Children of Incarcerated Parents
Children of Incarcerated Parents
Children of Incarcerated Parents
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Table 3:<br />
Number and Percentage <strong>of</strong> Mentors Reported Engaging in Given Activities<br />
During a Sample Month*<br />
Number<br />
Percentage<br />
Total Matches with Contact 253 —<br />
School work 22 9%<br />
Playing sports 16 6%<br />
Sporting event, movie, theater 52 21%<br />
Eating a meal 99 39%<br />
Attending church services 52 21%<br />
Attending other church activities 41 16%<br />
Just “hanging out” 139 55%<br />
Other 146 58%<br />
Source: Amachi Year Longitudinal Report, April 1, 2001-March 31, 2003.<br />
*Data are for the month <strong>of</strong> December 2002.<br />
These activities are intended to be fun for both the volunteers and children—<br />
and, in the words <strong>of</strong> one pastor,“to add some kind <strong>of</strong> happiness” to the children’s<br />
lives.They also, as another pastor noted, give the children opportunities to<br />
see a life beyond their immediate surroundings. Mentoring exposes them to the<br />
arts, to culture, to other people, to the larger world.“People are always the product<br />
<strong>of</strong> their environment,” he said.“If their environment is small, their lives are<br />
small.”<br />
Most importantly, though, regularly spending time together in activities allows<br />
the child to gradually see the mentor as a reliable, supportive adult, and this<br />
helps the pair form the kind <strong>of</strong> adult-child friendship that exemplifies strong<br />
mentoring relationships. One pastor explained:<br />
The children really want to be with people they feel are positive.They’re looking for people...who<br />
are going to spend time, that’s going to be consistent time they can depend on,<br />
that’s not going to be broken.<br />
Mentors have noted how important it feels to the children to “have their<br />
own special time.” As one mentor observed:<br />
[My mentee] is possessive <strong>of</strong> me. She doesn’t want her sisters [who also have mentors]<br />
to come with us. She says,“I need to have my time.” She needs her time away from it<br />
all, having this one person who’s just about her, who wants to know for real how her<br />
day is. For her, it’s exciting; it’s very exciting.There’s someone who’s just for her.<br />
28<br />
AMACHI