Mark Dawes, Contributor
"THE DELINQUENTS" - that was the title of CBS' 60 Minutes II programme broadcast July 18, 2001. It told the story of how rhinos were being slaughtered in South Africa's Pilanesberg Park and the killers were not human poachers but male juvenile elephants. The problem had its genesis when South Africa's Kruger National Park was deemed to be overcrowded with elephants. To resolve that matter, Kruger killed several of the adults because the children were more easily transported to other parks. "Years later those lonely orphans became troubled teenagers. That's when the killings at Pilanesberg Park began," the CBS show reported.
To correct the problem, park rangers brought in older male elephants who kept the youngsters in check and established a new hierarchy in the elephant kingdom thereby training them in the appropriate elephant behaviour. The result the juvenile killings of rhinos ceased. (See: www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/08/22/60II/main226894.shtml)
I remembered that broadcast when I read of Education Minister Burchell Whiteman's announcement that a truancy camp is to be established as part of Government's plans for curbing violence in schools. What grabbed my interest was when he said a post-camp mentoring programme would be offered through the National Youth Service. It seems to me that if one is going to have a truancy camp then it would be appropriate to have a mentorship programme while juveniles are there and not wait to establish one when they leave. Better yet, why not introduce mentorship programmes at the primary and secondary levels. Peace And Love in Schools (PALS) alone won't do.
Our schools are crying out for mentors to invest in the lives of students at both the primary and secondary levels. Surely such a strategy can help to curb school violence as the illustration from the animal kingdom demonstrates.
The challenge for mentoring the nation's school youth deserves a positive intentional response from churches. I don't think it is too formidable for churches to deploy a few good men/women to do mentoring at even the minimal rate of one-child-per-mentor.
Mentoring is what Jesus did. For about three years in His public ministry He had a group of 12 men with varied temperaments such as the brash ear-chopping Peter, the sceptic named Thomas, and the money-grabbing Judas and He mentored them.
The Bible is not short on examples of the mentoring relationships: Moses & Joshua; Eli & Samuel and Elijah & Elisha.
'Mentoring' is not a word that originated in the church, but it is certainly not an idea foreign to it either. In churches the preferred word for 'mentoring' is 'discipling.' But then I should ask, 'To what extent are there mentoring relationships in churches?' To what extent are there formal mentorship programmes in the churches or even informal ones?
Ideally, Minister Whiteman should be looking to churches to find suitable models of mentorship to adapt and implement in the truancy camp. But only a few churches it seems have an exemplary mentorship programme.
Nevertheless, the coming of the truancy camp is an opportunity for churches 'to disciple the nation (Matthew 28:19).' Mentoring is not for cowards. When properly done, it will foster a relationship in which the mentee and the mentor can ask each other just about any question. It requires a great deal of honesty on both sides if it is to work. More importantly it is an accountability forum for many. If the truth is told, personal and spiritual growth often comes about in relation to the extent to which one is held accountable. One reason why many Christians fail to get involved in mentorship is because it has a way of disrupting the regular tempo of one's life and it confronts one with the need to be perfectly honest and perfectly transparent - and that can be scary.
Mentorship also requires time, it requires making oneself available to your mentee even at times when that mentee shows up on your doorstep at an odd or inconvenient hour of the day. And not many of us Christians are willing to pay that price yet we say we are following Jesus.
The truancy camp initiative, which no doubt will have a preponderance of boys, is an opportunity for meaningful Christian investment in the lives of errant youngsters, most of whom would not have had meaningful father or father-like involvement in their lives.
You are right if you surmised that I think fatherlessness is responsible for most of the crime and violence in schools and the wider society.
The truth is everybody deserves to have a mentor. Those without mentors are the poorer for it. That goes for persons in and outside of the church.
But if you have a hard time believing me, go to the above mentioned Web site or better still, order the 60 Minutes II video. If elephants mentor their young who are so prone to violence, why shouldn't we?
Mark Dawes is a Senior Staff Reporter. Send feedback to: dawesmark@hotmail.com.
