It’s all too easy to fall into routines and daily habits that form into ‘just the way we are’. In the schoolyard and beyond, it’s easy to succumb to the influence of those around us. How we talk, act, and behave toward each other can be a direct result of what we learn.
Spending time with a role model, or in a structured and supportive environment can take the child from their day to day routine and formed habits that they learn from their friends and family.
A new voice that can talk with them throughout their formative years can do incredible things and help a young mind to develop with new abilities and higher expectation from themselves.
I asked a fellow Dad-Blogger, Jayson Merryfield about his experiences of growing up with role models. “I was in Scouting for a big part of my youth, from 7 through 17. For most of those years I was lucky enough to have the same core group of Scouters leading our group. They took us on more adventures and we had more boundary-pushing experiences than any of my friends. My parents divorced when I was young and my step-dad was often out of town working, so they were significant male role models for me. I learned so much more than just how to tie a knot from them.
I’m happy to say that now that I’m a dad myself, I’m finding an opportunity to give back to the Scouting family as a Scouter myself, and I’m doing my best to live up to the example that they set for me.”
I too was in the (British) Beavers, Cubs and then the Scouts, where we learned everything from how to make a fire to how to knit. I also learned how to be part of a team and to use the strengths and skills to work toward a common goal.
I am also lucky to have two incredibly supportive parents who taught me the value of manners, chivalry, how to speak clearly (though I still mumble a lot), and the enjoyment of completing a project, making things, cooking from scratch, and developing a photograph.
This Summer, I’m thrilled to be working with the Boston Pizza Foundation that works with role model programs across Canada.
For more than 25 years, Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects has worked with partner organizations to help give kids in need the role models they require to inspire them to realize their full potential and build a brighter future.
As well as giving people a little more direction, spending time with a role model can really make the world of difference for growing minds and those who find themselves without hope or in desperate situations.
Kids Help Phone is one of the projects that the Boston Pizza Foundation Future works with, providing a sympathetic, non-judgemental ear and the resources to help young people in times of need, or who just want to talk.
Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects partners include: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Kids Help Phone, Live Different, JDRF and The Rick Hansen Foundation.
You can make a donation and find out more about the foundation right here: https://bostonpizza.com/en/bp-foundation.html or head into your local Boston Pizza restaurant and pick up a $5 Kids Card before October 1st.
Disclaimer: I’m proud to have been working with Boston Pizza and the Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects to support this campaign.
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