People who volunteer often share that serving others is what gives life meaning, brings awareness of life purpose, and reveals what really matters. For children and young adults, service also can help move their attention away from themselves and onto others during the years when they are shaping their moral character, forming life-long habits, and forging the direction their lives will take.

Over the last decade, the number of young people involved in volunteering has risen greatly. In many high schools and colleges, classes now have “service-learning” components — students taking the theory they learn in the classroom and applying it in service to their communities. These programs not only serve the community, they help young people recognize the myriad ways they can contribute.

Young adults say that service helps them learn to respect others, have patience, be helpful and kind, and develop an understanding of what it means to be a good citizen (Independent Sector/Gallup, 1996). It’s interesting to note that these are the very qualities that parents struggle to instill in their children. Service offers practical application and an expanded awareness that no number of convincing words can replace.

We can see in children who participate in meaningful service an increased sense of confidence that seems to come from knowing that they are doing what they are here to do and seeing a glimmer of a purpose for their lives.

A 1995 study by the Search Institute found that youth who volunteer an hour or more per week are 50% less likely to abuse drugs or engage in destructive behavior. This further reinforces that when positive habits are started early, many negative ones never develop.

As children become young adults they can take on even more responsibility and their opportunities begin to expand. There are organizations and web sites, such as Servenet.org, that offer information on volunteer opportunities in one’s own community as well as around the world.

Millions of youth across the country gather to do local service projects on National Youth Service Day, an annual event orchestrated by Youth Service America. More information can be found on this event, which Youth Service America calls the largest of its kind in the world, at www.ysa.org.

Not only do young people who serve inspire other young people to serve, but they can inspire adults as well. Those who have served as teens are three times more likely to volunteer as adults (Independent Sector/Gallup, 1996). Might it also make sense that those adults in turn will guide their own children toward service? As the cycle continues, we can only imagine the potential impact on human relations!

A resource for parents seeking to share a set of core values around the importance of engaging in community-building and service with their children is Kids Connect NC.