A better quality of life and learning through mentoring

We’re at the time of year when families and generations gather to celebrate festivals and events. Grandparents will hold their grandchildren for the first time, aunts and uncles will wonder at the growth and changes in nieces and nephews, and many will enjoy the renewal of family ties.

Did you know that this experience also has noteworthy implications for a child’s learning development? Did you also know that engaging with kids has a profound impact on our elders' wellbeing?

There is such clear mutual benefit here that we, as a school, must develop even more programs to increase the interaction between these groups in order to develop powerful mentoring and life improvement.

Without delving too deeply into science, what we’re talking about here is an important aspect of naturalistic observation. Understanding and influencing behaviour by experiencing what happens to a child’s brain when they interact with elders.

The idea of engaging with your youngsters (or elders) is not just for the sake of grandparents and grandchildren. It can actually bring about benefit for both parties by sharing wisdom, experience, and perspectives.

For instance, when you engage with youngsters, you can make a real difference in their life by helping them achieve goals and dreams they might not have been able to without your guidance.

“Mentoring is an archetypal activity that has timeless elements which can connect us to the universal ground where nature renews itself and culture becomes reimagined. Youth and elder meet where the pressure of the future meets the presence of the past. Old and young are opposites that secretly identify with each other; for neither fits well into the mainstream of life.”
― Michael Meade**

The results of mentoring kids are clear. Studies show that they are:

  • 55% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school

  • 78% more likely to volunteer regularly

  • 130% more likely to hold leadership positions*

It all sounds great, so how do we amplify our activities? In British Columbia, the government developed some simple ideas and guidelines for introducing intergenerational engagement. They suggest activities that both schools and families can undertake, including:

  • Students and seniors at a nearby residential care home become pen pals for one school year.

  • Youth and seniors use email to connect, communicate, and get to know one another.

  • A retired farmer shows children and youth how to grow radishes in a community garden.

  • Seniors read to children and youth; in turn, children read stories or poems they have written for seniors.

  • Students perform or sing at a seniors’ residential facility.

  • A war veteran speaks at a school or community Remembrance Day ceremony.

We’re going to explore additional initiatives at Walden to embrace the elders in our immediate and broader communities. We see it as an integral component of how making good people results in a better world.

What ideas do you have?


*https://secondwindmovement.com/intergenerational-relationships/

**MICHAEL MEADE, D.H.L., is a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology.

Daphne Perugini