Police chief: 250 children from Sioux Falls are waiting for mentors – pigeon 605

Siou Falls Police Chief John Tum has heard a lot about young people who “make a bad choice” in the community.

He does not hear enough about what he considers to be a critical tool for prevention: people who want to intervene early and often in the life of a young man through mentoring.

Thum admits he spoke “Ad Gaseam” on the subject, but today he held a press conference because he sees the need to give the topic more urgency.

“There are over 250 children in the waiting for mentoring in our community,” he said. “Two hundred and fifty children who want mentors who need mentors who need adults to activate in their lives.”

The Sioux 52 mentoring initiative of Thum and Mayor Paul Tenhaken has 89 mentors who registered last year, he said. There is almost 50 percent reduction in mentors in the 2019 Title I Schools, a combination of the pandemic and change in generations, as older mentors have retired or have no longer reached the schools.

“The younger generation has to stand up and say that we will wear this banner for our children and make time,” Trump said. “We are extremely grateful to those who have answered the call and need more people to activate.”

The commitment is usually about 40 minutes a week, and the mentors find both students and their schools eager to see them, said Chris Birle, Dean of Students at Elementary Laura B. Anderson Elementary.

“The mentors provide more than just time,” he said. “They offer students personalized support and attention, something that many children do not receive elsewhere.”

Don’t think you should be a therapist or advisor, they added Thum and Bierle. Often, mentoring involves playing games, food sharing, or just talking about the new and offering support.

“They are looking for someone to appear, to be their friend, to provide guidance, to be a stable influence to the adults in their lives, and many of us have the opportunity to do so,” Trom said.

He adds a great impact, Birle said. He shared the story of a student with significant challenges at home that became so destructive at school that he could not be in his classroom much. Ever since he received a mentor, he has returned with 90 percent of class 90 percent of the time with a noticeable improvement in behavior.

“His progress shows what is possible when students know that someone is consistent in their angle,” he said.

When businesses or organizations accept a school, it has an even more impact. At the University of Siu Falls, for example, school staff and students have mentored the nearby high school in Edison, which causes the school to have the largest number of mentors in the city.

Thum, who himself mentors a student, also a coach of youth football. There are many ways to have a positive impact in the lives of children, he said.

“This is something we can’t throw money on,” he said. “This is something we need to throw time.”

To learn more about the Sioux 52, click here.

To learn more about the mentality via LSS, click below.

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