Volunteerism On Upswing Among Teens

Millions of U.S. teenagers are scraping graffiti off park benches, picking up groceries for the elderly, rocking AIDS babies to sleep and performing other volunteer services, according to a survey released earlier this month.

Young people “are more compassionate and giving than adults,” said Virginia Hodgkinson of Independent Sector, a research group that funded the survey.

Almost 60 percent of U.S. youths aged 12 to 17 volunteered their time in 1995 compared to about 48 percent of adults, the survey found.

On average, teenagers donated 3.5 hours a week, for a total of 2.4 billion hours in 1995. That’s equal to having 1.1 million fulltime employees, Hodgkinson said.

While the overall number of teenage volunteers increased 7 percent from 1991 to 1995, the survey found an 11 percent drop among black teenagers.

The report didn’t detail specific reasons for this decline, but it did note one obvious problem - black teenagers simply are not asked to volunteer as much as other groups. And asking is the key, said Hodgkinson.

Teens reported they were four times more likely to volunteer if they were asked than if they were not asked.

“The young people of our minority populations are an untapped resource,” said Sara Melendez, president of the Washington-based Independent Sector, a coalition of nearly 800 voluntary organizations, foundations and corporate giving programs.

Lower-income groups are less likely to be in formal organizations such as religious and community service groups where most of teen volunteering occurred in 1995.

The nationwide survey - conducted from July 20 to Aug. 14 by the Gallup Organization - consisted of in-home personal interviews with 1,007 youths aged 12 to 17.

Steven Culbertson, CEO of Youth Service America, an alliance of community service organizations, said communities will be “forced” to rely more heavily on volunteers in the face of government cutbacks and the “devolution” from federal to state and local problem-solving.

In particular, they will look to young volunteers who are “committed, energetic and idealistic,” he said.

One of these volunteers, Sarah From, a senior at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Md., has been problem-solving since preschool - when she frequently assisted her parents who delivered food to those less fortunate.

During high school, From has helped clean up the Anacostia River, raise money for battered women’s shelters, accompany the elderly and rebuild the bond between African American and Jewish youth in her community.