VLOG: What is a Youth Mentor?
Do you dream of creating a space for teens where they can be:
- Open and honest without judgement?
- Develop life skills and completely embrace the person they are within?
Do you want to empower them, help them feel like they are enough and share what you’ve learned with them?
Then you could be a great youth mentor!
But, what exactly is a youth mentor?
It’s important to understand that a youth mentor is not quite a youth coach, life coach, counsellor, therapist, youth worker, social worker, or teacher. Instead, they embody a unique combination of all of these roles, while also being a remarkable cheerleader and compassionate space holder, driven by an unwavering passion for empowering and uplifting young individuals.
Unlike other professions, being a youth mentor doesn’t require you to be a specific age or have a predetermined set of life experiences. It’s not about having all the answers or having everything in life perfectly figured out either. Instead, it’s about creating an environment of trust, guidance, and encouragement for young people as they navigate their unique journeys.
It’s important as a youth mentor to understand where your role and expertise ends, and when a young person might need additional support too.
Enjoy this video about what a youth mentor actually is and know that anyone can be a mentor and coach to teen girls, teen boys, teens of any gender expression! It’s all about understanding how to hold space for teens and tweens, what qualifications are necessary to be a youth mentor and youth coach and how to learn to be a GREAT youth mentor. Yay!
We’ve trained hundreds of youth mentors across the world with our Youth Mentor Training certification and love sharing tips and resources on how to do it well. Because the world needs MORE youth mentors. We need you. 🙂