What If Your Kid Isn’t Into Volunteering or Community Service?

[Anonymous]

Less than 20% of all adults do any formal community service…which means many people working in admissions don’t do any CS themselves.

[Anonymous]

There are other informal ways of “contributing” that don’t fit into a box. I like the way my kid’s school (no required community service) recognizes the kids who do things like come out and support their classmates at athletic events, reach out to new kids, etc. Some kids can’t do formal volunteer activities because they’re busy helping out with family members or family businesses. In some immigrant families, the teenager who speaks the best English and drives often has a ton of responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Volunteering" generally is a vague concept. You can find a variety of volunteer activities. Clean ups, helping kids with science fair, walking dogs at the shelter.

Is there really nothing that piques the kid's interest?

I do think it's a red flag if someone can't find literally anything they'd be willing to do in order to help others. Even as adults, we shovel the elderly neighbors' sidewalks, watch pets for each other, help in emergencies, give blood, etc.

+1 or assist a teacher in a favorite class. The "community" doesn't have to be the larger community, but a more local one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid didn’t volunteer or do any community service activities or have impact. The interest has be genuine, authentic. So that box didn’t get checked. That doesn’t mean that they won’t contribute on campus. Kids grow and change and can contribute to their campus/local communities in a lot of other ways. Anyone else whose kid didn’t volunteer?

Maybe step in a little bit and model for your kid a volunteering opportunity. Do you volunteer somewhere? Can you bring DC with you and start to teach them about the meaning of service and get them thinking about what type of service might interest them.

Maybe start with a local food pantry. The concept of assisting someone who needs additional food is one that almost anyone can relate to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid didn’t volunteer or do any community service activities or have impact. The interest has be genuine, authentic. So that box didn’t get checked. That doesn’t mean that they won’t contribute on campus. Kids grow and change and can contribute to their campus/local communities in a lot of other ways. Anyone else whose kid didn’t volunteer?

Maybe step in a little bit and model for your kid a volunteering opportunity. Do you volunteer somewhere? Can you bring DC with you and start to teach them about the meaning of service and get them thinking about what type of service might interest them.

Maybe start with a local food pantry. The concept of assisting someone who needs additional food is one that almost anyone can relate to.

+1 my son's service was a monthly event he did with our whole family, starting in middle school. His role was small -- manning the drinks table at the dinner. He ignored all my encouragement to get more involved, step up in leadership etc. But then he wrote a lovely essay about how he liked that job because everything else at the event was about moving people through quickly but at the drinks table people stopped to talk and he got to know the guests over the years he served there. Stupid mom pushing him to do something that "looked better" while he's over there quietly building a real community and showing true hospitality. Got into his first choice college, one that really values service. But he never would have done that volunteering on his own if we didn't require it as a family activity.

[Anonymous]

This is why I’m a fan of required community service. Sure, for some kids it’s just a box they check with the most minimal effort they can muster. But for others, it’s the push they need to get involved in something they end up really caring about. My kids work with a neighborhood organization that provides food and health services to others in the local community. They both continued volunteering after satisfying their school requirement. Beyond the general positive experience of helping others, they’ve also built skills in food handling and customer service that they can include on their resumes as they pursue paid jobs.

I don’t know whether my kids would have gotten involved with this organization if not for the school service requirement. But I’m so glad they did and believe it’s had real benefits for them, as well as the organization they’re serving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are other informal ways of “contributing” that don’t fit into a box. I like the way my kid’s school (no required community service) recognizes the kids who do things like come out and support their classmates at athletic events, reach out to new kids, etc. Some kids can’t do formal volunteer activities because they’re busy helping out with family members or family businesses. In some immigrant families, the teenager who speaks the best English and drives often has a ton of responsibilities.

This doesn't sound like OP's situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid satisfied all their HS volunteering during the Summer prior to freshman year.

None of it was listed in the activities section for college because it happened before Freshman year.

New poster, but just to clarify for upcoming applicants, summer before ninth grade counts as part of ninth grade for college admissions, so it's fine to include activities and volunteering from that summer on the Common App.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Volunteering" generally is a vague concept. You can find a variety of volunteer activities. Clean ups, helping kids with science fair, walking dogs at the shelter.

Is there really nothing that piques the kid's interest?

I do think it's a red flag if someone can't find literally anything they'd be willing to do in order to help others. Even as adults, we shovel the elderly neighbors' sidewalks, watch pets for each other, help in emergencies, give blood, etc.

Exactly. Everyone should be able to think of SOMETHING that meets a need and is also enjoyable and enriching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid satisfied all their HS volunteering during the Summer prior to freshman year.

None of it was listed in the activities section for college because it happened before Freshman year.

New poster, but just to clarify for upcoming applicants, summer before ninth grade counts as part of ninth grade for college admissions, so it's fine to include activities and volunteering from that summer on the Common App.

Maybe…but my kid had tons of other things to list, so was advised to list the more prominent and recent activities to fill up the 10 things.

If any space remained, then this probably would have been mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Volunteering" generally is a vague concept. You can find a variety of volunteer activities. Clean ups, helping kids with science fair, walking dogs at the shelter.

Is there really nothing that piques the kid's interest?

I do think it's a red flag if someone can't find literally anything they'd be willing to do in order to help others. Even as adults, we shovel the elderly neighbors' sidewalks, watch pets for each other, help in emergencies, give blood, etc.

Exactly. Everyone should be able to think of SOMETHING that meets a need and is also enjoyable and enriching.

Maybe…but I’m not sure most applicants would think to list “shoveling the neighbor’s sidewalk” as their community service since the assumption is this is a more formal activity probably with an established NPO.

[Anonymous]

I am against requiring volunteer hours for graduation. If it’s required, it doesn’t meet the definition of being voluntary.

[Anonymous]

My view as a parent is that you should suck it up and be useful to society even if you don’t feel like it. I never feel like spending time in a warehouse. I have a genuine interest in sleeping in on the weekends. But I sign myself up to package goods or sort donations anyway.

I would assume your kid has required service hours for school? If not perhaps you should require them as a family. None of this has to be profound. Just pick one or a few established organizations and sign up to lend a hand now and then to benefit those in need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are other informal ways of “contributing” that don’t fit into a box. I like the way my kid’s school (no required community service) recognizes the kids who do things like come out and support their classmates at athletic events, reach out to new kids, etc. Some kids can’t do formal volunteer activities because they’re busy helping out with family members or family businesses. In some immigrant families, the teenager who speaks the best English and drives often has a ton of responsibilities.

None of these things are community service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Volunteering" generally is a vague concept. You can find a variety of volunteer activities. Clean ups, helping kids with science fair, walking dogs at the shelter.

Is there really nothing that piques the kid's interest?

I do think it's a red flag if someone can't find literally anything they'd be willing to do in order to help others. Even as adults, we shovel the elderly neighbors' sidewalks, watch pets for each other, help in emergencies, give blood, etc.

Exactly. Everyone should be able to think of SOMETHING that meets a need and is also enjoyable and enriching.

Maybe…but I’m not sure most applicants would think to list “shoveling the neighbor’s sidewalk” as their community service since the assumption is this is a more formal activity probably with an established NPO.

Reminds me of a post from a few years where someone said they gave their kid some tax docs to file and that was their community service.