Millennials and volunteering

After the Second World War, men were getting back home. As a result, the birthrate was pretty high until 1965 (The Canadian Encyclopedia, n.d.). Those people who were born in that time period are called the baby-boomer generation (The Canadian Encyclopedia, n.d.).  Each time period has its specific generation. People who are born between 1980 and 1995 are called the millennial generation (CBS, February 11, 2009). There are a lot of prejudices related to this generation. One of them is that the millennials are self-centered, so they do not get involved in their community.

First, I do not think that there is a lack of participation in community service for the millennials. In fact, Jean Twenge, a psychology professor, states that ‘’youth volunteerism has actually risen in the last decade’’ (Ray Williams, June 6, 2010). Two main reasons could explain this situation. First of all, millennials were raised with the idea that a person can do whatever he or she wants. It may have made spoiled people, but those people have big dreams. They want to have a positive impact in their world. Community service is a good start. Second of all, more and more people attend university. On the work market, if a person wants to be noticed, he or she has to have something more than a piece of paper. Employers search for candidates with various experiences. It is the same thing for the admission in universities. In the United States, for example, the community service is essential to get to the most prestigious schools. More close to us, there are programs, like the international program at Joseph-Harmas Leclerc in Granby and at Jean-Jacques Bertrand in Farnham, that include hours of community service. It goes the other way around too. There are a lot of schools. To attract the greatest students, schools have to offer other things than good classes. Students will check what the other opportunities are. Is there international exchange? Are there possibilities of social involvement?

Second, I think that volunteering is better than service learning. Volunteer Canada describes volunteering as ‘’people [who] work to improve the lives of their neighbours and, in return, enhance their own’’ (Kaylan C. Schwarz, Fall 2013).  On the other hand, service learning provides volunteering in addition of preparatory orientation, classroom activities and structured reflection (Kaylan C. Schwarz, Fall 2013). I prefer volunteering for two reasons. First of all, the work load of service learning is demoralizing. Students will not be motivated to do the volunteering if there is some other heavy work to do. They will not understand the essence of community service which is helping not getting a good mark. Second of all, students are able to think by themselves. There is no need of someone else to ask them questions about their experience and their learning. If the volunteering has a positive or negative outcome the student will notice it by himself. There is no need for a rigid framework.

Third, I think that schools should not force students to do volunteering, but should encourage it. Volunteering has positive impacts on the communities and on students too.  Community involvement gives skills, knowledge and attitudes that are needed to be a good citizen (Kaylan C. Schwarz, Fall 2013). It gives people a sense of cooperation, an open-mind. The effects are not the same if volunteering is mandatory. When someone is forced to do something, he or she is reticent even before starting. The person will do it because he or she has to do it, but will not be motivated and will not learn anything. Schwarz declares that mandatory community involvement ‘’cannot guarantee equal access to meaningful community involvement placements’’ (Kaylan C. Schwarz, Fall 2013). What schools can do is encouraging volunteering. They can offer an optional volunteering course or give extra credits. There are other ways to motivate young people to be involved in their community.

To conclude, I think that millennials do get involved in their community, that volunteering is better than service learning and that schools should not force students to volunteer. The boomers are complaining about the generation millennial, but who raised them? Anyway, it is not a competition for the best generation. Each generation has their qualities and faults.