I found my mentee drunk; MENTORING ISSUE ; Ethical Dilemma

Please help me in reviewing the essay. I have to submit in by tomorrow morning , so any critiques is much appreciated.

Describe an ethical dilemma that you have personally encountered. What alternatives did you consider, and why? DO NOT tell us what you decided to do.

During my final year of under graduation, I joined a mentoring program, started by XXX for the first time. It had tie up with a local government school to mentor their high school students. In the program, each volunteer was assigned a mentee and the mentor's goal was to promote the student's personal and professional growth. My mentee was from an under privileged back ground and struggled to buy text books required for his classes. Despite his poverty, he performed really well in his classes. To help him, I provided financial aid despite knowing that it was against the mentoring guidelines we were given in the beginning. Little did I realize that my positive intentions would take him in a different direction.

One day, I coincidentally saw my mentee smoking and drinking alcohol near a bar. I was astonished and decided to confront him regarding this. He said that his friends influenced him and the money I had given him to buy books only made the matters worse. I felt terrible knowing that I was responsible in one way or the other. I did not give him any money further and tried guiding him to the correct path. However, he started getting money from other means and could not get rid of his new habits.

I joined the program with a strong desire to make a difference in the lives of young people. And this has put me in the biggest dilemma. I had two choices before me. Firstly, I considered describing the situation to his parents. But, if they tell negatively about it to school authorities, the entire mentorship program will lose its credibility. Being an active volunteer for the NGO, I felt responsible for its reputation. Second, I could have told it to coordinators of the program and discuss what can be done for the child. But I would have to admit to violating a rule- no financial help for the mentees. Even though I had done what I did for the best interest of the child, I would have to risk losing my role as volunteer for the NGO.

If there was one situation when I had to choose between my reputation and the well being for a child, this was it.

Kindly help!!

.... You fell in trouble? : (


... strong sentence : )


... I think it reads better this way : )


hmmmm... terrible?; How about '' utterly helpless'' or '' devastated'' ?


I immediately stopped giving him any money and did my best to guide him in the right direction. However, he found money from other means and couldn't escape from his new habits.


However, this incident jeopardized my genuine intentions putting myself in a great ethical dilemma.


First, I could have informed his parents about this situation. However, if they took it negatively and informed school authorities, the entire mentorship program would have lost its credibility.

Your answer is quite interesting and very meaningful. However, instead of the last line, I would suggest that you write a line to say what you learned for your life from this. Something like... that you would adhere to the guidelines very seriously in future sort of thing :D

Thanks a lot for the quick response!

I will make the suggested changes.

Hi, swathi08
Your essay is quite interesting and thoughtful.


He said that his friends influenced him to have fun and immediately I realized that the financial aid I offered to him only made the matters worse.



I think the last sentence of your essay does not follow closely to the context. You can explain how the dilemma inspires you and how it affects your future life.

Overall your idea is so creative and the essay elaborates well.
I hope my coments can be helpful and could you give me comments on my essay please?