Many adults feel that teenagers do not care about others and say that we are mainly concerned about ourselves. I, as a teenager, have not found this to be true. Many teenagers in middle school and high school do volunteer work. Some start out volunteering because their parents or teachers say that they must, and others because they are found enjoyment in the volunteer activities. I have found that teenagers start volunteering but soon discover that there are many benefits and continue to volunteer long after the required service hours are completed.

Teenagers that do not have a regular paying job as they are still too young can find it fun to get out of the house. They can volunteer at the animal shelter, helping at the church or with elderly neighbors. When a teen volunteers, usually they volunteer with their peers and it is like a social event. When they do not have a job they are stuck at home and at least it is more fun to go and hang out with your friends doing something you usually would not be doing, such as talking to old people about their childhood or running a ticket booth at the church carnival.

Teenagers also like to volunteer as they get to go places and learn new things. If a teenager goes on a church mission trip to another state they can see another part of the United States that they usually would not have seen. When I volunteered in Alabama, I learned how to put a new roof on a house. Another skill that I learned was how to build and paint a wooden porch.

Teenagers care about others and about their future. I have found that teenagers who volunteer have found places to help out where they can get job experiences. If you want to be a vet, then they go to an animal shelter and if they want to cook, then they can work at the church carnival. Some teenagers have found out through volunteering that they have an interest in career that they did not even think about before.

Teenagers care and teenagers want to help others. We may think about ourselves but we are thinking about our future and how we can help ourselves get a good job. We care about volunteering as it helps us decide what we like and do not like to do. We are the future and we care.