Community Service Teaches Key Skills and Helps Children Thrive
Community service helps middle schoolers understand the needs and viewpoints of others. By helping, middle schoolers also start to develop their own ideals and recognize they have both the power and the responsibility to help make them a reality.
On a practical level, volunteering can help your child learn new skills and discover new talents. It can offer opportunities to try out new experiences for short periods of time to see how they go.
Another big plus: Community service can have health and academic benefits for your child. Studies show that children who volunteer are less likely to take health risks, such as smoking. One study even showed that students who perform community service do better on some tests.
Your child could:
· Organize a group to clean up a local park.
· Read to preschoolers or senior citizens.
· Collect items to include in care packages for deployed troops.
· Shovel a driveway for an elderly neighbor.
· Make cards for nursing home residents.
· Organize donations of reading materials to homeless shelters.
· Be a volunteer coach for a youth recreational league.
· Organize a pet supply drive for a local animal shelter.
Reprinted with permission from the December 2025 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® newsletter. Copyright © 2025 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc. Source: J. Bandy, “What is Service Learning or Community Engagement?” Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.