Marist College mentor program raising ‘Fine Young Men’

What does it mean to be a Fine Young Man? Marist College is answering that question with a whole school approach, adopted to support the spiritual, physical, emotional, social and intellectual development of individual boys.

Assistant Head of School – Wellbeing and Engagement, Sarah Mahar, said the wellbeing framework, called Forming Fine Young Men, delivered explicit lessons to students.

“The lessons draw upon research on character education, positive masculinity, respectful relationships, Catholic values, Marist Spirituality, and our hopes for our graduates,” she said.

“Over the past five years, we have had a strong focus on building a culture of respectful relationships and positive masculinity. As educators, we are more informed and aware than ever about the importance of educating young men about consent, sexual harassment, and assault.”

Sarah said the school took a proactive and informed approach to educating boys to become good men, using current research that indicated young men need to be educated with explicit direction, given skills to de-escalate a situation and helped to develop their emotional intelligence.  

“Importantly, rather than using terminology around toxic and hyper-masculinity, we emphasise respect towards all individuals and promote authentic connections that focus on character strength,” she explained.

The program is delivered by students known as Marist Mentors. Their contribution to the development and delivery of the content is a critical part of the framework.

“Student-to-student delivery enables the boys to connect through conversations with each other and importantly, the older students can be positive role models for the younger boys,” Sarah said.

“Throughout 2023, students in years 10 and 11 were presented with an overview of the framework and were then invited to apply to be a Marist Mentor, resulting in the creation of a 120-strong team of Marist Mentors in 2024.”

In addition to helping refine the content of the program, Marist Mentors were trained in the delivery of sessions and ran practice sessions ahead of launching the framework to students.  

“Sessions take place once a term during designated pastoral time, for all students from Years 4 to 12,” Sarah said.

“Each cohort engages in sessions on a particular theme relevant to that age group. The younger years focus on the qualities of a fine young man, the middle years on what makes a good model with a transition to being a good role model, and the Year 12 cohort explore what it means to be a fine young man after graduation.” 

Sarah said the Marist Mentors benefit from the opportunity to develop both their leadership skills and confidence in public speaking.

“As the mentors go through the process of assisting with content development, they have an invaluable opportunity to reflect and respond proactively to the issues and challenges facing young men today,” she said.

“Attendees benefit from participation in a program that is delivered by Senior boys, who to many are viewed as role models and are looked up to. Already we are seeing the younger cohorts aspiring to be Marist Mentors in the future. Our hope is that due to the considered and informed implementation process, the Forming Fine Young Men wellbeing framework will become an embedded practice throughout our Marist community, with an impact beyond the present and into the future as our younger boys become fine young men.”