In the Arena has culled a selection of informative resources that examines the state of youth development, the challenges facing today’s adolescents and teenagers, and the efficacy of mentoring strategies in mitigating these issues. These links are intended to provide a balanced look at the effect of role modeling and mentoring on today’s youth. Check back frequently as we update this page with new resources as we find them.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Youth Fact Sheets
The CDC has assembled a wealth of data on the difficulties faced by today’s youth. In particular, the CDC has broken down the occurrences, consequences and risk factors associated with the following issues:
Tobacco use: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/tobacco/facts.htm
Violence: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/injury/facts.htm
Obesity: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/overweight/index.htm
Physical Inactivity: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/physicalactivity/facts.htm
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Report
Additionally, in 2005 the CDC published a report titled “Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance” that examines the health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among today’s youth.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5505.pdf
Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura is widely regarded as the pioneer of the Social Learning Theory that emphasizes the role that observation and modeling play in behavioral change.
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/sociallearn/index.htm
The Effects of Role Models on Today’s Youth
This article, “Motivation by Positive or Negative Role Models: Regulatory Focus Determines Who Will Best Inspire Us,” published in the
Journal of Personal and Social Psychology, studies the types of role models who prove effective with varying subsets of youth.
http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/~pgsa/Course%20Readings/Social%20Cognition/Lockwood.pdf
Mentoring Handbook
Published by Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), this is an essential handbook for anyone interested in mentoring. It presents the evidence and conclusions that P/PV compiled from over a decade of research on various mentoring programs. Be forewarned: this document takes a long time to load.
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/40_publication.pdf
Analysis of the Harvard Mentoring Project
This Robert Wood Johnson Foundation summary recaps the relative success of the Harvard Mentoring Project, a campaign run by the Harvard School of Public Health from 1998-2002.
http://www.rwjf.org/reports/grr/040878.htm?gsa=1
The Effect of Mentoring on Academic Achievement
This
Children and Youth Services Review publication, “The Impact of Mentoring on Academic Achievement of At-Risk Youth,” examines the role of mentors in improving academic performance in at-risk youth.
http://www.washingtonmentoring.org/pdf/academicAchievement.pdf
A Look at Group Mentoring
This think piece examines the merits and demerits of group mentoring versus one-on-one mentoring.
http://www.mentoring.org/program_staff/research_corner/group_mentoring.php?pid=2
The Josephson Institute: Study on the Impact of High School Sports on Ethics and Values
This Josephson Institute Survey reports the impact high school sports have on the values and ethics of high school athletes.
http://www.josephsoninstitute.org/sports_survey/2006/