I've been researching this topic over the past two days, and have ascertained that there can also be negative effects of youth volunteering. I can therefore create a balanced argument for this topic.
Here are some of the links I have come across so far:
Positive impact highlighted
Child Trends: "Teens As Volunteers"
Ministry of Youth Development: "The Impact of Youth Work for Young People"
Student Volunteer Army: "History"
NZ Herald: "Social entrepreneurship: Solution to old problems?"
NZ Herald: "Student Volunteer Army to auction playhouse"
Volunteering Australia: "State of Volunteering in Australia 2012"
Weaving Connections - Tuhonohono rangatahi: "Positive Youth Development"
The Telegraph: "Volunteering legacy will help students find jobs"
Management4Volunteers Blog: "The By-Products of Volunteering"
The Times: "Volunteering is great experience"
World Volunteer Web: "Benefits of volunteering"
The Guardian: "So you want to work in the voluntary sector?"
The Guardian: "Youth volunteering portal launched"
vInspired
Negative impact highlighted
Lattitude Global Volunteering: "Avoiding the dangers of 'voluntourism'"
Sydney Morning Herald: "It was a dream job for her"
Management4Volunteers Blog: "Breaking Bounds"
Children and Youth Speak for Themselves
Blue Avocado: "Court-Ordered Community Service: Volunteers or Prison Labor?"
Stanford Social Innovation Review: "The New Volunteer Workforce"
eHow: "Disadvantages of Volunteer Work"
eHow: "Pros & Cons of Mandatory Community Service Projects Before Graduation From High School"
Good Intentions Are Not Enough
The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "The Dirty Truth About Disaster Fundraising"
The Telegraph: "Orphanage tourism: help or hindrance?"
Management4Volunteers Blog: "The Totally Bad Volunteer Experience"
Peter Levine: "the promise and perils of volunteering"
How Stuff Works: "How Volunteer Burnout Works"
I feel that getting your children into volunteer work is at an advantage to the children more than a disadvantage to the community and the child themselves.
ReplyDeleteParents should begin at a young age to introduce their children to the concept of helping others vs the attitude of 'mine' .
We teach children to share with others and try to weed out the selfish behaviors before they have a chance to take hold thus creating a self absorbed adolescent teen with the main focus being their own priorities and how they can best get what they want to make themselves happy.
i believe that introducing children and teens to working for the purpose of helping others in need rather than earning money will build the charactor of the child which will prove an advantage in their adult years especially in the workplace and with interactions to other peers and collegues in a work place.
i take my 9 year old son to visit elderly people (mainly the men that have no family) in a rest home near us once a month.
i find that the information they can share with each other will be so beneficial to the growth of my son and the happiness of the men,
i do not see the negative side to this . i remain with my children for the entire duration so no troubles with inappropriate behaviours and because the rest home is near my childrens daycare i dont see the harm in allowing my babies to play and laugh around elderly residents that have no family or no visits. why not bring a smile to some of them for an hour out of our week?
i hope that this will continue and my children when they enter in to their teen years they will continue to volunteer of their own choices because they have learnt the value of caring and respecting others and their situations.
school and group fundraising is a bit off because although they are fundraising for something...they dont do this work because they want to, it is because they are forced to. hence some negative experiences people experience from unpolite kids that bang on your door saying" i want money for my fun run" or " buy a chocolate for my school"...and e=when i say no the little beeps get lippy...and then u get the unpolite lady complaining to the school for their hideous children they send to my house.
volunteering should be because the person wants to do something that will help someone other than themselves...not because they are forced. Forced volunteers make negative images. Willing volunteers create a smile for the people they encounter.
Teen volunteers that belong to church or youth groups have a a mission to serve their church and God and do what they can to help. you may say ...fine to all that but what happens when their shift is over and they go off drinking later that night...i cant comment on that because they may do that.. because it is not their choice to do the work.
i would focus on that random on teen that walks into a rest home or a hospital or an animal shelter and say " i have a spare hour a week and was wondering if anyone might be in need of a friend to talk to or just some company for someone that has no family" or " do you need any help with the animals? feeding or cleaning or spending some time just to sit with an injured animal ?"
what would you think of a teen that did that? they are out there...i am training up 3 of them right now : )
i can say you would have a proud parent(s)
i would think that if they choose spending their spare time with elderly people or injured animals instead of all their time hanging out and being with friends...roaming the streets, taking drugs, alcohol for happiness and acceptance, joining gangs to find a sense of belonging and being wanted...i would say that a teen that volunteers to do something they are headed on the right path to being somebody.
I totally agree with you Lee! Very happy to hear what you are teaching your kids :) it is so important to have empathy and value the well-being of others - and in doing so you also feel better yourself, right? I think so anyway.
DeleteI didn't actually think there were any negatives either, until I started researching... to be honest I was shocked by some of the things I was reading. We humans can be beauties or beasts.
Still though, I think the positives outweigh the negatives. There will always be evil in the world, but the good just have to keep fighting - and winning!
A really comprehensive list here, and thanks for noting my contributions. Here's a couple more of my blogs I think could go into the positive column:
ReplyDeletehttp://management4volunteers.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/youth-volunteering/ and http://management4volunteers.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/cultivating-volunteers/.
Hi Sue - thanks so much for commenting :)
DeleteI am writing this blog for a uni assignment and your blog was really helpful and interesting! I signed up to be a follower - looking forward to reading your other posts, even after I have finished this assignment!