Big Brother Big Sister

Big Brother Big Sister

Question 1

Big Brothers Big Sisters is part of an international volunteer program, which is one of the most effective programs for individual mentoring for children in difficult situations. The program is currently active in 13 countries that include USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Bulgaria, Israel, Bermuda, South Africa, and Russia. The agency is registered as a non-governmental organization that promotes inter-regional program of education of the younger generation. The activities of the program are also carried out in accordance with the standards of Big Brothers Big Sisters International. The mission of the mentoring program, "Big Brother Big Sister" is to help children from disadvantaged environments, so that they can reach their life potential through professionally organized communication with an adult mentor (Siegel, 2011).

Big Brothers Big Sisters is the leading mentoring agency in the U.S., which provides positive role models for children through mentoring programs. Big Brothers Big Sisters is a community based program in which a child meets with an adult mentor, and perform different cultural and educational activities. It also has the Friend Program (Big Buddy) where children meet with a mentor at school. Friendships incorporate specially selected adult-child pairs are constructed under the supervision of professionals-curators. The experience of the program shows that children from disadvantaged environments under the program for number hours a month, result in a prosperous life as they enjoy time with people, increase confidence, and become more sociable than before. Such children start finding interest in what's happening around and tend to pay more attention to their studies.

Last year, Big Brothers Big Sisters, served more than 900 children through programs in the counties of Bartow, Floyd, Gordon, Murray and Whitfield. The agency has been trying to involve more of the Hispanic community to know and understand that the program is something that helps youth and children. It has been a challenge trying to involve Latinos, but gradually, the agency has increased and progressed. A respected national research firm examined the effect of BBBS and found that compared to their peers, young children who met regularly with their Big Brother were 46% less likely to start using drugs, 27% less likely to begin alcohol, 52% less likely to lose a day of school and 33% less likely to hit someone. As a result, it can be said that Big Brother is a prevention program (Kirp, 2011).

Question 2

Founded in 1904, Big Brothers Big Sisters is a mentoring organization for children and adolescents, which is the oldest and largest of the United States. Currently, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves more than 220,000 children between the ages of 5 to 18 in 5,000 communities across 50 states. Positive relationships established between the volunteers (Big Brothers or Big Sisters) and children (Little Brothers or Little Sisters) have a direct, positive and lasting impact on the lives of these children.

Research studies have shown that children and young people participating in the program have more self-esteem, greater confidence in their schooling, ...