Author(s): Herman Walston, Angela Meshack, Kennedy Hannah and Ashlie Smoot-Baker
Data suggesting help is needed to reduce the disparities in academic, social, and health disparities among minority youth were the catalyst for the development of Kentucky State University’s Please Call Me Mister Project. Research has shown that an inverse relationship exists between academic achievement and health risk behaviors. Please Call Me Mister Project is a theoretically and empirically based after-school interactive male mentorship intervention for two cohorts of boys attending middle and high school students in three counties in Kentucky. The study employs a quasi-experimental design that includes two cohorts of boys, those in the intervention cohort and those in the comparison group cohort. Intervention group participants are boys attending middle schools (grades 6, 7 and 8) located in Franklin County, Kentucky. Their comparison group counterparts are a cohort of boys attending middle schools located in Scott County and Fayette County, located approximately 30 miles from Franklin County. Both intervention and comparison group participants are followed into high school. The project is designed to assist youth with their academic, personal, social, and leadership development through exposure to ten 45- minute sessions that include goal setting, future aspirations, responsibility, conflict resolution, avoiding risky behaviors, graduating from high school and college, leadership, and participation in the political process. A baseline survey was administered during the 2017-2018 school year. The follow-up survey was administered during the 2018-2019 school year. The purpose of this quasi-experimental designed study was to determine if statistically significant relationships exist between health-risk behaviors and academic achievement among boys participating in the Please Call Me Mister Project at 12-month follow-up. Results revealed that intervention participants ’ academic performances were significantly higher among intervention cohort participants. In addition, although not statistically significant, participants showed higher future aspiration. At follow-up, they were more likely to report being bullied and experiencing depression. Despite these unexpected and not yet explained findings, the researchers are heartened by the improvements in grade point averages and believe the data uncovered in this study offer great direction for the trending behaviors that will be addressed in future sessions.
