Children Need to Know The Value of Volunteers

T T here are 94 million people who serve as volunteers in America.Working in schools, shelters, hospitals - anywhere they're needed -they donate 20.5 billion hours of their time for no pay, and oftenlittle thanks.

One of these 94 million Americans recently wrote to me. Hername is Sue, she's 45, and she lives in a small town in Minnesota.She said that last year was the most difficult year she has everexperienced as a school volunteer.

Many of the boys she tried to help treated her with undisguisedcontempt and talked to her profanely. "They made it clear that theyconsidered school-oriented women to be losers and bores.

"At the same time, they admire sports and singing superstarsalmost to the point of worship. To the kids, these performers withmegabucks are society's big winners."

Sue had pointed advice for these kids:

"Get real! Madonna is not going to volunteer to run your GirlScout troop. Charles Barkley won't be your reading tutor. Admirethese people, but understand that they are not available on apersonal level.

"Meanwhile, all around you are people who may not have theirnames in the paper, but do have a ton of love, concern and mentoringto offer. They want to nourish the spark of superstar they see inyou.

"Relationships with these real people, unlike relationships withpeople on MTV, are a two-way street. So cut out the verbal abuse,the snotty remarks and the attitude that volunteers aren't goodenough for you. Someday you might regret how you treated people whotried to help you."

Arthur Smith, spokesman for Volunteers of America, knows howthis woman feels. "It's common," he says. "If volunteers are notappreciated and cherished, they can have a very sour experience."

VOA, with 16,000 volunteers in 400 programs, is one of thenation's largest nonprofit human services agencies.

"Volunteers are the horsepower behind a lot of agencies," Smithsays. "If they're not encouraged and made to feel worthwhile, thewhole nonprofit world could collapse."

Sue had hoped that ungrateful kids would read her letter. Butchildren aren't her most important audience. The rest of us are.

As Smith says: "It's not just the ethos of these particularbratty kids. It's a cultural problem."

One of his colleagues at VOA, Linda Slaughter, adds: "Oursociety pays its football stars $2 million and its teachers $22,000.It shows where our priorities are."

Consider this, too: It took until 1990 for a woman to be namedthe most admired person in the annual World Almanac "Young America"poll. The woman? Paula Abdul.

Parents should teach children that entertainment and sportsstars can be admired for their God-given abilities. But many of themrose to the top by being self-centered. A basketball star who hasspent much of his life perfecting his foul shot might be a nice guywith plenty of determination. But he might not have a well-honedsense of obligation to others.

"Becoming a star athlete requires a profound and long-term kindof self-absorption, a single-minded attention to the development of afew rather odd physical skills and an overarching competitiveoutlook," writes Matthew Goodman in an Utne Reader article on sportsheroes. "These qualities may well make a great athlete, but theydon't necessarily make a great person."

But there are other people, closer to home, who are very muchworth admiring. We should be telling this to our children.

"Some kids might not know they should be appreciative,"Slaughter says. "They're not being told this in the home. Kidsshould pick heroes who've had an impact on their lives."

Many teens are compassionate and appreciative, and a lot of themdo volunteer work themselves. But for those kids who define theirheroes by movie grosses or batting averages alone, we ought to helpthem broaden their definitions.

Find the people making a difference in your community, and tellyour children about them. They're worth emulating and celebrating.

Call Zazz's hotline, (312) 321-2003.