Not just a school crisis but a community crisis

In 2007, I attended a mentoring conference in Nashville. What I learned was shocking. But it shouldn’t really surprise anyone – “fatherlessness is the biggest threat to our nation” –First Lady Laura Bush

The school system is the de facto answer to the problem. We’ve forced our schools to add character development, personal grooming, social, emotional and life skills, standardized testing preparation and much more to their curriculum. We’ve asked our schools to take over and find solutions. But that’s too big a job for any one institute and its not working.

An institution can’t replace a relationship!

School doesn’t replace the family. School doesn’t fill the gaps of emotionally or physically absent parents. Kids can’t excel if they don’t have two valuable questions answered – “Am I loved? Am I valued?”

Everything else crumbles – behavior, grades, friendships, self-esteem – when a child feels unloved and inadequacy in their value.

I don’t believe this is just a school issue – it’s a community issue.

I know this to be true because I was one of those kids. I failed every grade in High school because my home life was tumultuous. I spent my time seeking the attention of anyone. I didn’t care how I got it.

Negative attention was still attention. And that’s what’s troubling our kids.

Enough is enough!

My life’s work for the past 12 years has been to attack this problem at its core – to help kids realize they are “valued and loved.”  And to provide much needed help to the school system with a burden they did not cause but have been tasked to fix.  They need the help of their community!

This has been my message to thousands in churches, faith-based organizations and civic/community clubs.

IAM4kids Mentoring was born out of my desire to find workable solutions to this growing crisis. Developed as a one-on-one mentoring program, operating in conjunction with the Lawrence County, Tenn. school board, this program gave our community the opportunity to affect positive change in our kids’ lives.

In our 21 years of operation, we’ve helped hundreds of kids find their value and change for the better. Through the willingness of individuals to share a little of their time, children are responding and lives are being changed for good.

I want to help your community have similar or better results. I work with school boards, school, parent/teacher organizations, community groups, pastors and their churches, and faith-based organizations to bring real change to communities through mentoring.

Mentoring is my life’s work – building bridges between kids and communities.

I am available to consult with your community, train your staff (school, church or faith-based group) or help you start a mentoring program in your community.

Please contact me at StevenSeatonMentoring@gmail.com or 931-244-0945 for more information on pricing and a scope of services tailored to your interest.