Getting Involved in Community Service

By Children for Children Staff

Introducing the Idea of Service

Introducing the idea of service can occur at any age, even at a very young one. Children have a natural curiosity, and you can take almost any activity and add a service component to it. For example, while teaching your child how to bake cookies, you can emphasize how there are others who are in need of even basic foods. You can take the cookies that you baked together and find a suitable place to donate them to (not before having some yourselves, of course!).

Create avenues through which you can get your children to start thinking about the larger community. Even just watching television about underprivileged children or reading a story with such themes can prompt awareness and could very well inspire your child to donate or collect toys for children in need.

Finding an Appropriate Service Opportunity

The service opportunity should ideally match your child's interests and personality:

  • Is my child the active type, who's happier when on the move? Planting bulbs in the park or delivering meals to home-bound elderly may be a better choice than sitting and reading to younger children.
  • Would my child enjoy a one-on-one encounter, such as a visit with seniors in a nursing home, or is my child a bit more shy and would prefer working with groceries at a church food pantry?
  • Would my child enjoy performing a service for people in need, such as collecting items for homeless kids?
  • Would my child like to share a talent or skill with others? Play piano at a nursing home? Deliver storybooks and read aloud to children at a shelter? Matching your child's interests and abilities to the service makes the experience that much more satisfying.

Different Ages, Different Perspectives

The type and level of your involvement with your child's service activities depends on your child's age.

  • If your child is 11 or under:
    The volunteering experience will probably be more meaningful if you and your child work together. In fact, most service agencies will insist on it. It can be a wonderful opportunity to share observations and feelings, with you helping to create the framework for your child's reflections on the experience. The thought you put into this ahead of time will pay off in a much better experience for your family.
  • If your child is ages 12-14:
    The middle school years present a dilemma: your child may wish to perform community service without you, but the service agency may insist, with good reason, on having adult supervision, whether that of a parent or teacher. Balancing your child's desire for independence with an appropriate level of responsibility can be tricky. Ideally, the supervision becomes a helpful, enabling part of the experience, and both parent and child walk away feeling satisfied.
  • If your child is 15 or older:
    Many high school students get suggestions for community service opportunities from educators at school. Sometimes, students are asked to take an active role in the investigation and performance of the work, rather than relying on a parent. The school may have suggestions on how parents can be helpful and may want parental involvement when it comes to checking out a service opportunity that is unfamiliar to the school. It always adds meaning to the experience when parents talk with their child about their service work, no matter the age of the child.

Working with the Organization

  • When approaching an organization, make sure you have identified one that accommodates younger children. Most likely the organization will offer an opportunity that can be done at home or school and then finished on location, such as baking and then bringing the finished goods to the location. It will depend on the age of the child.
  • Go prepared with tools to keep everyone busy during the time you may have to wait. For instance, bring a bag of colorful pipe cleaners, or crayons and paper, and have your child create something that he/she can leave behind, such as placemats for a soup kitchen, a drawing for a nursing home bulletin board, or a pipe cleaner sculpture for the front desk at the organization.
  • If you are going to work on-site at an organization, prepare your child for the expectations of the adults in charge. "We will work hard for half an hour, then take a break. We'll go back to work for another half hour, then celebrate a job well done over pizza for lunch on the way home." Even kids as old as 11 are well-served by this kind of preparation. A plan of action, communicated before your family arrives at the agency, might cut down on the "when are we going home" whining or "how much more do I have to do" complaints that can sour the experience for everybody.
  • Other kinds of casual preparation may be helpful, such as having your child think about questions to ask when visiting a senior citizen's home. "What was life like in the year 1942?" "What was it like to grow up without computers and TV?" These ice-breakers can make all the difference.

Reflection: Getting the Most Out of Your Experience

Begin the "reflection" process before the project. Prepare your child for the experience. What does your child think the place will look like, smell like, etc? What will it be like to actually volunteer? After the project, review these initial thoughts, and be sure to talk about what your child has accomplished. This can be as simple as a just-before-bed chat about how your child felt about performing the service. Reflection beforehand and afterwards adds considerable meaning to the service experience.

If you want your child to see pictures of the children enjoying the books he collected or the seniors enjoying the cookies he baked for them, leave behind a disposable camera and a stamped, pre-addressed envelope. Make sure that someone at the agency agrees to take photos and drop the camera in the mail. In some cases, the agency may encourage you to leave a "neutral site" address, such as your child's school address, rather than your home address.