An established teacher mentoring program is an important asset for any educational institution. It helps develop talent, maintain a school’s quality standards, ensure its compliance to state or even national benchmarks and provide high quality standards of teaching for students.

It’s also a way to help improve the quality of teacher personnel and assist new teachers in getting assimilated into the environment. This is why preparing a proposal for a teacher mentoring program should be a careful and well thought-of process, something that must be carefully deliberated and designed in order to produce a plan that will be a perfect fit for the institution.

There are several important steps and considerations to keep in mind when designing a proposal for a teacher mentoring program. These include:

Establishing the goals and purposes of the school
Before writing a proposal for a mentorship program, it is important that the goals and purposes of the school is understood and considered. Ultimately, this is the benchmark upon which the efficacy of the program will be assessed. Determine what the organization wishes to achieve through the mentorship program and how the program will fit the image, values and philosophies set by the school.

Determining the needs of the organization
In every organization, there are areas where it can show strengths and weaknesses. If the goal of the organization is to close the gap between its weaknesses and the current standards, it will be a lot easier to establish what the organization needs and design a more effective and successful teacher mentoring program.

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A mentoring program also has to fit the specific requirements of the participants. Elementary level teachers, for example, may have different needs than high school level or collegiate level teachers.

Assessing the available resources for mentorship
The next step to preparing a proposal for a mentoring program is to find out what kind of resources the school has that may be used with the program. Staff specialization, number of teachers or personnel that can assist or participate in the program, materials, funding and even external resources that may have to be tapped should be considered.

For many organizations, including schools, the use of resources can be a touchy subject, particularly if it involves budget. Establishing the cost and type of requirements that may be involved in a mentoring program initially will help school administrators to decide whether or not the program is feasible.

Establishing the responsibility and accountability of the program
It is important to establish which department will be responsible for the implementation and assessment of the program. This department will ensure that correct practices are enforced and that certain standards are met. If necessary, creating an audit team might also be considered.

Establishing the benefits and creating quality perimeters
The benefits of the program should be enumerated in order to show the administrators that it is necessary and useful to the school. The proposal should also include the standards for checking the validity, relevance and efficacy of the mentoring program. These standards should be quantifiable to allow for easy measurement and evaluation.

Preparing the proposal
The proposal is a formal presentation of the mentorship program and as such, should follow certain guidelines. The proposal must be well-written and informative, establishing the facts about the program immediately. This will allow the administrators to see whether or not the program will be useful for the school. The success of the proposal and ultimately, the teacher mentoring program will depend on how well it is designed and accepted by school administrators.

Is there really any information about Mentoring that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.

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By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

When people say that ?no man is an island,? they don’t only mean that no man or woman should live alone. That much-used phrase also refers to the fact that men and women are perpetually learning creatures: they need the help of someone to guide them through life, and to help them make wise decisions. Moreover, as these same men and women grow older, they also have the chance to be a guide for someone who is younger and less experienced than they. This need for people to feel connected, loved, and taught by someone better than they are has given rise to different concepts such as mentoring.

Mentoring, or the process of mentorship, is really a growing, strengthening bond that occurs between a mentor, who is more experienced, not necessarily older, but who is certainly wiser; and his or her protégé, a mentee or someone who is less experienced and wise, and who therefore needs to be guided by the mentor. The concept of mentorship has long been known and tracked in history. In fact, it was Homer’s Odyssey that first gave rise to the term ?mentor? through its character called Mentor, who, despite the fact that he is presented as a somewhat debilitated old man, is actually used by Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, to guide Odysseus’ son Telemachus through a difficult time in the young man’s life.

The concept of mentorship also takes various forms in different cultures and periods of history. The Ancient Greeks had the concept of pederasty, in which teachers could hone young men to greatness. The Hindu and Buddhist religions have the concept of the guru, where a wise, religious man serves as the spiritual guide of someone who is misguided or who needs to know the Truth. In Judaism and Christianity, the concept of discipleship forms both history and current practice, as clergy or deeply spiritual people guide their respective flocks or followers. Lastly, in the medieval guilds, an economic system was built in order for apprentices to learn from guild masters and thus ensure the longevity of their respective crafts.

You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial information about Mentoring. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself recalling and using this very information in the next few days.

There are many famous mentor-protégé relationships in history. Take, for instance, the triplet of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, three great minds in philosophy who actually preceded each other. That is, Socrates was the mentor of Plato, and Plato was the mentor of Aristotle. Aristotle was even the mentor of Alexander the Great. The Christian faiths owe a good deal of their spread to the letters and preaching of St. Paul. In the music industry, the rapper Dr. Dre is mentor to younger rappers Eminem and Snoop Dogg. In the movie industry, the famous and late British actor Sir Laurence Olivier served as mentor for multi-awarded actor Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Even fiction has its own share of mentors and protégés. There are the Jedi knights of the famous Star Wars epics, where Qui-Gon Jinn mentors Obi-Wan Kenobi; when Qui-Gon Jinn dies, Obi-Wan Kenobi takes on Anakin Skywalker; Luke Skywalker, Anakin’s son, is mentored by Yoda. The master-padawan relationship in the Star Wars series is actually akin to that of a mentor and protégé, not so much fighting or sparring partners.

In the employment arena, there are also mentoring programs to help employees do better. For instance, in new-hire mentorship, new employees are taken on by experienced persons in the company in order for them to work better and be accustomed to the company culture and climate. In high-potential mentorship on the other hand, existing employees that show promise are taken on by experienced persons who may be interested in seeing them progress higher through the company hierarchy.

These are only a few facts that are associated with mentoring. There are many mentoring and mentorship programs available, and you can find out more about them through the Internet.

That’s how things stand right now. Keep in mind that any subject can change over time, so be sure you keep up with the latest news.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Many schools in the US have formalized the process of mentoring novice teachers as their way of inducting the new teacher into the teaching profession. They run Mentoring Teachers Programs, which enable a newbie to adjust to the new teaching career through the assistance of a veteran teacher. In these programs, the veteran teacher, the mentor, coaches the new teacher on several areas in teaching such as how to prepare lesson plans and execute them, how to handle students of different ages and characteristics, how to teach more effectively in different kinds of settings, how to resolve classroom conflicts and the like.

Benefits to the New Teacher

The program leads not only to improved teaching skills but also to increased job satisfaction on the part of the new teacher. According to Evenson in his book on mentoring teachers, the new teacher benefits in three ways. First, the program allows the new teacher to easily adapt with the school environment. Aside from helping the new teacher get acquainted with the school’s staff and facilities, the mentor also teaches him how to observe and cope with the school’s rules and regulations.

Second, the program allows the teacher to establish teaching competence. This is achieved as the mentor provides the new teacher with opportunities to observe, assess, and practice his and other teachers’ teaching. The process encourages feedback from and constant communication with the mentor.

Lastly, the program introduces the teacher to teaching as a continuously developing and a life-long profession. If the new teacher feels that he gets as much support as he can from colleagues and the school administration, he will likely stay in this profession and would gladly make himself available as well for future teachers who would need his assistance.

Other Benefits of the Program

Truthfully, the only difference between you and Mentoring experts is time. If you’ll invest a little more time in reading, you’ll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to Mentoring.

The benefits of mentoring programs are far reaching. It is not only the new teachers that benefit from the program but all the participants in the program including the mentor, the student and the school as a whole as well. Thus, mentoring programs are seen not just as a form of assistance to the new teacher but as a vehicle for the improvement of the school’s whole educational system.

For the mentor, the program serves as another opportunity to share his wealth of experiences, knowledge and skills. Much of these skills and knowledge are not found in books or reference materials. They are accumulated through time through extensive training and professional practice. Without the mentoring programs, these experiences, knowledge and skills gained and acquired through time may gradually fade away.

In a way, the mentor also improves himself as a teacher in the process of mentoring. He does this as he reexamines his professional experiences inside and outside the classroom and as he provides tips and guidelines to the new teacher.

Moreover, the mentoring program provides him with an added source of income as mentors are usually compensated for the extra services they render.

Students are directly and indirectly benefited with this kind of program as their new teachers gain more teaching skills and knowledge, which are imparted to them. Ultimately, the students learn more things and enjoy their classes more when the teacher is prepared and well versed with the topics he or she is discussing.

A research conducted by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory to study the mentoring programs in Texas reveals that many districts see mentoring teachers programs also as a vital retention strategy. The study recognizes that the attrition of new teachers is among the cause of shortages of teachers in some schools.

I hope that reading the above information was both enjoyable and educational for you. Your learning process should be ongoing–the more you understand about any subject, the more you will be able to share with others.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Mentoring our children does make a huge difference. It is a way to reintroduce a positive regular activity by a grown-up to a child. Children who are mentored while growing up are unlikely to succumb to using illegal drugs, unlikely to start depending on alcohol, and unlikely to miss out school. If we incorporate mentoring in our home, school and even the church it can, and it will help greatly in decreasing the cause and effect of suspension due to the use of illegal drugs, crimes related to drugs, babies born who are drug affected and possibly more. It is just a matter of how we really want to help eradicate the problems of our youth.

At-risk children badly need the guidance and friendship that youth mentors give. A child will definitely yearn for adult support when faced with parent’s divorce, family heartbreaks, and financial troubles. These children need mentoring with their family problems, school works, peer pressures or just someone who would listen and give an unwavering support.

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Regrettably, teachers in school who teach at a crowded classroom will have no time to provide individual attention. Guidance counselors are very busy too, because they deal with the whole population of the school. Most of the time guidance counselors can only give less than four hours of career guidance to a student in their four years in high school (that is just like one hour a year!). There are millions of at-risk young children who desperately need mentoring. Nowadays, communities are seriously looking into setting-up programs for volunteer youth mentors, because they see and understand that need to help these children cope up with their daily lives.

At-risk children who are guided by an efficient role model mentor are more than likely to have a progressive educational performance, self-esteem, good decision-making traits, and a sense of fitting in. Youth who enters mentoring programs will be inclined to have good interactions with their teachers, parents and other siblings as well as their peers. They will also be more inspired to focus on their studies and eventually finish their schooling.

A youth mentor assists at-risk children in setting up their goals and ambitions, resolve their personal problems, and make appropriate decisions and choices in life. However, youth mentors are not there to replace what a parent can give to their children. Youth mentors are simply there to give help and be role models for at-risk children. Simple and easy activities like doing school assignments and projects, going to parks and museums, engaging in some sports and playing games, and doing art and crafts projects is enough for a child who is more that eager to be guided and to feel a sense of security that they are protected from the evils that lurk in the dark. In the end saving at-risk youth by mentoring will have a great impact in the society we live in for years to come.

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of Mentoring. Share your new understanding about Mentoring with others. They’ll thank you for it.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

There’s a shortage of special educators these days. Special education teachers are badly needed by almost all of school districts today. They are wanted in 98% of all the educational institutions of the U.S. And over the next years, more than a million new special educators are required.

Special educators leave their jobs a lot faster than regular teachers. This is because of the tasks that are placed on their backs. Special educators are tasked to manage IEPs, give alternative assessments, become paraprofessionals, use assisting technologies, comply with complex legislation, and write all the paperwork. All of these they have to do, on top of the emotional and physical toll of doing individualized instruction.

The effective way of mentoring special educators play a special role in their development and preservation. To mentor special education teachers, the following should be done:

1. Effective identification, recruitment, and selection of mentors.
There may be a handful of special education teachers. But only a few of them are really up to the task. Before training a teacher to be special education teachers, they have to be psychologically, physically, and emotionally up to the task.

2. Provide adequate action planning
With the many tasks facing a special educator face, mentors should take part in the action planning process in everyway they can. Mentors should be always available for the teacher could confer with them. Mentors should take part of the special educator’s task every time they can.

You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial information about Mentoring. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself recalling and using this very information in the next few days.

3. Continuous evaluation
The evaluation of special educators should be continuous. The regular evaluation of special education teacher is going to be helpful in determining whether or not the skills and abilities of the teachers are up to the present challenges of their job. Should teachers fall short, they can easily update their knowledge through retraining.

4. Address diminishing support
Diminishing support for special educators is real. Expect this to happen even if you have tried hard to provide the support special educators need. Whenever the support of your team to special teachers is failing, address it with a special meeting to solve the immediate problems the teacher encounter at hand.

5. Check instances of isolation and burnout
The psychological and emotional toll of teaching special education is high. Teachers get drained out most easily if they feel isolation from their peers and experience burnout with their work. Try to check the level of isolation and burnout teachers have. Solve it by offering out of town team building activities, regular brainstorming and interaction with colleagues.

6. Conduct regular counseling with teachers
Teachers should be subjected to regular counseling sessions, whether they need it or not. This would help teachers a lot, because they could share their stories, experiences, frustrations, and successes with a person that could really help. Regular sessions would help teachers with their day-to-day activities.

7. Facilitate workshops and trainings
Special educators need to update their knowledge through trainings and workshops. These activities are very important because it allows them to learn more techniques that could help them a lot in their daily jobs. Make sure that the workshops and trainings made for teachers are as lively and as fun as it should.

These are the things can do to properly mentor special education teachers so that they won’t give up their jobs easily. These professionals are very important in the society. Their roles are indispensable so they have to be given the proper attention they need.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Of the many programs that have been introduced and integrated in the healthcare practice, mentoring has been one of the most misunderstood and under-utilized. This is unfortunate, considering that healthcare is a sector in many areas of business that has seen an upward growth. Without mentoring, many of the practices and important methods and procedures involved in healthcare may not be maximized at all.

The need for proper mentoring in the healthcare sector
According to registered nurse and author Zardoya Eagles, a mentor can help a healthcare provider prepare himself for public service. A mentor can also help someone in the advancement of his/her career. The human factor, according to Eagles, is one of the best reasons why mentoring should take on more significance in many of today’s healthcare settings.

The results of a well-implemented mentoring practice may be difficult to quantify but it is by no means a less important undertaking. It is an acknowledged process that helps improve the processes within an organization and actually leads staff to achieve better results for their efforts, particularly in today’s knowledge-based institutions.

Benefits of healthcare mentoring
There are several advantages to ensuring that mentoring resources are provided in healthcare sectors. These include:

- The opportunity for departments within organizations to check flaws in their practices and to improve their services significantly.

- Provide a way for newbies in the industry to develop the necessary skills to work and thrive in the healthcare environment more quickly and efficiently.

- Provide the means with which future leaders within the organization are spotted and developed. Mentors within the organization can also develop their own skills and become highly valued employees.

- Provide a means for the organization to offer a nurturing form of practice to its staff and employees.

- The opportunity to achieve compliance in the industry through the improvement of services.

- Improve the management of hospitals, clinics and other healthcare institutions.

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- Develop staff and employee and increase intellectual capital.

Having mentoring practices in place is also an excellent recruitment tool for healthcare institutions and a way to increase positive feedback. It is also a way for institutions to share their knowledge and other important information to help other hospitals improve their own practices and services. Mentoring is also an excellent means to keep updated about the latest practices and developments in the healthcare sector.

Implementing mentoring in an organization
Mentoring may seem like a set of procedures that are simple to implement but it is in fact, a process that might be problematic and counter-productive if not used properly. Some of the most important considerations when implementing mentoring for any organization include:

1) Proper understanding of the goals of the organization, its resources, facilities and manpower.

2) Proper understanding of the interests, goals, expectations and values of the staff.

3) Proper knowledge in the implementation of mentoring activities and procedures that will fit the needs of the organizations and those of the staff concerned.

4) Adequate information about the most successful techniques and methods in mentoring that will help an organization meet its goals.

5) Sufficient knowledge in matching mentors and mentees in order to take advantage of the perfect mentoring relationship.

The healthcare mentoring outlook
Already, the advantages of providing mentoring resources for many members of the healthcare profession have made the practice essential to many of the hospitals in the U.S. The Campaign Mentor Hospitals, for example, is a network of medical institutions small and large, urban and rural that operates throughout the country providing mentoring support in healthcare. Many of these organizations are high-achieving institutions that offer some of the most useful insights that other organizations can integrate into their practices.

Today, mentoring in healthcare continues to expand, undertaken by numerous groups of hospitals throughout the country in order to provide a more effective means to care for and assist clients, develop staff knowledge and skills and improve the practice of healthcare.

If you’ve picked some pointers about Mentoring that you can put into action, then by all means, do so. You won’t really be able to gain any benefits from your new knowledge if you don’t use it.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Mentoring programs establish the self-confidence and the self-assurance of a mentee who uses it as a tool for personal and professional development. There are certainly many benefits you can expect from joining a mentoring program because you will learn from someone who has the necessary experience to coach you on what you have to do. Some of the benefits of mentoring include:

? Becoming a standout
? Leadership abilities
? Working smarter, not harder

These benefits may sound simple, but when you translate it in real life, you can definitely feel that mentoring is one of the best options to succeed in your career. Mentoring is actually a two-way relationship and both the mentor and the mentee will learn something from the mentoring program. Primarily though, mentoring programs are designed to enhance the capabilities of the mentee.

At the start of any mentoring programs, both the mentor and the mentee are encouraged to clarify their goals and expectations from the program. They need to create a well-designed plan and follow a specific course of action. There are a lot of cases wherein the mentoring program far exceeded the expectations of the mentee because the program provided the following as well:

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? An insider’s realistic perspective on his career goals and progress
? Clearer understanding of his career plans
? Exposure to varied experiences and perspectives
? Access to powerful sources of information
? Access to resources within the industry
? Greater knowledge about yourself and your goals
? A wider network of contacts
? Identification of any lacking skill that is required for career advancement
? Establishment of a foundation for a lasting professional career
? Access to a support system during the critical stages of your career growth

But the mentor would not be able to do everything for you; you need to help yourself as well. You need to do this by listening to the mentor’s ideas and suggestions, try implementing these suggestions if you feel that these can help you in your career. It is also essential for you to listen to the feedback of others especially the opinion of the mentor during this critical time so that you can adjust to the situation accordingly. In addition, you should have set realistic expectations from what you hope to achieve from the mentoring program because it is difficult to have impossible goals and then expect the mentor to help you achieve these objectives.

You likewise need to have the willingness to learn and adapt to the different situations you might be facing at work. The mentor is simply the person you should count on for advice and suggestions about the path you should take. Mentoring should not be seen as the easy way out; rather, it should be seen as a tool that will help you grow further in your career and on your personal life.

And these objectives are only possible if you learn to believe in yourself and know that you are capable of doing great things in your life. Mentoring programs can help you reach this state and once you are at this point, it would be inevitable for you to enjoy the fruits of your success. As you can see, while the mentor will provide you with guidance during the mentoring program, your success is entirely up to you.

You can’t predict when knowing something extra about Mentoring will come in handy. If you learned anything new about Mentoring in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Before we can effectively look at the benefits you can derive from mentoring programs, it is first essential to understand what mentoring really is. Mentoring is simply the process wherein people are helped by a person or an organization for their personal and professional development. The person who is doing the supporting role is called the ?mentor? while the person being supported is called the ?mentee?. This relationship may sometimes because complex because there are many types of mentors, just as there is many types of people. You can expect the mentor to be somewhere between being a ?trusted friend? and a ?counselor?. But how exactly, can a mentor be defined? Well, we came up with several categories; your mentor will most likely fall into one of these categories. Read on to know what kind of mentor you should choose and which ones you should avoid:

1. The crowding mentor

This is the type of mentor who seems to be ignorant of the term, ?personal space?. This mentor may not necessarily be your choice but he or she was assigned to you by your organization.

2. The impossible mentor

Meanwhile, the impossible mentor is simply someone who you are not comfortable being with no matter what you do or what the mentor does.

3. The younger mentor

In some cases, you might encounter a mentor who is younger than you. You might be more experienced than he is on work-related matters but this mentor was assigned to help you nonetheless. You find it difficult to take such a young mentor seriously though.

4. The ardent researcher

Your mentor would be someone who puts a big emphasis on academic research and theories. While this characteristic may not be a fault in itself, you might discover that it is hard to schedule important meetings with this mentor because he always outs research as his priority. In addition, this type of mentor might not believe that teaching the mentee is important so you are low in his priority.

What does a mentor actually do?

It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of Mentoring is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about Mentoring.

So after you know the type of mentors you should avoid, it is time to take a deeper look at what a good mentor should actually do:

? Be available for a chat over the telephone or face-to-face contact

? Be optimistic about the mentoring program and the development process of the mentees

? Help mentees feel good about their achievements

? Help mentees stick to deadlines and schedules

? Know someone who can aid their mentees when there are cases that they can’t

? Aid the mentees in their work plan. For example, they should help the mentees write realistic goals, deadlines, and the strategy on how these can be achieved.

? Give feedback on the work. They should give their opinions about the mentee’s performance so that the mentee will know which areas they should improve on.

? Help the mentees look at the feedback of other people. The mentees should take a serious look at the opinions of other people so they can determine their weaknesses.

? Make learning possible for the mentees. The mentors should provide the necessary resources such as time, effort, and space so that their mentees can learn even during their day-to-day work.

? Motivate their mentees. The simply act of asking how a person is doing is an act of asking how a person is doing can be motivation for them to improve their performance.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

The role of a mentor is to aid the mentee in reaching his goals. While the mentor can certainly learn a lot from teaching and leading others, the relationship between the mentor and the mentee should be mentee-centered. So the mentor should listen, guide, and even challenge the mentee to do his best in his job.

The mentorship program requires frequent contact between the mentor and the mentee for the communication line to remain open. Mentoring is an interactive relationship wherein both parties can contribute to each other’s grow as a person. You should take note that mentoring is far different from counseling and neither is it being buddies because mentoring is a tool that is used for personal and professional development.

Formal and Informal Mentoring

Anyone can be a mentor or a mentee without joining any mentoring program. For example, just riding a bus and then conversing with a stranger can be a form of mentoring if you learn something important from him; this type of mentoring is known as informal mentoring. Informal mentoring usually just occurs even if you don’t plan it, this can be just as important as a formal mentoring program.

On the other hand, formal mentoring is having an acknowledged relationship between the mentor and the mentee. Formal mentoring would require the commitment of time and effort between the two parties so that they can share and learn from each other. This type of mentoring program can be for a specific project or for a specified time period.

Now that we’ve covered those aspects of Mentoring, let’s turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

Finding a Mentor

Having the wrong mentor can be even worse than having no mentor at all. For this reason, everyone should take the time and effort to look for a mentor that will suit their needs, personality, and learning style. You need to look within yourself and the environment around you; then, ask yourself what you really want to learn. Oftentimes, you need to consider the following questions before deciding on a mentor:

? Would the mentor provide me with good and accurate information?
? Would he support me in reaching my goals and objectives?
? Would he respect my dreams, my decisions, and my goal in life?
? Would he challenge me when it is necessary?
? Can the mentor actually be trusted?
? Am I willing to listen to this mentor’s ideas and suggestions?

Asking these questions before you commit to a mentoring program is essential for you to reap the best possible benefit. It is also important to have a clear communication line between you and the mentor. Even at the start of the mentoring program, you already need to specify your expectations and your goal so that the mentor will know which direction to take.

Ending the Mentoring Program

However, all good things must come to an end. You cannot continue with the mentoring program forever; sure, you can still communicate with your mentor from time to time but being in a commitment to be each other’s mentor and mentee can become more like a burden rather than a privilege after the mentoring program ends.

Both parties should acknowledge what they have learned and thank each other for the time and effort that the person has spent for another’s well-being. Even after the mentoring program ends though, the mentor can still support the mentee and be there for the mentee when he is needed.

Don’t limit yourself by refusing to learn the details about Mentoring. The more you know, the easier it will be to focus on what’s important.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

Children with special needs
Children of prisoners undergo plenty of physical and emotional challenges that other children who live in normal households won’t. Some of these challenges include:

- Having to cope with being separated from that parent for long periods of time, with some children having to deal with repeated incarcerations of his or her parent/s.

- Having to deal with infrequent visitations or the experience of going through procedures in prisons just to visit the parent.

- Having to deal with social stigma that usually accompanies children with parents who are incarcerated such as teasing, name-calling, guilt, etc.

- Having to live in conditions or environments that are unstable, unreliable and often less than ideal.

The problems of allowing children of prisoners to cope without any extra help often increase depending on certain factors, such as:

- the age of the child
- the presence of another parent or authority figure
- the quality of time spent by the child in the care and guidance of this parent or authority figure
- the economic status of the child’s family

Without the availability of an effective mentoring program for children of prisoners, there is a high risk that they will develop problems both personal and social, such as:

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- using and abusing drugs and alcohol at a young age
- irregular attendance in school
- developing problems with their peers
- finding outlet in destructive behavior or developing relationships with questionable individuals or groups

Using mentoring programs for children of prisoners
To help improve this group of children’s chances at experiencing success in school and in their social interactions, certain mentoring programs are being made available in both private and government organizations, such as those funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Some of the mentoring resources that children of prisoners can look forward to include:

1. Access to a wide variety of educational, counseling, guidance and healthcare services that include the children, their siblings, other family members or caregivers. Many of these programs may even include the incarcerated parent/s.

2. Access to the appropriate resources that children of imprisoned parents can use, such as books, data and other information that will help them cope with the absence of either or both parents.

3. Access to mentoring and counseling services that can assure high levels of confidentiality to protect the child’s identity.

4. Access to realistic and non-judgmental services from mentors and volunteers who also have the right background, training and experience to assist the children.

5. Opportunities to maximize their natural capabilities and experience new activities that will help them learn and cope in their environment.

6. Opportunities to experience leadership roles with their peers.

7. Assistance in terms of guidance and even financial services to help caregivers of children of prisoners cope with the financial burdens of running a household in the absence of one or both parents.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO