Teach them right, teach them early: Benefits of involving kids in community service

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 Education integrates community service in its list of extracurricular activities for one important reason: it is vital in character building. If children are taught to volunteer at an early age, helping out may just become permanently ingrained in their characters—probably so much that it eventually becomes central to their being. If this will carry on, it can instigate a domino effect, hopefully resulting to a society where all individuals freely pay forward to achieve that utopian pipedream that remains to be ever elusive.

Because the road toward this goal is no walk in the park, schools have taken it upon themselves to help out in this mission. In recent years, they have adopted methods by which they can introduce the art of community service to students. Community service directors like Sharon Younkin and Noreen Wiedenfeld realize that by teaching students how to give back to the community at an early age, the following benefits may be reaped in the long haul:

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 • Children develop a sense of responsibility. When kids volunteer, they are able to learn what it means to make and maintain commitments. Because they are also held against certain rules in the conduct of volunteering, they can also learn to be on time for an activity, gun for the best results, and take pride in their achievements. Above all, however, children learn to recognize an individual’s role and worth in the overall well-being of communities.

• Children discover the benefits of sacrifice. Because doing volunteer work is not all roses, children get to realize that sacrifice is part and parcel in any endeavor to achieve a desired goal. Reducing play time to accommodate community service teaches them that there are more significant things besides themselves and their immediate needs.

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 • Children develop tolerance. By immersing themselves into working with different people, they learn to get along with others regardless of creed, race, and orientation. At some point, they will realize that even the most dissimilar individuals may be united by common values.

• Children acquire requisite job skills. Exposure into the real world can give children an idea of prospective career opportunities, and by being able to work within their niche of interest, they are able to acquaint themselves to the responsibilities and skills required of those interested to pursue them.

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 • Children use idle time wisely. Instead of slacking around and engaging in unproductive activities, community service can be an exciting, if not totally wonderful, alternative.

Paying back to the community is not an easy task, but with the guidance of the right people, it may actually succeed in bringing about the desired changes.

The following Facebook page provides more information on Sharon Younkin’s community service advocacies.