Giving Back: A Guidebook for Volunteerism and Community Service

positive role modeling opportunity it will provide for you as a parent. Leading by example is often the best way to teach a young person, and giving back activities are no exception. According to Anita Gurian, Ph.D. of the New York University (NYU) Child Study Center and Clinical Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine: “not only do children derive satisfaction and a sense of pride from volunteering, they get a lot of important learning experiences. In addition to learning about an individual’s responsibility to the community and to others, they:  Gain a wider perspective on the diversity of life styles – they learn to respect people of different backgrounds, abilities, ethnicity, and income levels.  Learn how to make and keep a commitment – how to be on time and complete assignments.  Acquire practical skills in a variety of settings – politics, hospitals, clinics, schools and clubs.  Learn to work as a team and to take on leadership roles.  Appreciate the individual’s stake in the community.  Learn they have control of what happens in their own lives and communities.  Develop a realistic sense of the quality of their own lives by giving their time or something concrete to others.”

Here is an article by Dr. Gurian and Dr. Richard Gallagher that mentions volunteerism: Raising Responsive and Responsible Children.

How you (as a parent) can help You play a critical role in your child’s attitude towards giving back. By encouraging engagement in the community and modeling civic involvement of your own, your children will see an inherent value in such activities and enjoy taking part, alongside you.

Depending on how old your child is, encourage them to do as much as possible on their own. By doing so, you will allow them to feel a sense of ownership for their service. If necessary, help them identify and contact community agencies or assist them with Internet searches for community service opportunities. Allow him or her to be the ultimate decision maker within reason regarding where and when they would like to serve. As a parent, you can think about practical matters and logistics (such as transportation) and leave the rest up to your son or daughter.

Not sure how or when to start? Take this advice from Dr. Gurian: “Start early. Positive early experiences with other people and with their community form the basis for children’s growing appreciation of the wider world. Families and children can volunteer together for some jobs – helping clean up a playground or a beach, simple repairs in low-income housing, working at a community food bank or facility for elderly people, visiting the homebound, helping at an animal shelter, or taking on a home baking project for fundraising. If your child has a particular interest, you can use it as a springboard into volunteering. For example, a child who loves animals may enjoy helping out at the local animal shelter.

Children of all ages can participate in community service projects and programs. Young and early elementary school children want to please others and are willing to share. They would benefit from short, one-at-time, action-oriented tasks and projects that are active rather than sedentary. With supervision, young children can plant flowers to beautify schools or parks, help Giving Back Guidebook Page 27 of 32