Volunteering opportunities for middle school students.

[Anonymous]

How do I find volunteering opportunities for my 8th grader. I see many DC’s friends volunteering here and there. I don’t know how. Is there any specific hours that is required to volunteer by an 8th grader?

[Anonymous]

An 8th grader doesn’t need to volunteer. All they do is get in the way of the adults anyway.

[Anonymous]

It’s often a National Junior Honor Society requirement. And it’s annoying, because there is very little demand for 13 year old volunteers. Realistically, they need an adult or chaperone. to go with them.

I often see kids that age volunteer through church, scouting or with a parent. For example, parents take them to pick up trash day at Wolftrap. They bug me because some families are less fortunate and thus don’t have parents to take them to volunteer among the less fortunate. I wish they would wait until high school when the kids can be useful to organizations without another adult guiding them, rather than a distraction.

Try volunteerfairfax.com.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An 8th grader doesn’t need to volunteer. All they do is get in the way of the adults anyway.

This. But it was a loose requirement in DD’s ES. Required, but no consequence for not doing it. So you have 100 10 year olds looking for volunteer opportunities.

[Anonymous]

It’s actually pretty easy: have you child sign into Naviance and then X2vol and then search for volunteering opportunities.

[Anonymous]

There are many oppertunities to pull invasive plants and the like. Check with the Fairfax County Parks and Rec. Maybe ask a local Cub Scout Pack or Troop or a Girl Scout Troop, they tend to volunteer for these type of thing. Look at food banks that could use help with collection and distribution of food.

[Anonymous]

There aren't any, OP. It's time to back off and ask your kid at the end of the day how it all went. The volunteering (outside of manning the snack booth at games and a few other after-school events) stops at grade school.

Your kid is growing up, high school beckons, it's time to make the mental transition to viewing your child as closer to college than kindergarten at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There aren't any, OP. It's time to back off and ask your kid at the end of the day how it all went. The volunteering (outside of manning the snack booth at games and a few other after-school events) stops at grade school.

Your kid is growing up, high school beckons, it's time to make the mental transition to viewing your child as closer to college than kindergarten at this point.

The OP asked about having her middle schooler volunteer, not volunteering at middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An 8th grader doesn’t need to volunteer. All they do is get in the way of the adults anyway.

Do they no longer have a volunteer requirement in Civics? My now college sophomore had to do 20 hours, and my HS sophomore was only excused because they suspended the requirements due to COVID.

[Anonymous]

My middle schoolers volunteer as peer buddies at special Olympics and a similar program, we have cooked as a family for a couple different programs for the homeless, they have gone with their Dad to help when the pastor at our parish has called to let him know that a family needs help (e.g. they built a wheelchair ramp for a family bringing a loved one home for the hospital, or have done yard work for a brand new mother whose husband was deployed, or done general household repairs for someone elderly), they have participated in things like canned food drives and stream cleanups with scouts, one of my kids was a 1:1 aide for a child with a disability at summer camp for a few weeks, they have participated in events that raise money for various causes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do I find volunteering opportunities for my 8th grader. I see many DC’s friends volunteering here and there. I don’t know how. Is there any specific hours that is required to volunteer by an 8th grader?

Our middle school students often volunteer at their old ES at events.

[Anonymous]

Why do they even have this silly requirement in middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do they even have this silly requirement in middle school?

Because children learn skills they'll need as adults from it. Kind of like the silly requirement that they read and write and do math.

[Anonymous]

If your kid isn't doing the in-school volunteer opportunities,
you, the adult usually have to volunteer with your kid b/c most places do not want to supervise kids under age 16. They also don't want to be responsible if they get hurt.

Also, organizations that provide direct services don't usually allow kids (under 18) to interact with the clients b/c they don't want any client-kids to be recognized by any volunteering-kids.

So, that leaves you with things that involve sorting food donations (behind the scenes at a food bank) or putting together "power packs" (aka blessings in a backpack) (which is food that is weekly given to kids in elementary school), or picking up trash in a public park, or accepting donations of food in your community for the food bank or for other organizations.

If there is a volunteer requirement for the kids --- the parents "get" to volunteer that year as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid isn't doing the in-school volunteer opportunities,
you, the adult usually have to volunteer with your kid b/c most places do not want to supervise kids under age 16. They also don't want to be responsible if they get hurt.

Also, organizations that provide direct services don't usually allow kids (under 18) to interact with the clients b/c they don't want any client-kids to be recognized by any volunteering-kids.

So, that leaves you with things that involve sorting food donations (behind the scenes at a food bank) or putting together "power packs" (aka blessings in a backpack) (which is food that is weekly given to kids in elementary school), or picking up trash in a public park, or accepting donations of food in your community for the food bank or for other organizations.

If there is a volunteer requirement for the kids --- the parents "get" to volunteer that year as well.

Exactly. It’s a burden on families. Forced volunteering is against the whole concept of volunteering.