ABSTRACT

People who come to mentoring programs to fill a void in their own lives are an absolute must to avoid. People have had incidents of people using youth programs as a way to seek friends or romantic partners, at times without meaning to do so. Without being uncompassionate, mentoring programs need to be very clear that mentoring is not a source of friendship or dates for mentors. Mentors and mentees should not have contact outside of program policy, including electronic or social-media contact. People who are not good about keeping to rules are often a bad risk for programs. People who are trusted to work with young people need to understand the risks for programs of sexual abuse, and need to be willing to commit to policies to prevent abuse, such as not touching their mentees. Individuals who seem disinclined to follow small rules in life are often at risk of going astray with larger ones.