In addition to the above statistics, mentored children also showed improved relationships with both their peers and their family’s.
A Mentor’s Story
Disheartening statistics isn’t what lured me into becoming a mentor, but my personality traits of being helpful, having a giving heart, and believing in volunteer work that I believe sparked my interest in becoming a mentor.
A friend had mentioned that she had been a ‘Big Sister’ in her early 20s. At that time I was 24 and had been on my own and supporting myself for 5 years. I realized that I had extra time to take on a commitment like mentoring a child and after all the paperwork and background checks had been done, I spoke with a BBBS counselor named Neal with the Big Brothers & Big Sisters organization, .
Since it was Neal’s job was to match me with a Little Sister, I made sure he knew that I wanted the youngest girl available. I had decided this wasn’t going to be ‘just a mentoring‘ relationship but instead a ‘lifelong friend‘.
Renee
On August 16, 1997 I met Renee. She was 7 years old, which is younger than BBBS’s 8 year old requirement, but because of extending circumstances she was allowed to enter the program early.
The girls’ mother, in my opinion, gave her girls the best gift she could ever give them, especially since she was terminally ill, Renee and her three older sisters all had Big Sisters.
In the years to come not only did I help her with homework, take her places, make special projects, but I also made sure I got to know her family to help her understand and manage the relationships she had with her sisters, mother, and step-father.
Other than always touching base and becoming a part of her family I made her a part of mine and took her to all my family functions over the years.
Does your child have their own adult supervised blog or website?
Would you like to create a video, would you like to write an article or would create a slideshow highlighting your Remarkable Kid?
We think you do!
Why Would I Participate?
Sometimes you just need an idea… a little encouragement to acknowledge someone special in your life.
You now you can submit content to be highlighted in the special section of our website — called Remarkable Kids!
How Do I Participate?
If your child has a blog or website, please submit the url (do not include child’s name) in the comments. Note: All content must be submitted by an adult 18 years or older.
Link It Up
So link it up and let’s get this great new project started. We are excited and can’t wait to begin receiving your content!
Greetings all staff and stakeholders of Coddled Teenage Boy Enterprises:
It has come to my attention that there has been some confusion about your roles and responsibilities within the organization, which has led to infighting, yelling, and name-calling—this happened just yesterday, prior to 7 AM.
Such behavior is both unprofessional and unwarranted, and it is my job as the CEO and central “brand” of this enterprise to address this situation before it begins to negatively affect morale as well as my performance in the marketplace, also known as “school and social life.”
The Memo
First, a word about the incident that prompted this memo and took place at headquarters yesterday. Many of you, I know, heard it—or heard of it—and I need to clarify actual events to dispel any notion that the CEO of Coddled Teenage Boy Enterprises was at fault. Because, as you know, it’s never my fault.
The Incident
The incident took place in the early morning. It concerned the crazy idea that two individuals traveling to the same school campus should to be liveried in the same vehicle, and therefore ought to be ready to depart at approximately the same time, even if one of us requires more careful and meticulous currying of my excellent hair and a careful consideration of which band T-shirt looks most awesome with my jeans.
There was yelling about did I know the price of a gallon of gas, and the driver’s own needs (not sure what that means), and something was said in a rather overwrought tone about how It’s all about you, isn’t it?
All of this made the second and final shuttling to school tense and unpleasant, and left me grounded this weekend, which is a wholly unacceptable result of what I see as a giant misunderstanding. More… »
In part one of this series, Keeping Kids Safe – Parental Control Software, I talked about software suites like NetNanny. These aren’t the only tools available to parents. For those of you who are less technically inclined who may find a package of programs complicated, browser replacements are much easier to manage.
Internet Browsers
The majority, over 80%, of internet users are using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to access and visit web sites, with a handful more using other browsers. In most cases, concerned parents are not given the expertise nor are the parental control settings adequate in these browsers. To make life a little easier for parents, especially those with younger children, easy to use browser replacements are available.
Locating And Evaluating Browser Replacements
It’s easy to locate these browser replacements by doing a good search engine search. Here is the search criteria that I used. I would like to point you to a couple of promising choices:
I’ve only mentioned two, but there are several choices available. The key point to understand is that each bowser offers a different experience at a different price. It is worth your time to spend a little time evaluating the differences and finding the right choice for your family.
When we were growing up, what our parents worried about, when trying to keep us safe, is much different than what parents need to know today!
What Has Changed?
Parents once focused on keeping kids safe in their neighborhoods and warning them of the dangers of talking to strangers. Today’s parents still must warn and educate their children about strangers, with the difference being, that strangers now have global access. Threats can come from around the corner, a neighboring state, or across the country. Our access to the online world predominantly comes through the use of our web browsers. Popular web browsers include: Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox.
Through these browsers, our children don’t just have access to read content, but to view photos, download music, and to privately chat. The ability to be watchful is quickly exceeded and becomes out of our immediate reach! So what are we to do? It’s no longer as simple as keeping questionable things physically out of their reach.
Your Online Safety Arsenal
Their are numerous tools and ways for parents today to keep their children safe online. A child’s safety can be increased considerably by implementing some or all of the suggestions in our new series "Keeping Kids Safe" online. The series will consist of three main articles which are outlined below.
Keeping Kids Safe Series
Part 1: Keeping Kids Safe – Parental Control Software Part 2: Keeping Kids Safe – Internet Browser Replacements
Part 3: Keeping Kids Safe – Increased Knowledge of Internet Safety In this first article, "Part 1: Keeping Kids Safe – Parental Control Software" we will use NetNanny software for our case study. Parental control software is designed to control and filter access to the internet. Let’s examine what it is and how it is used. More… »
