Dr. Mark Klinedinst is an Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS, where he teaches students and conducts research. Mark Klinedinst, Ph.D., has also volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the oldest youth mentoring program in the United States. The structure and goal of Big Brothers Big Sisters are simple: to help children (called “Littles” in the program) reach their potential by pairing them with a volunteer adult (a “Big”) to have a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Since 1904, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been focusing on children from disadvantaged backgrounds: poverty, single-parent households, incarcerated parents, and so on. These Littles meet with their Big three times a month for a year, participating in free events organized by the charity or simple things like going to the park or the movies - things that a Little might not get a chance to have in their normal life. A study conducted on the improvement of the Littles before and after engaging with the program found that they were more confident at school and got along better with their families, as well as being 46 percent less likely to get into illegal drugs later in life. Even after graduating high school and the Littles program, 90 percent of Littles alumni say that the mentoring from their Big helped them gain confidence in their teenage years.

1. Big Brothers Big Sisters and a
Hundred Years of Youth Mentoring
Mark Klinedinst

2. Introduction
Dr. Mark Klinedinst is an Emeritus Professor of Economics at the
University of Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS, where he teaches
students and conducts research. Mark Klinedinst, Ph.D., has also
volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the oldest
youth mentoring program in the United States.

3. The structure and goal of Big Brothers Big Sisters are simple: to help
children (called “Littles” in the program) reach their potential by pairing
them with a volunteer adult (a “Big”) to have a one-on-one mentoring
relationship. Since 1904, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been focusing on
children from disadvantaged backgrounds: poverty, single-parent
households, incarcerated parents, and so on. These Littles meet with their
Big three times a month for a year, participating in free events organized by
the charity or simple things like going to the park or the movies - things
that a Little might not get a chance to have in their normal life.

4. A study conducted on the improvement of the Littles before and after
engaging with the program found that they were more confident at school
and got along better with their families, as well as being 46 percent less
likely to get into illegal drugs later in life. Even after graduating high school
and the Littles program, 90 percent of Littles alumni say that the mentoring
from their Big helped them gain confidence in their teenage years.