Allow kids to share their expertise



Nick Sydow teaches a Linden Estates
resident to play Wii Bowling.

In any mentoring relationship, one of the key components is the shared experience that occurs when one party introduces the other to something that has never been tried before.  Typically this occurs when the mentor passes on his or her knowledge to their mentee, or when the mentor introduces the young person to a new hobby or activity.

Take hunting or fishing for example.  The master fisherman passes on the knowledge he or she has accumulated either from his own mentor or through years of trial and error.  Another example of this can be seen when an adult teaches a child to bake cookies, or in building a model together.  However, it’s not always the adult that has to be the expert.  Often a child can share experiences with a mentor.

We saw a great example of this when we took the students from our Life Skills class at Madison Middle School to visit the residents at Linden Estates.  This was during the early stages of our partnership with the assisted living facility, so we were trying to come up with activities that would help the students and residents interact with each other in a fun and non-threatening way.

For this particular visit, we learned that the assisted living facility had recently purchased a Wii video game system but didn’t know how to use it.  Playing video games is second nature for today’s youth, especially middle school students.  So we had no shortage of kids willing to teach the residents how to play.  They started with what they thought would be a simple game – Wii Bowling.

Imagine trying to explain how to operate the Wii remote control to someone who has rarely (if ever) played a video game.  When it came time for the residents to throw their virtual bowling ball, the instructions were simple enough: hold down the B-button, swing the controller forward, and let go of the button.  Needless to say it took a while for the residents to catch on.  I could sense some frustration from the kids, but I think they handled it well and showed a lot of patience.

As a mentor, don’t feel like you must always be the one in control.  Look for activities that give your mentee an opportunity to share their knowledge and expertise with you.  If you don’t have a Facebook page yet, ask them to help you set one up.  If you have some photos you would like to show off, have your mentee show you how to create a power point presentation or a digital video slideshow.  And if you haven’t played Wii Bowling yet, give it a go.  After all, a gutter ball is not so bad when there isn’t a room full of other bowlers there to see it.