Why Summer Community Service Programs Are A Hit With Teens
With all of a teenager's energy, it's no surprise that constructive ways need to be found to channel it. Unfortunately, the media documents many incidents of teen that have little to do during the summer may exercise bad judgment and join in gang activities that may well be destructive or dangerous. Fortunately however, there are regional, national and even worldwide summer community service programs with leadership committed to helping teens get involved doing things to help others as they are helped to grow and mature.
Developing a World View Helps Prepare for the Future Helping teenagers to understand that being responsible extends beyond themselves is one part of good summer community service programs. It's easy for a teen to become self-absorbed. It is a natural trait for the person who has had someone else be responsible for providing all their necessities for their entire life. That's where summer community service programs give teens the ability to learn that humanity often needs them to look beyond their needs and look to the needs of others. These programs allow the teen to develop relationships with a team of volunteers and with others beyond their own borders, and from that they can realize that, if by no other way, every human and every community is attached by our connection to this planet. A teenager, by contributing to the global community, will often expand their own personal horizons and change their perspectives of the world and its inhabitants.
Developing as an Individual and a Team Member Part of the learning process is to help these teens realize that our individual acts do make a difference, but working with summer community service programs, especially in a team environment, they can learn that the whole is capable of a lot more than a single person is. It's amazing what can be accomplished with teamwork to enhance the benefits to the whole community. And they can also learn that, at times, an individual's positive efforts inspire the entire community because good works can be contagious. That's because they often learn that the first step to success comes from simply getting started. Once the ball is in motion, others tend to contribute effortlessly. This means the teen can grow both as an individual and can also have a huge sense of accomplishment for what they and their team have completed.
Making Lifetime Memories Summer community service programs enables teenagers to be involved in a trip that will forever be remembered as an experience of a lifetime. Not only will they have built friendships with those on their team but with those who their team interacted with during the program. They will come to know the people whose lives they have impacted, and will return home a more confident global citizen. The teenager may also develop a greater respect for the world in which we live and the things that they hold important in their life.
As we spread our legacy via the works we offer through youth development programs, there are invaluable lessons we learn when we help others. It's in this way that we pay it forward.
About the Author
Summer programs for high school students are a great way to your teens to learn valuable lessons and leadership skills. Terry Galloway knows that going to youth development programs every summer means teens can be involved by helping those that need it. Visit http://www.globalworkstravel.com/ for more information.
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