• My son was not doing well in school, his grades were very poor and I was concerned.  I have seen much change over the past year.  He does his homework now and doesn’t argue with me about it.  His teacher tells me he is doing better in class and he did better in reading. I am very thankful for this program.  I wish they had a program in middle school.  (Parent Comment)

• We can talk to our mentors, when we are sad they ask us what is wrong, we can talk to them when we are happy, we talk to them about everything.  When we have a problem we can talk to them and it’s better than talking to an adult because they give us examples (of things we could do), they don’t tell us what to do, they don’t tell us the answer they help us figure it out.  They tell us about what happened to them and their friends, it helps us make good decisions and solve our problems.  (Mentee Comment)
• I was having difficulty with my mentee and I was nervous at the beginning of the year when I was assigned to my mentee.  He was really acting out and getting into trouble, getting detentions and sent to the principal’s office.  But over the year he is starting to do much better, he has been talking to me more often and opening up about problems that I wasn’t aware of at first.  By the end of the year he was getting in less trouble and I was really proud of him when he found a wallet with money in it and turned it in.  (Mentor Comment)

At the end of the program year, when mentees were asked their perceptions of gangs, the overwhelming majority (91%) acknowledged the harmful consequences of gangs.  Additionally, the majority of youth noted they would not join a gang. 

Think Gangs Are Really Bad	91%
Would Never Join A Gang	82%

• We learned about gangs, the police officer came and talked to us.  I told my cousin about how gangs are
  bad for him and he said he doesn’t want to be in a gang anymore.  He has changed when I told him. 
  (Mentee Comment) 
• My brother was in a gang.  I told him he should quit because he could get hurt.  They still hang out by our house.  I try not to go where they are and stay in the house.  (Mentee Comment)

As a group, the mentees are very aware of the harmful effects of substance use and were quick to report their learnings during the focus groups.  Three-fourths of the focus group participants reported learning about the negative impacts of using drugs without specific prompting by the interviewer.  In addition to reporting their education to
deter their own behavior, a few of the mentees reported to be aware of the harmful effects for their family members. 

• My favorite part is the lessons, how they teach us not to do drugs and how bad it is for us and dangerous. 
  We learn about how it is bad for our lungs and for our body and our brain and how it makes us feel.  It
  really helps all of the children here because I think they want to try (drugs) but when we talk about it and
  learn about what it does they don’t do it.  (Mentee Comment)
• When my parents are smoking or drinking I can help them to stop.  I gave my Dad the card they gave us
  with the phone number (cessation hotline) and he stopped smoking.  When my Dad stopped smoking it felt good because I know he isn’t going to die from smoking.  We can tell our friends too, I gave them the card too.  (Mentee Comment)