Volunteerism: A Tool for Positive Youth Development

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Volunteerism A Tool for Positive Youth
Development

• UNL Extension Community Program

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Youth volunteerism

• Despite negative stereotypes, most youth are
  well-adjusted
• Majority perform some form of volunteer-service
  and contribute to the community
• Volunteerism promotes so many positive outcomes
  that it is essential to encourage this among
  youth

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Activity 1Facts about volunteerism

• Take a few minutes to answer the Volunteerism Quiz

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Facts about volunteerism

• What is volunteerism?
• Answer It is the act of providing service for
  others for reduced or no cost
• 2) What types of volunteering are there?
• Answer A LOT
• 3) What percentage of youth in the US volunteers?
  4) How many hours do teen volunteers contribute
  annually?
• Answer C. 60
• 4) Approximately how many hours do teenage
  volunteers contribute annually?
• Answer. A. 2.5 billion hours
• 5) How much does teenage volunteering contribute
  to the yearly US economy?
• Answer. D. 35 Billion
• 6) What best describes the volunteer trends among
  teens in the US?
• Answer. C. In recent years, the percentage of
  youth who volunteer has been increasing up 12
  in the last decade
• 7) Which of the following best describes the
  status of volunteerism in the Midwest?

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Activity 2Volunteerism Whats the Big Deal?

• In small groups, pairs, or on your own, list down
  as many benefits of volunteerism you can think
  of. You will be asked to share this with the
  larger group.

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Who and how does volunteerism help? Did your
responses fall into these groups? Did you name
other beneficiaries?
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Benefits for the specific targets

• This includes the local organizations and the
  clientele of those organizations

• Volunteers help cut down costs of organizations,
  and makes services available to a larger audience

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Benefits for the immediate larger community

• Volunteers make social services available to more
  people in the community
• Volunteerism promotes a sense of empowerment and
  connection to the community among youth

• Youth who volunteer are more likely to stay in or
  return to their communities
• Volunteerism contributes to economic vitality
  youth contribute over 35 billion per year in
  volunteer hours
• In other words, both directly and indirectly,
  youth volunteers contribute to community vitality

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Benefits for the volunteers

• Volunteer work provides an opportunity to learn
  new skills and valuable work experience
  (enhancing marketability both for work and
  college acceptance)

• Volunteer experience is a context for developing
  significant relationships with like-minded peers
  and others

• The experience of volunteerism can help develop
  many social competencies identity development,
  compassion, sense of agency (ability to make a
  difference), leadership, confidence and
  self-esteem. Volunteerism contributes to positive
  youth development!

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Activity 3Volunteerism a Tool for Positive
Youth Development

• In small groups, pairs, or on your own, discuss
  how youth volunteerism serves as a tool for
  positive development using the 40 Developmental
  Assets as a resource

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Volunteerism as an asset to youth

• Assets critical to successful development (Search
  Institute, 2006)

• External Assets
• Commitment to learning- 20) achievement
  motivation, 21) school engagement, 23) homework,
  24) bonding to school, 25) reading for pleasure
• Positive values 26) caring, 27) equality and
  social justice, 28) integrity, 29) honesty, 30)
  responsibility, 31) restraint
• Social competencies 32) planning and decision
  making, 33) interpersonal competence, 34)
  cultural competence, 35) resistance skills, 36)
  peaceful conflict resolution
• Positive identity 37) personal power, 38)
  self-esteem, 39) sense of purpose, 40) positive
  view of future

• Internal Assets
• Support 1) family support, 2) positive family
  communication, 3) other adult relationships, 3)
  caring neighborhood, 4) caring school climate, 5)
  parent involvement in school
• Empowerment- 6) community values youth, 7) youth
  as resources, 8) service to others, 9) safety
• Boundaries- 10) family boundaries, 11) school
  boundaries, 12) neighborhood boundaries, 13)
  adult role models, 14) positive peer influence,
  15) high expectations
• Constructive use of time 16) creative
  activities, 17) youth programs, 18) religious
  communities,19) time at home

Do you see how volunteerism might help youth by
providing some (even all) of these assets?
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Activity 4 Should I or shouldnt I?

• Consider the following situations and try to put
  yourself in the shoes of the characters. Answer
  as best you can regarding factors that might
  encourage or discourage youth from volunteering.

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• My name is Joan. Im a 14 year-old teenager from
  your community. Ive heard about some volunteer
  possibilities in our neighborhood, and Ive
  thought about it once or twice. However, I dont
  really volunteer because
• Im Johnny, 16 years old. Ive been volunteering
  for an organization a full year now. The reason
  I got involved in volunteering was
• I am a program coordinator for a childrens
  reading program. Last year, I recruited
  volunteers from a high school to help tutor
  children who had difficulties in reading. We took
  everyone who signed up. For some reason, weve
  lost a lot of volunteers. Why do you think this
  didnt work?

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• What were the reasons you stated as possible
  explanations of why a teen might decide to
  volunteer? What reasons did you give for why they
  might not?
• Compare these to the top reasons youth report

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Top reasons for how youth get involved in
volunteerism
Source Bureau of Labor and Statistics (2005).
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Top reasons for why youth dont volunteer (i.e.,
among those who volunteered previously)
Source Bureau of Labor and Statistics (2005).
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Possible reasons why youth drop out

• No longer fun/enjoyable/engaging
• Not developmentally appropriate
• No rewards (whether compensation, grades, praise,
  or appreciation)
• Not a good match for instance, youth does not
  enjoy solitary activities, and the volunteer work
  is mainly solitary
• No clear direction or leadership activities
  might not be clearly set up, the goals might not
  be clear, and volunteers might not be given
  enough guidance on what to do

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• Given these factors, what are some of the things
  you can do as parents, educators, recruiters to
  encourage youth to volunteer?

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Summary

• Youth volunteerism has numerous benefits for the
  community, for other individuals, and for the
  volunteers themselves
• Volunteering supports youth in their positive
  development encouraging the development of
  skills, providing work experience, and social
  competencies like empathy, self-esteem,
  leadership, and identity development
• Many factors encourage and/or inhibit
  volunteerism among youth. As adults, we should be
  aware of these factors and find ways to promote
  volunteerism

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• Thank you very much for your participation.