Why does every child need a mentor? Some may feel every child does not need a mentor, but I would simply ask why not? The real issue is not whether every child needs a mentor but what is your perception of mentoring? As that may be more of an issue.

Who would you say needs mentoring, a child who is not doing particularly well and has a few emotional imbalances which can result in bad behaviour? Or is mentoring for a child who is well behaved, has great ability and is clear where they are going in life?

You may believe only one of the above needs mentoring but I can assure you that both would need mentoring for different reasons, even though in mainstream education those who are considered to be “alright” are unlikely to experience being mentored. However, I do not agree with this train of thought and the common practice that ignores the needs of the majority of children in our schools in the UK, as we are on the verge of losing a generation.

I believe every child has a seed of greatness within and potential that needs mentoring support to come to fruition. For this reason, I believe every child needs a mentor. For years I have observed that those who receive quality mentoring have an advantage over those who don’t, as they experience the benefits, knowledge, skills, contacts and insights of their mentor whilst the others have to work out everything for themselves.

During this process the mentee is exposed to gems that you would not learn on an academic course or within a classroom setting but only by the lessons of life and experience. These lessons that are applied can accelerate the mentee’s growth, progress, confidence, insight and success in less time. Simply because the mentor’s hindsight becomes the mentee’s foresight! And this is why we need to mentor our younger generation.

Taken from the book “Every Child Needs a Mentor”