If you’re the parent or guardian of a son who’s struggling in school, you may have sought support from outside of the classroom. Educational therapists, psychiatrists, and tutors are excellent resources for issues like attention deficit, depression, procrastination or poor grades. For many young men on the precipice of adulthood, however, there can be much more going on than a set of behavioral problems.
In my eight years as a tutor and educational consultant, I’ve helped many male college aspirants find their voice in writing, or find their vocational or academic calling through my college counseling program. And in the process, they found themselves in connection with an older male figure — something that many of them didn’t have in any other area of their life. The success they found was more attributable to our relationship than to any book I had them read or any curriculum I had them follow.
In today’s Zeitgeist, there is an emergent concern for the mental health of our teenagers, and for male students of the high school and college age, this can take on a particular flavor. Many educators and education researchers point to declining performance in reading and language development among male students, as well as emotional fluency and socialization. Furthermore, fewer and fewer young men are choosing to attend college than ever before. In other words — your son’s issues are a part of a larger trend, and you’re not alone at all.
For the reasons above, colleges across the country are making changes to make the high school and college classroom more accessible and attractive to males. One of the most promising initiatives are male mentorship programs, which have been shown to be highly effective for men of the college age particularly. Why these programs are so effective is still unclear, but it’s easy to speculate — almost 80% of high school teachers are women, and most young boys don’t receive tutelage and instruction from older men until they reach college, where professors are already overstretched and have limited time for their students.
It’s in this spirit that I offer mentorship to male middle schoolers and high schoolers who might benefit from more direction, connection, and guidance in their lives. Even if they can’t vocalize it just yet, many young men might openly display signs of apathy, lack of direction or social isolation through activities such as excessive video game and internet use, poor sleep hygiene, truancy, mood issues, and more. Sometimes it takes an observant parent of guardian to nudge a son or daughter in the right direction.
In my personal life, I’ve sat in dozens of men’s circles and I have worked with several community service organizations comprised of men only for over a decade. I’ve received and witnessed male mentorship of remarkable variety and styles, with only positive results. In the process, I’ve become quite passionate about working with men of all ages who feel isolated, or who don’t have a grounded space to give voice to their worries or their ambitions, or their thoughts and feelings.
This isn’t to say that as a tutor or college counselor I only accept students who are male! Far from it. In fact, the majority of my students and college counseling clients are female. My male mentorship offering is meant to bring more male teenagers into the fold of my college counseling practice, and offer a more holistic approach.
If this sounds relevant to you, please reach out to discuss the curriculum I follow to guide young men into their confidence and a life of purpose.
Henrik Herb - Education Consultant 