Many high schools have advocated community service by making it part of the admission process to make students see themselves as more reliable citizens in a social context.
Community service is an important element of social and civic development that helps students confront social issues by reorganizing the way they think about given situations.
Community service has the educational aim of improving students’ skills while they render their services and augment their civic and social awareness.
Community service could be an active work or hobby done by a group of people in their spare time for the benefit of the community without the purpose or intention of getting paid. It can be done in several places and learned as teamwork, time management, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
However, community service might look like a barrier due to not having access to transportation fares or class projects and may be stressful. We urge each and every one of us to take a look at the bigger picture and learn more about what community service has to offer.
In this article, we will discover the benefits of community service for high school students and how community service has created a positive impact in the lives of our high school students.
Let’s Dive in!
Objectives of Community Service
- To become reasonable and better persons in life.
- To involve students in a practical way with some problem-solving skills.
- Â To obtain knowledge while working which may help us improve our future service to people around us.
- Â To help link our personal and interpersonal development with cognitive (mental and emotional) development.
- Â To help realize that everyone does not fall into the same stereotype.
- To understand how community service participation affects the academic success of students.
- Â To provide a safe and conducive environment.
- It helps students narrow down potential areas of interest.
Benefits of Community Service for High School Students
Community service benefits students psychologically, physically, and socially. Volunteering for high school students gives them the opportunity to become active members in their various communities, creating a positive impact. It benefits not only the society but also oneself.
- Â Improves Self-esteem
- Â Learning new skills
- Â Establish friendship
- Â Boost resumes
- Â Boost grade and academic potential
- Â Connects to the community
- Â Moral development
- Â Psychological benefits
- Â Staying active
- Â Advance in career
- Â Sense of belonging
- Â Society development
- Â Cognitive benefit
- Â Growing professional network
1. Â Â Improves Self-esteem
It is widely known that doing good deeds for the community not only spreads cheer but also helps increase the feelings of positive self-confidence for high school students.
It gives a natural sense of accomplishment when we engage regularly in community service work to make a positive impact on others.
If you are an introvert and have difficulty meeting new people from different races of life, volunteering makes you more comfortable with people which will have a positive effect on your present and future.
2. Â Learning New Skills
To improve in something, you need to learn and acquire new skills, come up with creative ideas to gain more knowledge, and grow not only professionally but physically as well.Â
Students improve in work-related knowledge and skills which increases their chances of getting a good job.
 Insightful experience gained while working in different areas of life helps students learn new and valuable skills and build up the already existing skills thereby exhibiting their sense of compassion and creativity which may be beneficial in the future to reflect on how they change society positively for the betterment of all.
3. Â Establish Friendship
Community service is a great way to build social interactions and healthy relationships with people of different races.
It strengthens student ties with the community and exposes them to different people with similar interests thereby broadening their support network.
Volunteering in community service also helps students explore new places and get new experiences in other perspectives giving them examples on how to collaborate well with each other and have an active and thoughtful social life outside the classroom.
4. Â Boost Resumes
Community service helps students improve their job prospects by boosting their resumes which helps them stand out professionally.
It serves as an unpaid internship where students gain experience in different fields of life and many employers are more likely to choose people with volunteering experience.
5. Â Boost Grade and Academic Potential
 Despite being a one-credit course unit, community service allows students to learn more about their personal motivations, practice academic material outside of the context of the classroom, and develop critical thinking while solving real-world problems which affects the success of students and improves the overall quality of human interaction.
6. Â Connects to the Community
Giving and assisting others teaches high school students how significant it is to help those in need. Community service lies in the fact that it connects us to the community by improving it and making it a better place for us to live in.
Students see the reality by increasing the social consciousness of problems in the community and breaking down stereotypes they have for people, making them know how their actions can affect the well-being of others.
7. Â Moral Development
Some students are unable to make reasoned moral decisions and are full of poor judgment.
Community service helps to inculcate in students that moral development is an ethical concept rather than a behavioral concept and helps them advance to a higher level of moral reasoning.
Students engage in active problem-solving in moral issue discussion and service projects such as peer tutoring in order to develop their personalities using various relevant experiences and new circumstances in their real-life behavior.
8. Â Psychological Benefits
 By aiding people, we tend to reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. Volunteering in community service helps students have overall satisfaction in themselves by helping others regularly and staying in contact with them to boost their mood.
9. Â Staying Active
Studies have shown that volunteering keeps a person physically and mentally active. It has a lower data rate in the lives of students and reduces the risks of pain and depression.
10. Advance in Career
For a career to be great, one needs to plan for it because a great career doesn’t just happen.
Volunteering in community service gives additional training and skills like problem-solving, communication and organizational skills which have been practiced, learned, and used in reaching their career objectives or goals.
It also motivates students to apply effort in heightening their career goals combined with their needs, interest,s and personality characteristics that mirror the persistence of career-related behaviors.
11. Sense of Belonging
Being part of a healthy and strong community gives one a sense of belonging and accomplishment. A sense that they are not alone in their efforts and end up in a regularly occurring routine.
12. Society Development
Community service helps volunteers in developing the society if there are any financial issues by helping the community raise funds needed and establishing some abandoned projects left over for years due to insufficient funds.
13. Cognitive Benefits
 Volunteering in community service makes high schools advance in knowledge, explore and develop new experiences as well and improve their communication skills. Networking and mentorship give a better sense of societal responsibility taking service work to the next level.
14. Growing Professional Network
 Through community service, high school students communicate with relevant acquaintances and friends who may in one way or the other, provide advice, support, and information about job chances to enable them to have other career opportunities.
Community Service Ideas For High School Students
1. Â Hospital and Nursing Home Volunteers
Students aspiring for medical professions or anything related to care might not work directly on the patient but would be given a task like inputting and capturing data from scanned documents, changing sheets or delivering meals.
2. Â Sharing Tech Skills
Students will have the ability to share their tech skills via social media blogs. They not only teach but learn from other forums.
3. Students Tutor Program
 Aspiring teachers or educators might volunteer to tutor younger students to apply to a modified career goal by reaching out to their elementary school teachers. They also assist others in their assigned tasks to help build their strength and identify their weaknesses so they can be able to utilize them effectively.
4. Catering Volunteers
Students who have an interest in cooking or care-related career paths can volunteer in homeless shelters and food pantries to help prepare and serve food.
5. Couch Sports Team
Sports fans or athletes can volunteer their time to coach young teams in the community, organize parades, and give seminars on safety.
Challenges Faced By Students in Community Service
Creating a cohesive team environment in which students can efficiently work may sometimes become a barrier for one to achieve a goal.
Taking up responsibilities and working together to solve critical problems when faced with a career-chosen path are essential elements a team must have to overcome obstacles and produce high-quality work.
- Unskilled leadership
- Goal unclarity
- Communication gap
- Lack of trust
- Unfair decision
1. Â Unskilled leadershipÂ
For students to work efficiently, they need an effective leader who gives insightful experience, and guides and encourages them on a daily basis. Hence, ineffective or unskilled leadership may result in unencouraged and withdrawn feelings.
2. Â Goal unclarity
Students experience challenges when they are unaware, don’t fully understand or are doubtful about the nature or aim of their work.
3. Â Communication gaps
 Effective communication is an element of a successful team. It is a challenge due to language barrier, misunderstanding, and poor listening skills which brings potential problems that could reduce student progress.
4. Â Lack of trust
Lack of trust can break down a team because it endangers productivity and discourages team members. It finds fault in developing connections in the community and makes members uncomfortable resulting in misunderstanding and violence.
5. Â Unfair decision making
It is often as a result of a more extroverted member having more abilities in an independent work style leaving the introverted members to shy away and contribute less if they believe that their ideas aren’t actually important.
Ways To Overcome Community Service Challenges
1. Â Active listening skills
It is important to establish a clear communication protocol by listening carefully and clarifying anything that is unclear to avoid misunderstandings.
2. Â Building trust
The key requirement for a good relationship even at critical times is trust. By building up trust, we have better experiences because we feel safe and connected to each other.
3. Â Appreciation
Appreciating the efforts volunteers endured and the achievements they made not only motivates but retains them.
4. Â Equity
 There should be fairness among students no matter their age, race, or background so that all members can contribute equally.
5. Â Establish a goal
Analyzing a setting, considering what we want to achieve, and committing to it will help us clarify our career goal.
 FAQs
1. How much time do I have to volunteer?
It depends on how long you want to volunteer, what you want to do or how committed you are to work
2. Do I need qualifications?
Sometimes, depending on the volunteer role. Some volunteering opportunities require skills and experience but most teams provide training.
3. Can I leave if I don’t like my role?
If you don’t like your team or organization, you are free to try something else to see if your volunteer time can be improved. If you feel you are wronged by someone, you make a complaint to the Volunteer Centre if your organization has complaint guidance.
4. Can I get a qualification or award?
Acquiring skills through volunteering may be a vital step to boost one’s resume. Qualifications and awards are treasured by employers to make genuine differences in career views.
Conclusion
Volunteering in community service proves that a person is mature and able to see how their actions affect society.Â
If we focus on the good chances of developing our career and learning how to engage with the community, we will begin to acknowledge the importance of individuals and how we feel connected to volunteering as a team.Â
However, community service should be exhibited in high school so as to impact in them the skills and knowledge of teamwork and build an interactive community.
I hope this article was helpful.Â
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