There are things we impart to our children beyond their education and health habits alone. There are values that we can teach them, too, such as caring for their environment or being diligent about their work. Here, we’re going to look at some of the ways that you can help your child be more community-minded, which can help them contribute and be an asset to their community, as well as be more connected to it when they need it.
Encourage them to get involved in sports
Sports, especially team sports, play an important role in the school’s community. Talk to your child about whether they want to get more involved in sporting and, if they do, see what you can do to facilitate that, such as helping them train or get the gear that they need. Sporting throughout high school can be just as important to much of the local adult community, and can be great for teaching your child a sense of local community spirit. Those who aren’t especially sporty can still play a role in helping the school sports team.
Get them involved in the school paper
The vast majority of schools have a school paper that they can get involved with. This can include taking a look at changes that are happening within the school, liaising with the faculty for the sake of communicating changes with the student body, as well as community events, as shown in the Park Tudor School newspaper. Getting your child involved in this will have them managing contacts with the community, as well as working with their own mini-community of other writers and editors.
Start volunteering with them
Of course, your community may be in need of some real help that you and your teenager could provide. Use sites like Kids That Do Good to find volunteering opportunities near you and talk to your teenager about getting involved. Aside from providing some very real and practical help to local initiatives, volunteering can look great when it comes to school admissions time and it may even teach them some of the skills that they will need later in the working world. They may be hesitant at first, but the benefits really do outweigh the time it takes.
Do donation drives with them
You don’t necessarily have to get involved with non-profits in order to do some good. You can encourage your child to do donation drives, whether it’s doing certain activities for a monetary goal or going around and collecting donations of items that might be needed by the less fortunate. Start with those at home, such as friends and family, before you tap into the wider community. The feeling of seeing just how much you can gather to help those in need can be hard to beat.
A child who is better connected to their community can become independent from their parents more easily and will be more confident in navigating relationships with those around them as they grow up. Those are two good reasons to get them involved now.
