Back in the sixties, a time that you well remember, I'm sure, was a time when so many of us were connected to politics... we knew where Viet Nam was, not to mention learning our 50 states, where they were and what their capitol cities were. Not only politics were discussed, but among so many there were discussions on biology, psychology, philosophy, religions and so many of the 'sub-categories' that to engage in these conversations (even after having some 'puff') was enlightening and informing. There was an aire of knowledge that permeated anyone that had interest. Folk singers and the then popular music acts, to a large degree, sang about the world condition. Today's younger folks seem deaf and mute to the world condition, caring more about the latest fashion, the latest cool sound, their ride, the cell phone and Ipod, that has the ability to ignore our world. -- Cecil
Deb - I'm using statistics for my rant. Yes, stats can be viewed anyway one wants to see them, depending upon whose interpreting them... there's always two-sides to every viewpoint. always. I appreciate your viewpoint and thank you for your replies. To see both sides is better to see the whole problem and lessen the importance of either side.
Here's some current stats to back up my rant; to help see the whole picture - the newer picture that's emerging now. And it’s a good one.
Source:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cct ... 608176.htm
Thu, May. 18, 2006
WHERE WE LIVE
Youths led by compassion
By Jackie Burrell
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Students from St. Mary's College work to clear debris from a storm-ravaged home in New Orleans while volunteering in January.
(Photo - Slide show)
* On the Web: SMC student relief workers with daily journals and photos:
http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/nola/
When word first came that St. Mary's College was sending students to New Orleans to help hurricane victims, Justin Verrips didn't hesitate.
"The moment I found out," he says, "I went to (the dean) and said, 'Here's who I am and what I can do.'"
Indeed, helping people is what he does. At 24, Verrips has already spent half his life volunteering for Rebuilding Together, the house repair program for the elderly and disabled. He was able to put that experience to work in New Orleans with his brother and two dozen classmates from a small Moraga college with a reputation for community service.
Perhaps it's only fitting that the offspring of the so-called "me generation" have emerged as the New Philanthropists and are all about taking care of others.
It's a generation made up of young people who request ARF donations in lieu of Bat Mitzvah gifts or spend their summers building schools in the Third World. And statistics show that what began for many as a college application booster has turned into a passion they carry on into college.
According to the Higher Education Research Institute, more than 83 percent of this year's college freshman class volunteered their time in 2005. In 1990, 62 percent of incoming freshmen volunteered. Even more striking is the percentage of teens who expect to continue their charity work in college -- that number has soared from 19 to 67 percent in less than a decade.
Generational trend expert William Strauss says this is no statistical blip.
"This is a mark of a generation," says Strauss. "They are volunteering more than older people do now, and they expect to continue."
For Danielle Schnur, volunteering is about expanding her own community to being "part of a global community."
"I see things in the world I don't like," says the Berkeley High junior, who will spend her summer building a vocational school in Tanzania. It's important that I not stand by and let that happen."
That sense of having a moral imperative is typical of the generation Strauss dubs the "millennials." The Bay Area-born author of "Millennials Rising" describes this generation as smarter and more compassionate than the generation Xers and baby boomers who came before them.
Millennials were absolutely galvanized by the Katrina disaster, Strauss says. They saw FEMA's response "as an example of the older generation not doing well, not preparing for that. They thought they could do better."
And they've got a running start. Many millennials attended elementary and high schools that emphasized community service and teamwork.
Olivia Tarabini, a junior at Danville's Athenian School, spent spring break building a playground and painting a school in the Dominican Republic. She says that even at a school such as hers -- which requires 30 hours of community service per year -- most students do more. The hottest club on campus, she says, is the 200 Club, whose members volunteer 200 hours each.
And the technological savvy these students bring to their academic and entertainment choices comes into play as well.
"The Internet, text messaging, cell phones ..." says Strauss. "Their technology enables them to do civic work at a speed the older generation doesn't understand."
Virtually every teen community service project uses a Web site or MySpace page to disseminate information and recruit volunteers and donors. The massive, collaborative Tri-Valley Food Drive, for example, relies on a student-designed Web site to help coordinate its 1,100 teen volunteers in seven cities.
When a quartet of civic-minded Berkeley, El Cerrito and Oakland teens decided to follow up their rock concert fund-raiser for Afghan schools with another music venture, they looked no further than 14-year-old Zeke Nierenberg's bedroom, which is outfitted with recording studio equipment. Their newest venture is a compilation CD featuring 18 local teen rock bands.
Fund-raising concerts and parties have long been the province of celebrities and socialites. But it was teens who drew hundreds of well-wishers to Oakland's California Ballroom Saturday night. They sampled Tanzanian food and culture and contributed to the vocational school Schnur and 11 Berkeley High classmates will build this summer.
Then there was the Washington-based group of young thespians and theater-lovers who, three weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck -- and while FEMA and local governments' disaster relief efforts remained in disarray -- had already raised $50,000 with a benefit performance advertised on their Web site.
St. Mary's College students are using the Web to raise awareness and funds for next year's New Orleans relief effort. For Verrips and his classmates, two trips to help Katrina victims were not enough.
"It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Verrips says. "Words can't describe it. Imagine taking Oakland, flooding it, flattening it, ruining it."
Verrips and 14 of his classmates were so moved, they went back to New Orleans during spring break and plan to return next January.
It was physically and emotionally draining work to clear debris from 23 storm-ravaged homes and help a theater, a church and an arts center prepare to rebuild. But the students repeat in their online journals that at the end of each long, intense day, they returned to their makeshift beds, layered two-deep in a mosquito net-swathed bus, with a sense of deep satisfaction.
With the support of the college and Associate Dean Shawny Anderson, who initiated the "Jan Term" project, the group is going back.
"I hope that everyone takes our example," says one student at the end of the "Blood, Sweat and Tears" documentary the group posted online. "Sitting back and watching doesn't do anything, but actually going out there is what makes the impact."
• BRIDGES TO BAYOUS -- Two dozen St. Mary's College students spent the month of January in New Orleans clearing debris from 23 ravaged homes and preparing a church, a store and numerous other buildings for reopening. Another 15 continued their relief efforts in New Orleans during spring break, and more plan to return for "Jan Term" next year. Excerpts from their journals are posted online at
www.www.contracostatimes.com.
• FUTURE BUILDERS -- Four young teens from Berkeley, El Cerrito and Oakland began organizing fund-raising concerts this year to benefit youth-related charities. Their next project: a fund-raising compilation CD showcasing the music of 18 local teen rock bands. For more information, visit
www.Future-Builders.org.
• TANZANIAN VOCATIONAL SCHOOL -- A summer project led by El Cerrito's Christine Nyanda-Chacha and her group African Immigrants Social and Cultural Services brings groups of teens to a small village near Lake Victoria to build schools. A dozen Berkeley High students will go this summer. For more information, visit
www.afrimmigrants.org.
• TRI-VALLEY YOUTH FOOD DRIVE -- This annual food bank benefit involves 1,100 youth volunteers and 80 youth groups from seven cities. Leadership students from California, San Ramon Valley and Granada high schools organize the effort with support from Girl Scouts, 4-H and other community youth groups. They stay connected via a Web site,
www.YouthFoodDrive.com, created by Athenian School students.
THE NEW PHILANTHROPISTS
According to the Higher Education Research Institute's annual study of American college freshmen, 83.2 percent of the 263,710 college freshmen surveyed during fall quarter 2005 had volunteered at least occasionally during their senior year of high school, and 70.6 percent volunteered on a weekly basis. Some 67 percent expect to continue volunteering in college, compared with 19 percent in 1998, the first year the question was asked.
YEAR: PERCENT OF INCOMING AMERICAN COLLEGE FRESHMEN WHO VOLUNTEERED THEIR TIME DURING THE LAST YEAR
2005 83%
2004 80
2003 83
2002 83
2001 83
2000 81
1999 75
1998 74
1997 73
1996 72
1995 70
1989 62
~~~ end of article
Also … before any one comes back and say "they are showing it's only those in higher education" - let me just say right now that's BS because I personally know several people without higher educations that are deeply involved in helping; both young and old and inbetween in my own area – in fact I’m a living example of one who's working with the others.
So, while this article focuses on those stats primarily from higher education, it isn't the only place where the youth of lands are fully involved.
