Generation Y

(WHY) DO YOUNG PEOPLE CHOOSE NOT TO GET INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY SERVICE?

I think that the lack of participation in community service is not at all due to a shortage of interest or empathy towards others. Generation Y is often considered to be the most self-conscious and self-absorbed generation to date. Some might think that the omnipresence of media and technology has made young people immune to the pain that is not theirs, but I think that it has, if anything, made youth all the more aware of other people’s needs, not only in their own communities but from all over the world. Therefore, I would say that the lack of participation would generally be caused by a lack of time. From the moment we were born, society and our parents encouraged us to take part in various and multiple activities like sports and clubs and we have been raised to put values like family and friendship above all else and take time for ourselves and our happiness. So, it should not come as a surprise that less young people have the opportunities to take the time to participate in volunteering activities and to get involved. Also, with the growing emphasis on the importance of financial status and capitalism, society has driven today's youth to lean towards a paying job instead of volunteer work.

The very contrasting fact about the current society, is that even with the rising prominence of money, we still see the growing importance of volunteering in a lot of different domains. From volunteering opportunities in the workplace to programs mandatory to graduation from secondary school, it has really become a priority for most. In secondary schools all over Canada and the United States, students are now required to preforms a certain amount of volunteering either by just having a preset number of hours to perform at any time during secondary school or by service learning, which is essentially the same thing with the addition of a compulsory reflection on your participation to community service. Is one better than the other? A service learning program requires, in fact, more time because of the reflection and that might bore students and make them less eager to just volunteer with no school related project behind it all. Also, the perspective of having to do an oral presentation or a written assignment might make it less appealing to a student as well. However, service learning allows for a better comprehension of the work's impact in the community and enables the students to grow as an individual, more so than by just doing the volunteering only to complete your requested hours. So, I would say that even if it means more work in the end, service learning is better for students and has a much bigger impact on their personal growth.

There is no absolute best way to get people to want to help the community because, if you want a dedicated volunteer, he or she has to be there entirely by choice. That being said, programs that encourage students to take action in their community is a great way to initiate young people to volunteering and getting them started on perhaps a life long habit. Sometimes, people need a little push to do good. Having small volunteering opportunities that do not necessitate a long and intimidating commitment might attract the more casual volunteers. Also, organizations can never advertise too much about their need for help. A lot of people who are willing to give a hand get stuck at the point of finding how to get started. There are more people who want to get involved than people who actually do simply because it just seems too complicated.