In sharp contrast, our society has lost sight of what it takes to prepare young people to enter responsible adulthood. Our neglect of this sacred, time-tested cycle of maturity may be blamed for numerous problems in our culture, our families, and individual teens. Today’s teenagers scarcely, if ever, learn anything about what it takes to become an accountable woman or man from the important people in their lives. Or when they can say they have reached womanhood or manhood. As A Result, they are left to look for answers in movies, song, lyrics, the often-ill-informed perspectives of their peers, and the mixed, even contradictory, messages coming from other “grown-ups” around them. Therefore, we have a lot of young people limping through life. They are confused, hurting, and feeling terribly incomplete. In mentorship cultures, the message of manhood/womanhood is and was straight forward. Elderly men and women from one generation pour themselves into the boys and girls of the coming generation to teach, mentor, correct, love, listen to, and in short, nurture boys/girls to prepare them for the responsibilities of manhood and womanhood. In exchange, the youth were expected to grow into increasing responsibility, accountability, and concern for others. Unfortunately, adults have become too obsessed with less important things to the detriment of mentoring, teaching, and empowering their sons and daughters as they grow. Adults become concerned about the youth problem only when their personal comfort zone is attacked by some shocking youth tragedy. In the absence of such calamities, society tends to ignore the real needs of the young people in our homes, communities, schools, and churches. In modern society, it is remarkably easy for us to rush ahead with life, unaware of the teenage time bombs that is making the headlines in our newspapers.

Mentoring enables the older generation to pass on the things they hold dear. I outline below four reasons why we the older generation need to mentor the next generation.

• 1. Death will come to us all.
  We will all die. And when we do, it is not only our physical possessions we will leave behind. More important, we will leave our legacies. The spiritual riches passed on to our children far out-weigh the value of any earthly inheritance- spiritual legacies remain for generations.
• 2. A natural necessity.
  Mentoring, teaching, and training by a trusted adult are vital for our young people’s successful development. Each boy or girl comes into this world ignorant of the dangers around them and unaware of their own abilities and options. Early experiences with pain and pleasure provide some framework for survival but do little to help the child reach his full potential. It is the quality and amount of instruction and support from others that largely determine the teen’s eventual maturity and success.

•  3.Parents Divine Responsibility
  When a child is born, parents involve themselves in every aspect of their kids’ sports programmes or after school events and even their school schedules. Yet when it comes to raising them in their culture or faith, to showing them how and why they should be living a certain way, they mistakenly assume that is somebody else’s job, – the school, the church, the pastor, the youth Leader, or someone. It is not. Scripture tells us it is our job to raise our children in the faith/tradition, cultures and values. God says, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9 NIV) Jewish parents understood and took seriously the challenge of passing on their faith, culture, values, and tradition onto the next generation. Ancient cultures cited above also lived the spirit of this text by passing on the cultures and traditions onto the next generation. The time has now come for today’s parents to teach, mentor, train and prepare their children in character and what it means to be a man or woman, to pass on their values, traditions, culture, faith etc to our young generation.

• 4. The consequences of Lack of Positive Role Models
  Where there are no positive adult role models, young people will find their own role models or mentors. The desire to be under the care of someone stronger and wiser is enormously powerful. May be God put it in us to draw us to our father, mother, and other mentors committed to our development. The absence of a positive role models creates a void that will be quickly filled by someone less qualified and less desirable. A primary example of this occurs when boys join gangs despite knowing that their mentors participate in dangerous activities. Unsurprisingly, young boys and girls lacking judgment are often attracted to external (and false) signs of maturity. Wild parties, drugs, violence, lawlessness with seeming impunity, sexual encounters, expensive cars, and rolls of cash all tempt boys and girls to attach themselves to clueless leaders headed for destruction. These false mentors teach their young disciples a host of concepts about life, maturity, and manhood from their own twisted perspective. Not all mentors a boy might select are so obviously detrimental; in fact, some may be concerned teachers, coaches, or other leaders outside the home willing to serve as positive role models. However, why leave such a vital aspect of a young person’s life to chance? The lack of willingness on the part of parents and other elders subjects our sons/daughters to a flood of influence from role models who may not embody the worldview, character, philosophy of success, or spiritual values you want for your son or daughter. Lifelong mentoring certainly helps them make wise choices as they navigate the uncertain waters of life.