By AFRO Staff
(Courtesy Photo/mentoringmaleteens.org)
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(June 26, 2009) - On June 26, 50 young men traveled to one of the most prestigious universities in the world to get a sense of life outside of Baltimore City.
“Too many of our young males don’t have enough to do during the summer months, and when they don’t have enough to do they can many times get into negative behavior, negative circumstances,” said Cameron Miles, founder of Mentoring Male Teens in the Hood. Miles, who organized the trip to Princeton University in New Jersey, formally began his mentoring program in 1996.
“So, because their families are strapped from an economic standpoint, mentoring programs and others that are doing things to empower these young people—it helps to broaden their horizons—and show them that there is more to life than Baltimore.”
The Baltimore-area youth, between ages 8 and 18, will also meet with the Street Warriors, a youth group in Newark, N.J. Miles hopes the trip to Princeton will make a positive impact.
“If they try and connect and hang with the right people, and choose the right friends, and try to do their best in school, they can be exposed to a Princeton University,” Miles said.
“It’s incumbent that young people get to go places and see other things…have the experience of staying in a hotel, eating in local restaurants, learning about etiquette, seeing museums and other cultural sights and just walking [other] neighborhoods.”
Ultimately, Miles wants to plant the seed that service to others is important.
“So, this kind of trip will change their lives forever, and I hope it will empower them to come back and want to do more positive [things],” he said, “and strive for excellence and be able to do those kinds of things for their families, their friends and people they might mentor as they get older.”
For more information about Mentoring Male Teens in the Hood, call: 410.547.9200 ext. 3002