High school students lead notoriously busy lives. They are often juggling a full load of homeschool and dual credit subjects, taking part in extracurricular activities, and sometimes working outside the home. Many parents wonder if their high school student should be making time for volunteering as well. The answer is a resounding YES. Volunteering provides benefits to the community and the student, and with a little reorganizing, can be worked into the busiest schedules.
Finding time to volunteer
- Evaluate your child’s current undertakings. Are there activities that can be replaced or combined with volunteering? Could some activities that are good be replaced with activities that are better? For example, if your family visits the library weekly, your child could volunteer to shelve books while she’s there. A trip to the grocery store could be combined with shopping for an elderly neighbor.
- Does your child have more free time than he really needs? Free time is important to a person’s well-being, but students should also know that part of volunteering involves personal sacrifice in exchange for improving the lives of others.
- Make it a family affair. Your family probably makes time to share meals together, worship together, or watch movies together. Volunteering together is a great way to spend time serving your community.
Benefits of volunteering
- Volunteering teaches teens to give selflessly to benefit others. Students learn the importance of generosity and serving a greater purpose.
- Teens who volunteer learn how to be independent and reliable.
- Volunteering improves relationship skills and increases self-confidence.
Ideas for volunteering
- Choose a volunteer opportunity that is based on your teen’s interests and passions. For example a teen who loves music can volunteer to play their instrument at a local nursing home. A teen who enjoys children might want to volunteer in your church’s nursery school.
- Find volunteer opportunities that are relevant to your teen’s career plans. Hopefully your child’s interests and passions are directly related to a future career path. An aspiring Physical Therapist can volunteer at a physical/occupational therapy facility. A student that enjoys computer programming or web design could volunteer to create websites for his church or a local nonprofit.
- Tie volunteer opportunities in with academics. Studying for the dual credit English exam? Students may be able to hone their skills by tutoring youngsters in Language Arts as part of an after-school program.
- Before your teen commits to service project, make sure it will be a good fit for your family. Find out how much time will be involved, who will be directly supervising, and how long of a commitment is required.
It can be hard for teens to find time to volunteer with so many other commitments in their lives. However, the benefits of volunteering make it well worth the effort. The only requirements are a positive attitude and a passion for helping others.
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