One Woman's View: Former KSU coach give pep talk
Contributing writer
I am now the envy of all my friends who are Kansas State fans. I attended the senior fair in Salina and heard an address by Bill Snyder, former coach of the K-State football team. You may touch me for five dollars.
Seriously, Snyder had a valuable message which I would like to pass on, because I think it is important to adults of all ages, not just senior citizens. He is involved in the mentoring program for which Governor Kathleen Sibelius is urging support. Even if you are a Republican and/or a Kansas University Jayhawks fan, I think you will have to recognize that it serves a definite need.
The coach had several statistics to underline the need for mentors among young people. Fifty percent of young boys live in single parent homes, usually with no father. Among the African-American population one in three boys from fatherless homes ends up in prison. In the last 50 years the suicide rate for teenagers has increased 5000 percent.
Sometimes statistics seem like mere numbers, but if you can look past the numbers here, you can see a LOT of hurting children and teenagers. You can also see there are a lot of obstacles in the way of these young people becoming responsible, productive adults.
Snyder praised programs like Big Brothers-Big Sisters, but pointed out many more mentors are needed in such programs, especially men to work with young boys. A leader in the Big Brothers organization in Wichita had told him 30,000 more mentors are needed in the Wichita area alone.
An anecdote in his speech dealt with a friend and his wife who asked adults among their friends to be mentors to their children. Snyder was impressed by this, and admitted he felt some chagrin because he had never thought of doing this for his own children. Even children in stable homes with caring parents can benefit from having another adult in whom they can confide. Especially in the teen years, there are some things young people are reluctant to talk about to their parents. When a close friend's daughter was going through a rebellious adolescence, I feel sure she told me some things she would not tell her parents. I sometimes found this embarrassing, but I hope having me there as a sounding board was some help to her.
Grandparents can often provide quality mentoring for their grandchildren. Aunts, uncles, teachers and neighbors also can serve this purpose. Sometimes this happens on an informal, disorganized basis. Other times adults become mentors by volunteering as Sunday school teachers, church youth sponsors, or leaders in 4-H or Scouts.
Do you have even a little time you could spare to be a mentor to a young person who needs one? This could be almost any child or youth, but especially one who is lacking one or both parents. If you already have opportunities for this through your church or other organizations, that is great. If not, you can learn more about the governor's program on the Internet at www.kansasmentors.ks.gov. After all, you will be in the company of football great, Bill Snyder.
