Why is it important to Engage Children in Community Services?
posted on Jul 12, 2019
“Service to a just cause rewards the worker with more real happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life.” – Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947), American women’s suffrage leader.
Holistic development of children does not merely entail enhancing their academic prowess and ensuring that their talents and abilities are honed. An all encompassed growth of children can never be achieved until and unless their feelings of empathy and compassion are fostered and nurtured. We, at Gurukul The School, believe that those feelings of kindness and consideration can be assuredly encouraged and developed by engaging the kids in varied community service initiatives.
The essence of community services lies in understanding the significance of giving back to others, and we believe it to be an important part of positive childhood development. This is because it not just aids the young ones to comprehend how they can partake in solving various societal issues, but also helps them to understand how they fit into this multivariate society of ours. The importance of engaging children in community services can never be stressed enough, and we have brought forth a few insights of ours in this regard.
Fostering the much-needed connection with the community
Volunteering for various community service activities helps children understand their place in the community and develop an inherent connection with it. It helps them understand that the larger whole of the community is as important as the smaller units of family, friends, and acquaintances. The betterment of our society can only be ensured when the future generations feel linked to the community, and take the necessary steps towards its advancement.
Developing an insightful perspective of the issues and concerns
Community services are an important step towards preparing the children to take responsibility as the liberal and principled nation builders of tomorrow. When performing community services, children get an opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the issues and concerns affecting the society. Volunteering at animal shelters, retirement communities, orphanages, and more helps them in developing an insightful perspective of the issues.
Connecting the dots between real-world experiences and classroom learning
It gives children an opportunity to explore their academic interests through a real-world lens. Think of it like this: children do read about the facts and figures of poverty and slum growth through their textbooks, but until and unless they are taken to the areas to take stock of the actual situation, they wouldn’t be able to connect the dots between real-world experiences and classroom learning.
Kindling their own happiness by giving joy to others
Extending the helping hand to others ultimately turns out to be a way to kindle our own happiness. We have heard it so many times from the parents that their children come home beaming and full of stories after the day they spent at the homeless shelter or perhaps at the old age home, and therein lays the success of community service initiatives.
Enhancing their social and communicative skills
Not every child is outgoing and extrovert in nature, and it is the shy, quiet ones that make the parents more concerned. We believe that introvert children can gain immensely from their interactions and communications during their community service initiatives, and it can help them to open up more.
We, at Gurukul The School, a top rating school in Ghaziabad, believe that the impetus to engage children in community service initiatives should come not only from home, but also from the educational institutions. To that end, we make sure to encourage and involve our pupils in various community service activities like tree plantation drives, awareness campaigns, and much more. At Gurukul, we believe that engaging children in community services is one of the best ways to enlighten them and turn them into empathetic and compassionate citizens of the nation.