- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- iparenting canada articles
- iparenting canada q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
The Power of Giving
Teen volunteers make a difference for themselves,and others By Laurie Dove
Sara Jane Boyers, a lawyer in Santa Monica, Calif. and author of "Teen Power Politics: Make Yourself Heard" agrees. "An active civic life gives a person -- especially teens -- the feeling that they have control over what affects them," she says. "Substantive volunteer work is often the first step to an active civic life."
Boyers, who spent four years researching her teen-centered book, found scores of teens who have made a remarkable difference in their communities by throwing themselves into worthwhile projects.
"When a teen is active and involved, there are many benefits," Boyers says. "There is a sense of self-worth that a teen has something to offer that can be accepted and recognized. Whenever a teen is involved and interested, there is simply less room for self-criticism and destructive temptations and behaviors."
Becoming a teen volunteer also helps to dispel the myth that "all teens are bad," Culbertson says. "If you landed in America from another planet and switched on the T.V., you'd think that all teen boys were on drugs and all teen girls were pregnant," he says. "The truth is, we've probably got the finest generation of young people in America right now, and no one knows it."
The reality, he says, is that 94 percent of teens sail through adolescence without any trouble.
One of the best ways for parents to get teens interested in service work is to ask their kids about the issues that are important to them. "As parents, we can offer suggestions, and help guide their decision-making," Culbertson says.