Responsibility

Many young people who graduate from high school have no idea

whatever the next steps are to take. Their identity has been shaped from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Parents feel accomplished and satisfied that their child has finished school. Over the years, Children get up, get dressed, and learn with many others doing the same thing every day for a large portion of their young lives. Unless they receive the right guidance throughout the years. The day after their high school graduation, they lose a large part of who they are. 

To help visualize this moment. Imagine you are married and your spouse of eighteen years tells you they want a divorce. Or they die. You're older and are expected to be stronger. As an adult, you were not prepared for this to happen in your life. You ask yourself, "What did you do wrong?" "Why did this happen to me?" Adults end up in counseling and in support groups. For they are older and have learned from experience. An eighteen-year-old doesn't have the knowledge an adult will have from experience, yet many think they should know it. If they were never given the guidance, they are lost.

Those are the same questions an eighteen-year-olds ask themselves after graduation.

It is great to see a child graduate from high school. It is a huge accomplishment. For those who have a structure in their education plan or future. It is an exciting time for them. To close one education chapter and begin another. Whether it be a trade school, college, family business, etc. For those students, having a person or a parent help guide them in building a future for themself.  Everyone is cheering and looking forward to the child's future.  

Graduation is great for many. For some, it's the BIGGEST shock in their lives, for they have not planned.  No one gave them the true picture. That is the day after graduating, you are an adult. Parents are saying, " I did my job now, get out!" You are finished with school, and you go figure it out!" All the material items the child was receiving throughout the years are OVER!

They do not know where to turn or where to start. They never learned the tools. The struggles they are now facing will be the Hard School of Life!  

Finding a job is hard because they were never shown how. They take any job to help them out of the hole they are in, to make ends meet.  If, during this new journey in their lives, they find a good person who guides them in the right direction. They can get on track and build a strong future for themselves. If they find the wrong person, this could take them in the direction of poverty and bitterness.  This will turn into an endless cycle, not just for them but for the generations following them. 

"Is this the life they envisioned for themselves?" I am sure not! But it is what it is.  There are many charity organizations today. Developing daily, working towards breaking this chain.  

Not everyone who goes to school is going to be a CEO. Which doesn't mean the person is less of a person if they are not.  If a person is given the tools and direction. They now have options for what direction they wish to go in life.

People who want to be parents need to think before they take the step into parenthood.  Parents leave it to teachers to be both teacher and parent at the same time. A teacher can only go so far with a student. A teacher works for years and years. For a pretty thankless job. They do it because they love it. They became a teacher because it was their calling. A teacher can not help every student. The main reason people need to spend time mentoring a student is. Everyone is put on this earth for a reason.

If you feel you do not know how to be a mentor. A great book to read. Is the Bible.  

Check out Proverbs. This brief list is a sample of what Proverbs has to offer.

1- Proverbs 1:8 Children honor your parents

2- Proverbs 1:5 A Person will continue to learning

3- Proverbs 22:26   Stay out of debt

4- Proverbs 10:17  Accept correction

It will give you a step-by-step guide on how to be a mentor or a parent.  There are so many self-help books out there. People are making millions, if not billions. The longest book that has ever been translated into every language is the Bible. No book has been more widely printed than the bible. If someone ever tells you there has been.

You just met a liar. The Bible is the most printed book EVER. 

If you can be a mentor to a young person. Take the step and do it. Do not be afraid of directing young people. You may not think you will make an impact on their lives.  You will make a big difference. They will appreciate you for being straightforward and honest with them. Than being blindsided years later when their time in high school is over. 

Growth is a continuous process. We are all growing and changing in our formations, thoughts, ideas, and directions we are going in our lives. Every day we are allowed to start all over again. We are given another breath when we wake up.  For many, they don't get that chance. It is OVER.   That person is gone, never to return.  Families then cry and mourn for the loss they feel. Then the guilt sets in, wishing they had done something different.  That child or person is gone.

It is too late. The person becomes a distant memory or is not even remembered at all.. The pictures go in the trash, and the next generation doesn't even know who they are.

Then the cycle continues all over again unless someone intervenes and guides whoever is left to break the chain of poverty that was set when nobody stepped on the original person. 

Do not underestimate the interaction you may have with a young person. It will change a generation.  Time is a gift, use yours wisely. Helping others break the chain. You are helping yourself and others around you. 

Do not look at it as just that person. Look at it further into that child's life throughout their adult life, and a person's children.  The seed you plant in them will grow and prosper throughout generations.