Why Should Youth Volunteer?
We at Flint Hills Volunteer Center recognize the importance of volunteerism in our youth. And with now being history’s largest generation of people under 30, there couldn’t be a better time to get our youth involved in serving others. Let’s start empowering our youth and leading by example so they grow up to be kind, respectable, and successful adults. It’s just another way we can make this nutty world of ours a little bit better each day. (https://www.unv.org/become-un-youth-volunteer)
There’s something new awaiting every volunteer experience and each one is totally unique (just like you, kid)! This is a great way for youth to find what their talents are and what they’re passionate about. It instills at a young age the importance of finding time in their busy lives most consumed with school and sports to take a moment to appreciate what they have and give back to their community.
Besides building character and finding out what excites them in life, volunteering also teaches youth important life skills that aren’t always as easy to teach in school. They learn hard work ethic and gain the confidence they need to become leaders among their peers.
61% of America’s adults believe that today’s youth are undisciplined, disrespectful and unfriendly. They also believe that the youth face a crisis in their values and morals. Volunteering is an opportunity to bridge that intergenerational gap and bring people from all different generations as well as cultural backgrounds together. (https://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/cd/2003/fs0323.pdf)
So if you’re a parent reading this, get your kid involved! Have them try out a few different organizations and see what they’re into. If you’re a little older and read the “today’s youth are undisciplined, disrespectful, and unfriendly” sentence and thought: “that’s exactly right!”, start volunteering with youth. Teach them what was important to you growing up and how that shaped you into the person you are today. They may just surprise you, and you have the opportunity to positively shape the minds of our future!