How Educators, Coaches, and Arts Instructors Can Transform the Lives of At-Risk Youth

"A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you." ~ Bob Proctor

"I think mentors are important and I don't think anybody makes it in the world without some form of mentorship. Nobody makes it alone. Nobody has made it alone. And we are all mentors to people even when we don't know it." ~ Oprah Winfrey

"A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself." ~ Oprah Winfrey

The criminal system has never really been designed to rehabilitate the at-risk or the teenagers of colour. It jails in lieu of correction, disconnects in place of inclusion. But where the system falls down, teachers, coaches, and art teachers can get through.

They possess an untapped power of opportunity, trust, and mentorship. When effectively applied, these forces shape lives, guide troubled youth, and break cycles of marginalization. Canada has already seen success with focused programs that illustrate the power of these methods.

Building Trust and Stability

Stability is a novel concept to most troubled youth. Many reside in homes that are full of instability, where the only thing certain is unpredictability. Without trust, nothing will catch hold. Teachers and coaches can offer an anchor, though. Take the Pathways to Education program in Canada, for example, which provides extended mentorship, financial assistance, and career advice to low-income youth. By doing so, they have radically reduced dropout rates and boosted post-secondary attendance. By simply showing up, listening, and providing steady support, teachers and coaches can alter the course of a teenager's life.

Culturally Appropriate Teaching and Coaching

Confidence is built from identity, no criminal youth justice system is able to do anything close to this in a positive sense. When youth see themselves in their schooling, they thrive. Indigenous youth, for example, have been supported through programs like Outside Looking In, where dance becomes incorporated with cultural education to promote identity and strength. Land-based learning initiatives, such as The Martin Family Initiative, connect Indigenous learners with traditional knowledge, solidifying cultural pride and sense of belonging.

Similarly, Black youth flourish when their histories and cultures are integrated into education. The Black Youth Helpline offers not only mental well-being but also mentorship informed by African and Caribbean cultural norms. Through images of themselves in their sports and schooling, students develop self-esteem that shields them from adverse influences.

Teaching Resilience and Emotional Intelligence

Resilience is a learned ability. Mindful or not, youth go into fight-or-flight mode, developing self-destructive patterns. This cycle can be broken through emotional intelligence training and mindfulness. MindUp Program, implemented in some Canadian schools, teaches children to manage stress, focus, and manage emotions. Right to Play's sport programs for youth incorporate conflict resolution as part of its activities to equip young people with emotional discipline in a fun way. Youth who can succeed despite adversity without violence and injury to themselves. The Canadian youth criminal justice system works in the opposite direction for teenagers at-risk.

Sport, Music, and Drama as Therapy

There are discipline, teamwork, and grit that are tested in the test of competition. The Jumpstart and Kidsport Charities programs are set up to prevent economic barriers from keeping youth out of sport. Basketball, soccer, and hockey have been lifelines for many teenage Canadians, engaging them in healthy club sports rather than being lured into crime.

Music and theater offer equal therapeutic benefit. Self-expression and resilience are taught at UNITY Charity using hip-hop, spoken word, and breakdancing. Drumming circles that are Indigenous and led by organizations like Honouring Our Strengths enable youth to reconnect with heritage while reducing stress. Again the Canadian Criminal justice system does nothing of these sorts to help pull teenagers away from the criminal justice system.

An undirected mind is a wasted potential.

Too many vulnerable youth simply lack exposure to opportunity. Educators and coaches can help the bridging of this divide. The Toronto Youth Job Corps program, for example, connects youth with career training and apprenticeships, leaving them with a clear path ahead. Scholarship programs like Indspire allow Indigenous students to go on to higher education, breaking cycles of institutional disadvantage and poverty. By leading students to scholarship, mentorship, and career, educators empower them with the skills for future success.

Supporting Systemic Change

Teachers and coaches have a particular role to raise their voices by writing letters and using social media and traditional media in opposition to discriminatory practices of the use of the youth criminal justice system against students of colour and demand stronger support systems for such students.

Educators can pressure their school boards, districts, and governments to embrace alternatives to school discipline as punishment, such as restorative justice programs that have been effective in some Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia regions. They are pushing for mental health supports and inclusive curriculum to make schools where all students can see themselves and thrive.

Building Community and Peer Support

No one achieves success by themselves. Peer mentorship programs, such as the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, have long established that good role models can help. School leadership programs and class projects educate students to care for one another. When teenagers feel cared for, they will not seek acceptance in the wrong places.

By creating trust, blending cultural identity, building resilience, providing creative outlets, connecting youth to opportunity, speaking change, and involving the community, these mentors do what the Canadian youth justice system will not do, mentors transform lives.