While we often say that youth is the hope of the future, we rarely give them the proper credits and opportunities to hone their potentials. In reality, the youth are rarely given the opportunity to offer their ideas, abilities, or time to social issues that they care about. Furthermore, these young people are more often thought of as recipients of charity than as potential volunteers and forerunners of the change they wish to see in this world. While it is true that we have the parental instinct to always worry about our children, we are robbing them of the opportunity to run their own initiatives that can empower them in the process, by simply ridding them of the chance to participate in volunteer opportunities.
Why is Youth Volunteerism Important?
When compared to those who do not volunteer, youth who volunteer are less likely to engage in risky behaviours such as addictions and dropping out of school. Volunteering has a favourable impact on various social and behavioural concerns that affect young people, such as teenage pregnancies, dropouts, substance misuse, and violence. By fostering a feeling of purpose in young people, it can make a significant difference in their life.
Volunteering can give the youth a clearer understanding of the world around them. It is not to mention that while they are discovering themselves, they are helping the less fortunate in the process. The common notion that youth volunteers perform well in school and is a good influence on their friends and siblings have a much larger basis.
Volunteering allows youth to develop skills such as teamwork and problem solving, which are necessary for success in school, future careers, and in their daily lives. Youth acquire a sense of responsibility that lasts throughout adulthood, whether it's collecting money in an honest manner or caring for the elderly.
Volunteering allows young people to work through real-life problems and make a difference. These young people are encouraged to confront moral difficulties, research answers, and think creatively as a result of these transforming experiences. As young volunteers begin to see tangible results as a result of their efforts, they form a mental link between effort and favourable outcomes. These are the reasons why more and more foundations in Singapore are entrusting charity efforts to the youth.
About Youth Entrepreneurship Program
One of the key aspects of empowering young people is to let them experience the work themselves. While some parents may find it difficult to allow their children to participate in arduous volunteer works and those where their kids will need to travel to faraway places, there are some opportunities for young people to help through entrepreneurship.
Youth Entrepreneurship Program is designed to help young people experience volunteerism in the most realistic way possible. Apart from letting them help other people, they will get the chance to discover and hone their skills and financial intelligence should they participate in a social entrepreneurship initiative. The goal of such a program is to teach young people how to raise funds to fuel their initiatives through their own efforts. This allows them to think creatively about the business which they think they could run to help the less fortunate.
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