Role Models Inspire Youth
Children come to The Village Network bearing years of burdens and complex traumas, often times including abuse and neglect. Their adverse childhood experiences can lead to a lifetime of physical, emotional and mental health disorders. Whether they like it or not, the odds are against them.
While their journey to healing may be daunting, it only takes one person to bring hope back into their lives: a role model.
Role models can be anyone, from a celebrity to a neighbor, a teacher to a CEO. Despite their diversity, all role models have three specific purposes in the life of a child:
- To Inspire
- To Influence Goals
- To Demonstrate Positive Behavior
When done well, role models can provide youth with a hope for the future that may not have existed before. By sharing their lives and experiences, role models give a template of how to pursue and achieve your dreams. Role models with humble backgrounds tend to resonate with our youth, showing them that regardless of their past, they can achieve greatness.
Take for example, Scott Hite, one of our 2016 Hall of Fame inductees. Scott lived at Boys’ Village in 1983 and today, he continues to inspire boys at The Village Network through his life story. Read more about Scott and his position as a role model here.
Being a troubled youth and coming from the bottom, and then trying to get out is extremely hard. You have to put in the work, but it can be done