The perceived needs of high school male adolescents and the implications for mentoring adolescents of divorced parents

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived needs of high school male adolescents and study possible implications for mentoring those of divorced parents. The researcher defines adolescents, discipleship, mentoring, needs based ministry, and the traditional home for the purpose of this study.

The researcher presents a model for mentoring in studying the example Christ set in the relationship He had with His disciples. This relationship was one built within a small group that later had a large impact on others following the commands of Christ. The dissertation discusses the importance of developing relationships with others in order to influence them both now and in the future.

The research also addressed the perceived needs of today's high school male adolescents. Some of these needs are relationships with other people, a desire to excel in educational achievements, and other related issues. These perceived needs have a direct impact upon the ways a young person lives his life.

The research for this study was conducted in the northern suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee. The researcher surveyed high school male adolescents who attend Sunday school in three Southern Baptist churches. Once this was completed the researcher collected the surveys and tabulated the result.

The study presented charts and graphs comparing the perceived needs of high school male adolescents who come from divorced homes with those who come from intact homes. The four areas being compared was one's perception of mentoring relationships, anger related issues, one's perception toward school, and relational needs. Once the information was tabulated and displayed the researcher drew conclusions related to mentoring relationships. Those who come from divorced homes had lower mean scores in all four areas. This statistical information helped to reveal that high school male adolescents who have experienced a divorce between their parents would benefit from a mentoring relationship. The research also discovered that today's high school male adolescents struggle with anger related issues and have a high perception of mentoring relationships.