NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

April 29, 1999

Parent Line: "Who Would Like to Volunteer for That?"

Kim Bushaw, Parent Line Program Specialist
NDSU Extension Service

The school year is drawing to a close, and in homes all over the state, families are debating the big question: What will the children be doing this summer?

For some, the answer comes quickly with a list as long as a summer day. Other families have more hurdles to overcome to make their plans. For young people grade 9 and higher, here's an idea. A recent article in the Journal of Research on Adolescence talks about volunteerism.

We are probably all aware that many hands make the work light. Often there is a social aspect to working together as a volunteer group that benefits the volunteers as much as it does the projects they are working on. Consider adult quilting groups, for example, whose members continue to meet for decades to sew blankets that will be sent to countries the quilters will most likely never visit. They send their love and handiwork away and meet again the next week to talk and sew and cut and talk some more.

For teens, the reasons to volunteer are numerous. There are practical benefits, of course. Some students volunteer to get into colleges, some to win favor at scholarship time. The article's authors from the University of Minnesota point out that their research does not determine whether students who are volunteering are using this as a way to further their chances for good schools and money or if they are "truly interested in furthering their understanding of and contributing to the world around them" or if they are just offered these opportunities more often because they are capable students.

Adolescents may find that volunteer work helps them see what they do and do not want to do when they choose a career for pay. I was a Candy Striper for exactly one day. I went into it thinking I would love to work in this field. I didn't. Everyone in the hospital looked so sick and miserable. The only floor I enjoyed working was the nursery, and those babies weren't the least bit interested in the magazine cart I was pushing, and neither were their busy moms and dads. I am delighted that my friend continued her role as a Candy Striper. She's now a very successful medical technician. She detects problems and saves lives. We both learned valuable lessons this way.

Volunteering can help adolescents explore their own values and their roles in the community now and into adulthood. It encourages young people to put more importance on intrinsic work values and an interest in working for the common good over individualistic work goals. Valuable contacts with civic-minded leaders can also be made though volunteer efforts.

The reasons students volunteer may be many and varied. The important thing is that anyone who wants to can find some way to help others.

About 40 percent of students in grades 9-12 are involved in volunteer work. One rural student grew flowers and produce in his own garden. He made weekly trips to deliver the flowers to the nursing home and produce to the church for whoever needed it. A 14-year-old girl cared for her neighbor's children for two hours each afternoon while the neighbor prepared dinner and took meals to the field. Another high school student taught music lessons to a local junior high group to keep them busy and playing over the summer. Tutoring, raking, singing, serving soup -- whatever the teen's talent, he can find a way to turn it into a useful resource for others.

Parents can encourage volunteer efforts by talking about the wide variety of ways people can be helpful and by encouraging children to have confidence in their abilities. Parents can model a willingness to share their skills by volunteering once in a while too. Perhaps the parent and teen would enjoy volunteering together on a project the first time out.

The article suggests that when teens make up their own minds about volunteering they are more internally motivated to carry through on the activity. Tempting as it is to "volunteer" someone else for a job, it may be best if we parents offer the information, the ideas and the ride but keep our hands in our pockets when someone asks, "Now who would like to do that? ("He would. Pick him!")

###

More than 100 Parent Line columns are in the book "Please Tell Me This is Just a Stage." To order, send $9.95 per copy to Distribution Center, Box 5655, NDSU, Fargo, ND 58105-5655.

Kim Bushaw answers the Parent Line, an information and listening support line for North Dakota parents from the NDSU Extension Service. Call the Parent Line at 1-800-258-0808 (231-7923 in Fargo) with questions about this column and other parenting topics. The Parent Line is answered 7:30 a.m. - 9:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Friday.

Source: Kim Bushaw (701) 231-1070

Editor: Becky Koch (701) 231-7875