says. “A lot of kids in our programs already have disappointment in their lives. The last thing we want to do is cause more of that.”

Keep an open mind.

It’s likely that your mentee will come from a different background and socioeconomic status. Leave behind preconceived notions, and be ready to learn as well as teach. “Katie and I come from two totally different backgrounds and cultures,” says Barbara Cohen of Syosset, a Big Sister of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island. “When we were first matched, there was a lot of learning going on, on both sides. That’s the positive, for both mentor and mentee. It’s about doing things you enjoy together, and learning together in a safe, positive environment.”

Be firm, but friendly.

Mentors should help kids figure out what their goals are and how to meet them, but the relationship comes with less pressure than being a parent or teacher. “They should challenge them and push them…to the next level, but in a compassionate way,” says Maya Nussbaum, founder of Girls Write Now.

Partner with the parent.

A mentor relationship is special because it’s a middle ground between a teacher and a friend. But a mentor is not a replacement for a parent—rather, the mentor and parent(s) should work together to help a child reach his potential. “It goes back to that ‘It takes a village’ concept, that you’re working together for a common goal,” Cohen says. “The mentor and parent need to trust each other and work together to provide stability and support for the child.”