Editor’s Note: In Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, Robert D. Putnam, a Harvard University public policy professor explains how growing class differences are have given rise to dramatically unequal opportunities for our nation’s youth. Putnam describes how, in his hometown, families from different economic circumstances attended the same schools, played on the same teams, and provided a context for less advantaged youth to benefit from a rich web of support and connections. Over the past few decades, children born into less educated families (he uses education as a proxy for class) have been consigned to impoverished school systems and are granted few if any opportunities to interact with their more educated peers and adults. This has dramatic consequences for upward mobility and underscores the vital role of mentors. I recommend reading the book.
Copied directly from The Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring http://chronicle.umbmentoring.org submitted by Jean Rhodes March 15, 2015
