Like some of his peers, Brandon Hunter was once headed down the wrong path, with his interest in a street lifestyle piqued by some of the hip-hop songs he enjoyed.
“Back then I was like a bad kid with a bad attitude,” Hunter, 16, admits while sitting with friends at the Lilly Boys and Girls Club on the city’s Southside.
Since he began participating in activities at the club and interacting with Joseph Davis, one of the mentors there who shares his love for music, Hunter’s life has changed.
He is performing better in school and is now focused on college, earning one of the club’s coveted scholarships.
“It’s like I’m a whole different person,” Hunter said.
He is among many youth whose lives have been turned around by the presence of a mentor. More adults, particularly men, are being encouraged to step up and serve as a positive influence on kids and teens.
Davis, who grew up in the Boys and Girls Club, was inspired to offer the guidance he once had after noticing a shortage of mentors at the Lilly club.
“Mentoring provides the opportunity for us to pass on important values to the next generation, which can range from healthy habits to good financial management,” said Davis.
Domonique Williams, 14, enjoys the field trips Davis has helped lead, including college visits, professional sports games and a recent visit to the Honda Manufacturing plant in Greensburg, Ind.
“It was fun seeing how they make the cars,” said Williams. “Having a mentor and things like this do really has a positive impact on kids such as myself.”
Most mentors have specific goals they hope will help address challenges common among youth.
For Lars Rascoe III, Ph.D, founder of the local Boys II Men mentoring program, sparking a child’s interest in education is essential.
“Research now suggests that a teenager should have visited at least five colleges by their sophomore year in high school. It increases their chances of actually going and graduating,” said Rascoe, who has operated Boys II Men since 1995.
Enrollment for the next group of Boys II Men participants is now open, with activities scheduled to begin next month at Rhodius Park.
Youth in the program enjoy a range of activities, from team-building exercises, visits to museums and sports games and community service activities. They are also exposed to colleges and universities by eighth grade.
Rascoe, who began his career has a teacher, said he formed Boys II Men after noticing disturbing trends in the schools where he worked.
“While I was teaching, I saw boys with a lack of motivation for education, disrespect to female teachers and no college preparation,” he said. “We don’t believe there are bad boys, just boys who sometimes make bad decisions. We can take them the way they are, but they must come striving to become better than what they are.”
For Davis, who first started volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club as a summer camp counselor in 2008, it is important to prepare youth for high demand careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.
“You will find many of the jobs of the future in that area,” Davis said. “That’s why we offer activities like robotics where the kids can learn elements of science.”
Charles Barker, a mentor with 100 Black Men of Indianapolis, believes teaching good money management early in life can help youth avoid becoming enslaved to debt in the future and enjoy a happier life.
“Finances represent a major part of life that affects the way you live, whether you go to college or not and what kind of stability you can provide for your kids,” said Barker.
100 Black Men provides a financial literacy program from October through February, with young men meeting on Saturdays at the University of Indianapolis to talk about personal finances and investment.
Participants are then divided into teams to use what they learned to develop investment portfolios that are shown to a panel of judges. Top finalists receive scholarships and are eligible to compete in a national competition sponsored by 100 Black Men.
“We try to get them to understand that they can be financially secure at a certain point in life if they – for example – put money aside and save,” Barker said. “I just think if we can lift up our financial situation, some of our problems as a community will dissipate.”
Experts note that regardless of what goals a mentor may have for the youth they work with, what matters most is the fact that they offer guidance and motivation. Even men who are not active in an organization are encouraged to take time each week with a young person they may know in their family, church or neighborhood.
Rascoe noted that more young African-Americans believe that it is possible for them to become president of the United States after seeing Barack Obama in the White House.
“They have seen what an African-American president looks like,” Rascoe said. “Mentoring works the same way. If boys are going to grow into the decent, strong men that we want them to be, they have to see what that look’s like.”
For more information about the Boys II Men program, visit boysIImen.org or call (317) 531-7471.
