“There’s no bad kid. There are only children with negative learned behaviours,” says Matthew French, co-founder and director of Veteran Mentors. “There isn’t a better beautiful sight than watching a parent and child reunite.”
Matthew served in the Australian armed forces and post-military, is using his training to help change the lives of young people and families across Australia through Veteran Mentors - a nine-day youth development program designed for troubled teens.
Starting in 2016, Matthew has overseen 45 Veteran Mentor camps, providing positive role models to over 3500 young people and their families.
“Helping Australian kids on Australian soil is the best job on the planet,” says Matthew to parents and carers who attended the march out graduation parade on the last day of the camp. He goes on to explain that the Veteran Mentors gave their blood, sweat and tears on the battlefield for our country, and did the same for their children at camp.
On behalf of the Veteran Mentors, all who are ex-military and who give up their time to work with the young people, Matthew talks about the change they see throughout the course of the camp - starting with young people who reluctantly attend, swearing and spitting at parents and the mentors to graduating "feeling ten-foot tall and bullet-proof."
“Success (after a Veteran Mentors camp) is the child having the ability to look in that mirror and truly love who is staring back at them,” Matthew says when asked about the purpose of the camp. “We’re teaching (young people) the things that you need to do to build resilience (and) the results are unity between the parent and the child.”
The resilience is role modelled by the Mentors through a series of tasks and challenges that the young people face and overcome. The Mentors also provide a safe space for attendees to express their feelings in healthy ways, and in one-on-one conversations throughout the 9-days.
“What’s effective about this (the Veteran Mentors program),” says Dr Xanthe Mallett, Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Newcastle, “is that it gives the kids back their autonomy, but it does it in a really safe way; pushing them beyond what they would normally feel they can achieve, beyond their comfort zone, beyond what they think their boundaries are, and it does it safely, and in a really supportive environment.”
Veteran Mentors also run a parents seminar in conjunction with their camps. This is where Matthew and his team explain the changes that take place while at camp, and provide parents and guardians with tools necessary to ensure the changes continue at home, after the camp.
The camps also benefit the Mentors who attend, providing an opportunity for them to connect with fellow veterans who understand the process of transitioning out of military and into civilian life, and an opportunity to continue to use their military training and skills.
Matthew says serving in the armed forces is not only a career but a way of life, and that the military provides a purpose that can be difficult to replace post-military.
"It's hard after serving to find a purpose," says NSW Platoon Commander, Melinda Baldissera, "I came across Veteran Mentors and they are doing such great work with the youth of Australia."
Justin Egan served for seven years as an infantry soldier in Timor and Afghanistan, and says the mentors can see the change in the eyes and mannerisms of the young people who attend the camps. “It’s one of the most rewarding jobs I think we can have … we can put them on the right path, help them out, help the families out. It fills my cup up and it fills all the other mentors cups up as well.”
See VETERAN MENTORS story and the full catalogue of Helping Hands documentaries at helpinghands.tv. Catch up on full episodes of Helping Hands on 9NOW.
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* The Helping Hands producers are available for interview on radio, TV and online to discuss this topic. Get in touch at helpinghands.tv/contact/
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