Articles of the Month

Volunteering: Youth and Canada's Future

How often do we hear adults mutter the phrase "the trouble with youth today..." It seems a cliché of the past, but adults today would be surprised to learn how often they express dissatisfaction with today's youth. In my opinion, this assessment seems not only dated, but untrue as well.

The young people of my generation are increasingly more active in their communities. In fact, sixty four percent of youth volunteered in the year 2000 and more continue to do so each day. Volunteering among youth has become a necessary asset on the road to building and improving Canadian society.

I first began volunteering when I was 14 years old. It started out as a job in a hospital gift shop and deli. I admit that at the beginning I volunteered because my friends were doing it and because certain authority figures told me that it would look good on a résumé. After volunteering at the gift shop for about a year, I entered a religion course at school that required a minimum of 40 community service hours to be completed for a credit. I decided I wanted an experience that would allow me to interact more closely with people. That spring, I began volunteering at a hospital in Manitoba. The hospital focuses primarily on geriatrics and I initially found the task of working with the elderly daunting. I began working with Richard, the recreation director, setting up different games and activities. I got to know the residents on a personal level and soon I would look forward to my visits every Saturday. I remember one woman especially, who had grown up in a Krakow ghetto during WW2. Her childhood had revolved heavily around scampering and saving for scraps of food; if they were hungry enough, her family would kill and eat rats. As a result, she was prone to collecting and saving anything that she found lying around, from paper cups to a penny she had spotted on the floor. My time with the residents opened my eyes to a world so far from mine, but at the same time left me with a feeling of contentment and satisfaction. I left the hospital each week with a smile on my face.

Judging from my own experience, it is my firm belief that volunteering can light the way for any youth traveling down the dark and strange path to adulthood. They develop a positive sense that they are giving back to their community. Being relied upon to help gives one a feeling of purpose as well as security. Volunteering is an opportunity to meet new and interesting people who can serve as role models, not to mention provide a forum for career ideas to be explored. All in all, volunteering helps youth answer difficult questions: who am I and what do I want my life to be about? It is a source of motivation and enlightenment in an often scary and confusing world.

Through volunteering, youth can develop into healthy and open-minded adults. By developing the hearts and minds of young people today, we are ensuring that the society of tomorrow will have taken a great leap forward. If a 15 year old serves the homeless at a soup kitchen, who's to say that as a 30 year old they won't be a city councilor working to eradicate poverty? If a 16 year old spends his Saturdays with mentally challenged children, who's to say that by 40 he is not running his own center for the disabled? The possibilities are endless. The cliché is old but true; children are the future. I am sure that many Canadians, like myself, would want these particular children in their future.