Is Volunteering Valuable for Youth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Is Volunteering Valuable for Youth - Essay Example A billionaire may give millions for construction of home for flood victims, but might not be present on the ground. On the other hand, a youthful volunteer may not be giving money, but may offer his/her efforts to help in the reconstruction. Consequently, volunteers will be able to see the problems on the ground level and appreciate the gravity of the situation better than anyone else. One of the reasons why youths should volunteer is because most of them do not have money or stuff to give to the disadvantaged. â€Å"Low income kids love to volunteer just as much as the others and given a chance they can take place actively, since they may have been recipients of giving they appreciate and understand the importance of doing the same to others† (Clemmitt 88). A student, in as much as he would like to help homeless people he may not afford to give them money since he may also be badly in need of it. Herein, it shall be undertaken to prove volunteering is very valuable to the you th. According to Molly in a study on volunteering carried out for the Nevada University, the youths who take part in volunteer work are 50 % less likely to use/abuse drugs, abuse alcohol, or get unplanned pregnancies (Latham pg. 2 Para 4). As mentioned earlier, volunteers donate time which they spend performing different duties such as helping in the kitchen or working in an old people’s home or hospice. Youths who are engaged in such activities will find themselves fully occupied in body and mind; thus, they will have no motivation or cause to involve themselves in drug abuse and other vices. Most people use drugs to fill a space in their lives and others because of boredom because of being unoccupied for long periods. However, this will not happen to youths who dedicate their time and effort to helping the less fortunate, or participating in worthy causes through volunteering. They will have a safe avenue to put into work their extra energy to use. Furthermore, the experien ces they encounter in the course of their volunteering may bring out their emotions through sadness and empathy, hence, helping them to express themselves and purge their negative emotions without resorting to self-destructive behavior often characteristic of many youths. The pressures placed upon youths today by their demanding work and education schedules have led to increase in cases of mental problems like depression and other mental illness. These pressures can lead to a variety of mental illnesses like depression that in turn leads to youths feeling oppressed and alienated. However, if youths volunteer to assist disadvantaged kids and homeless people, they are able to see their problems in a better perspective. Through volunteer work, youths often interact with people who have had to live in hardships and near intolerable lives. Similarly, some of the students in Tulane are quite privileged working with the poor and less fortunate makes them experience the challenges other hav e to go through in person (Clemmitt 85). This enables the youths to appreciate themselves and realize they are other people with bigger problems than theirs. Moreover, â€Å"People who volunteer feel optimistic about life especially when they get to observe the terrible straits of others; this makes them consider themselves to be blessed and lucky (Leones 5). This is analogous to the adage about the man who leant to appreciate life when he was complaining that he had no