Role Models are important because they increase a child's self-esteem, help them to build morals and positive values, teach children to set attainable goals, and provide direction in achieving their goals. Most importantly, role models provide examples for children to follow showing them that their dreams and goals can be fulfilled.
Jane worked in a program, Into the Streets, that served food to homeless people in a bad neighborhood. Through her interactions with many homeless people, she gained insight into the cyclical pattern of homelessness. Jane talked to 3 homeless women who all agreeed that their lack of role models as they grew up attributed to their current status.
While tutoring for America Reads, a federally-funded literacy program for elementary students, Ali and Megan realized the importance that role models play in the lives of young children. Through their weekly volunteering, they formed close bonds with their students and became more than just tutors. The students Ali and Megan tutored developed a bond with them and were very impressed that these 2 girls would take time out of their busy, collegiate schedules to read with them. Ali and Megan's devotion to the program created a relationship in which the students viewed them as role models.
Ashley tutored at Camp Kilpatrick, a juvenile detention center, this past semester. She worked weekly with the same 16-year old boy and saw the effects of not having a role model. He constantly told her that he had no one to look up to and no one to teach him how to reach his goals. In the short amount time she spent tutoring him, they built a trusting relationship in which he realized that people actually care about him and what he is capable of achieving.
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