An estimated 15.5 million teenagers between the ages of 12-18 volunteer throughout the United States annually, according to the Corporation for National & Community Service.
In fact, teens who volunteer in charitable organizations are more likely to perform better in school than those who don’t, according to the Corporation for National & Community Service. Not to mention, there is a 65 percent chance for students who are academically involved in or out of school to write or pro actively persuade other individuals to become involved.
Some teenagers even say giving back is an incredible way of making someone else’s day better. It offers a chance to reflect and grow. An opportunity to share their stories. A chance to reopen their eyes to hope. It fills their hearts with happiness to see other people smile, because it’s the little things in the world that make all the difference.
Yet despite how much teens give back to their communities, they are often labeled with reputations as: reckless, careless, rebels of society, entitled, wild, irresponsible children who are selfish. It can have a permanent impression on the public eye and as the pressure builds up, teenagers become puppets hanging from a single thread.
But this doesn’t seem to hold teens back. They harness their positive power and show their communities who they really are.
For example, the school offers clubs, such as: Key Club, Hope for Homeless, Project Outreach, and National Honor Society where teens can volunteer. These clubs are only a few compared to those around the community where students can become positively involved.
When teens give back, they become a better reflection of themselves. They volunteer their time and money to local and global charities, which offer them beneficial moments, lessons and techniques they can use in the real world. They reflect and appreciate the acquaintances, friends and family members they share all the things they’ve been blessed with.
In other words, becoming actively involved—for an hour, a week or a month—leads to an open door of opportunities that not only positively affects teenagers, but those around them who can share in the true meaning of giving back.
So teens are volunteering, but only a 10 percent of them choose to donate their money to charities.
Students, listen up: make us proud and get involved. The Cassie Hines Charity Basketball game is your chance to get involved. Your donation will help preserve alumnae Cassie Hine’s memory, send young adults with cancer to camp and put a smile on someone else’s face.
Let’s show the true spirit of an Eagle.