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Olley -
submitted 18/04/2010
Young people need to have a space to gather, in which they can share, be informed of and be regularly exposed to information, education current social events that effect youth.
The government needs to work with local councils to create more youth centres. These can be either new structures or basic existing structures.Technology is doing amazing things, but it also seperates young people. We need to be brought together if we are to make a difference.
Once people are together, they can be exposed to information without actively seeking it. Information that could increase awareness of youth issues and in turn create a greater number of active young people. This way people learn things by themselves, as apposed to having information obligatory thrust upon them, which is often discarded as a result.
Older people have newspapers, television and radio all aimed at them. While there is the occasional youth based program, there are no regular ports of call for information for young people.
The biggest issue we face is lack of funds. Money seems to be the be all and end all of most peoples lives. But that shouldnt be an issue. For example, a centre serving 1000 students (about two schools) can be supported by those young people. If each student were to give 50 dollars a year, only a dollar a week, then thats $50,000. If each student gave 20 dollars a week, aided by parents, then that would amount to $1,000,000. We just have to convince people to invest in their future.
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Olley -
submitted 18/04/2010
I am a young filmmaker in SA and co-founded a NYW film festival in my council area. I was the winner of the NYW 'OURSPACE' launch event comp. I am a member of YAC and have recently dubbed myself a "Youth Campaigner" as i commit all of my spare time to youth issues. Just last week, Dan Ilic of the ABC's Hungry Beast, interviewed me about youth engagement.
I try to engage youth in volunteering and getting active with social issues. As a member of YAC i come across a few strategies to engage, such as this site, YAC itself and the YES! forum. I think these are great, but miss the majority of young people. They attract either those already interested in engagement, or those wanting to get the say off.
Getting involved should be part of every young persons life, if only in a small way.
I propose that young people, like myself, are recruited as volunteers to set up forums at schools, during school hours. They will set up a space in which students can be informed of government initiatives, but also have a chance to imidiately respond and discuss youth issues. Not only would this raise intrest within students, but would create a data base of first hand information from young people, to paint a picture of the state of youth as they see it.
Young people can easily forget information given to them, so these sorts of visits and discussions would have to be regular. I know that i would easily go to schools once a month if need be.
Thank you for you time
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Christopher Chambel -
submitted 16/04/2010
I believe we should be promoting volunteering over the TV - these days, we see so many useless ads on TV/Foxtel and I think we could be using TV as a positive way to promote volunteering and mention why it's such a great idea to volunteer such as (looks good on the resume etc...) I believe you should do a competition and ask teenagers/schools/university students to create their own short 2 minute aspiring ad and get them to submit them to the Queensland Government and then the public/government can vote which ad is the best and make sure you give a prize to the winning team!
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Christian Bray -
submitted 16/04/2010
there is a way that teens can work as a volunteer. I've been working at Taronga Zoo for about a year now and just started working at St. John Ambulance cadets. At Taronga Zoo you can work as a volunteer at the age of 13 to 19. I've got the link to the Taronga Zoo website.
Link: http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo/education/community-programs/boral-youth-@-the-zoo.aspx
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Hugh -
submitted 11/04/2010
- FUNDING, FUNDING, FUNDING. NGO's and other organisations that support the involvement of youth need to be diversified and sufficiently funded. Without appropriate funding, these opportunities are lost or unable to be 'found' by the many young people who are interested in volunteering.
- It's not for everyone - that has to be acknowledged and accepted. But to get people involved, volunteering needs to becoe exciting and centrally promoted - rather than having each organization finding its own volunteers, a nation-wide system of finding (both for org's and volunteers) positions would be fantastic --> this is a repetitive focus in this topic, and is certainly not a new idea.
- Access needs to be improved, particularly to projects that are financially and logistically accessible to young people. With school/uni/TAFE to deal with, volunteering often becomes difficult, and those of us who support ourselves (even with the assistance of Youth Allowance etc) often can't financially justify the additional time commitments.
- To get more young people interested? Get the opportunities out there 'to the masses' - but make sure it can work within the life of a young person, which is totally different to most other demographics. If they're interested, they'll bite.
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Chag Lee -
submitted 1/04/2010
I think people out there believe volunteering is boring and pointless, but I can reassure you that you’re wrong. Volunteering is a rewarding and enjoyable and you always have a great time. There are lots of places you can volunteer to work but they’re never in the paper or never put out there for the public to see, I believe if the public knows about it more there would be more volunteers.
I volunteered in life saving and in sports clubs and I always have fun, making new friends and doing what I love.
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Richard -
submitted 1/04/2010
Having been involved in scouts since the age of 8, I naturally found my way to volunteer opportunities having been taught to give my time & a sense of ownership in the community. I give my time as a scout leader & have helped with a large number of different organizations, such as assisting with community events, door knock appeals & a large number of other areas.
The sense of involvement, fellowship & the reward of knowing you made a difference attract me to volunteering.
A commitment to volunteering & involvement comes from your personal ethics. Unfortunately a lot of young people have a "whats in it for me" & want a tangible reward for their involvement, beyond the reward of being involved.
If a central resource was developed with information on different volunteer organizations, like a job search web site, could be a useful resource for young people, as their dependence on the web is quite high. The best way to get people involved is to not make volunteer work seem like a chore. Peer recruitment is the most effective means to get people involved, but as long as the its not cool to volunteer attitude exists it will be hard to break though. So basically a whole sale change in attitude is required to get more young people involved.
As far as what support would I want? We offer tax rebates for donations of money for charities &things bought for work, why not contributions in a volunteer capacity?
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Thea -
submitted 31/03/2010
It has been mentioned but volunteering definately needs more promotion.
The perception is that volunteering is boring, takes up too time and doesn't give much back. Except 'something to put on your resume' which doesn't really mean much anyway.
Young People don't realise that volunteering is an excellent way to build up skills for a career (especially communication and interpersonal skills), even if it does not lead onto a career directly, helps you meet more people, both similar and from different walks of life and is a casual, relaxed way to have fun.
Awareness is the key here also.
Studies have shown that volunteering and contributing to society can lift peoples wellbeing, allowing them to connect to others and society. This could be promoted to young people through government campaigns and educational institutions. A national website/organisation/campaign should offer free and valid information on whats out there, the type of work, and contact details. This could also be an opportunity to provide forums and what not which connect youth. Educational insitituions could definately help by advertising and promoting awareness of opportunities out there that people can take up in the local area and community. Organisations should also be given more support to develop their volunteer programmes, so that the work is organised and volunteers recieve support as well. This especially applys to assisting them to take on under 18s.
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Hayley -
submitted 27/03/2010
Living in a rural area, I find it very difficult to find the oppurtunity to volunteer, which is the main reason I don't volunteer as much as I could. Sure I may live half an hour away from larger towns but means of transport is another blockade.
I think the key to encouraging young people volunteering, is through awareness. 'People do better when they know better'. Aiming it at areas where most young people spend a majority of their time is likely to be more successful: a) school. b) Internet. Facebook, myspace etc. Social networking is (unfortunately) a major thing in our lives.
Or even an organisation for young people helping them get an idea of the career they want to follow, giving them oppurtunities to volunteer which; a) gives them experience which could be useful; b) gives them a chance to form an idea of what they might enjoy doing.
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Laura -
submitted 25/03/2010
Leading others in creating a conference for 500 people, meeting CEOs of businesses, creating marketing campaigns from scratch – this is an exciting experience that I was fortunate to have.
If you would like to develop professionally, figure out what you want to do ‘when you grow up’ or if you just want to expand your networks, it is easy - start volunteering and you will see that sky is the limit.
This might sound lame, but when you actually experience that, you understand the power of these words.
1. We could definitely create an exciting marketing campaign:
a. film business/academic/government leaders that were devoted volunteers
b. release and promote national awards for the best volunteers
c. create events for first time volunteers and for experienced ones
d. regularly communicate with volunteers through facebook, twitter
2. We could encourage by:
a. providing scholarships for volunteers from low social economic backgrounds
b. creating useful trainings, one organisation to another, depending on each others strengths, and again promoting these great partnerships
c. providing mentors from different sectors,
d. competitions for organisations providing not only the best projects, but development/networking, etc. outcomes
Gather some youth leaders, create projects/campaigns, delegate tasks, set timelines and let’s see what we can get out of this. We got a chance to learn well how to plan and action things in AIESEC. I would be happy to use this strength.