(Post by MARILYN PRICE-MITCHELL)

Scott, an admittedly shy student who grew up in North Carolina, began working for an anti-tobacco campaign in 9^th grade.  Why? He wanted to gain skills that would benefit him down the line and start getting experiences that would look good on his college resume. But somewhere along the way, Scott found a passion to serve others. Now a national spokesperson for youth anti-tobacco use, he leads his own nonprofit at the age of 20.  Why do some young people get hooked on service for life while others see it as a passing civic requirement?

Raising children to become active citizens doesn’t happen by chance. In my research study, Civic Learning at the Edge: Transformative Stories of Highly Engaged Youth, I interviewed students from around the country who had adopted passionate causes between the ages of 14 and 18.  Developmentally, this is the age when kids form civic identities that often stay with them for the rest of their lives.

The students in my study reflected on their adolescence and the critical experiences that led them to work for civic causes.  While they each had different stories, their journeys shared five common stages.  Being familiar with the steps in their journeys can help parents and other adults support kids through these important learning experiences by listening, encouraging, and appreciating the process.

Five Steps toward Civic Passion

Connecting to Others in Need

Kids who develop a passion to serve can usually point to a critical volunteer experience that became transformative for them.  The experience always involves face-to-face interaction with people who are different from them and most often, with people who are in need. These experiences might occur in food banks, homeless shelters, nursing homes, disaster areas, and places where people live in poverty. Similarly, those who work for environmental causes point to intense moments of learning, involving a deep personal connection to nature or animals. Their experiences might occur in animal shelters, wildlife refuges, or experiential projects that raise awareness of environmental issues.

Confronting Moral Dilemmas

When teenagers form relationships with those who are in need, who may be in pain, or who may have few resources, it creates moral dilemmas for them.  They begin to ask questions that compare their own circumstances to others. For the first time, they may wonder why people are hungry or why children are homeless. The same is true for the environment.  Kids feel such a connection to nature that they begin to ask deep moral questions about how we care for the planet. Why don’t we pay attention to climate change?  Or protect certain species of animals?

Self-Reflection

As they consider these moral dilemmas, they reach deep within themselves and think about their values.  Instead of mimicking the opinions they have heard from others, such as parents or friends, they begin to form their own conclusions.  They need to process their feelings with adults who are not judgmental, who trust in their abilities to find their own answers. Often, these adults are leaders of volunteer programs, older siblings, or a favorite teacher. Encouraging children to discuss their feelings with others, or even write about them, helps facilitate learning.

Perspective Shift

Through reflection, talking with others, and linking their values to the issues that impact them, young people experience a shift in perspective. They begin to see how issues are connected to each another and become interested in understanding the root causes of societal problems.  For example, they may see links between social and environmental issues, understanding that climate change will most affect people living in poverty. They may connect sex trafficking with girls living in poverty in Cambodia.  They may understand the need for breast cancer research because it affected a mother or aunt. These connections begin to fuel an inner purpose and passion toward specific, important causes.

Creating a Passionate Civic Identity

Young people reach the last stage in this journey when they see themselves as active, engaged citizens. They are able to articulate their beliefs about how they understand a social or environmental issue and they hold a worldview that incorporates themselves as agents of change. They know that small things they do to contribute to social and environmental causes have a big impact. At this point, they are ready and able to make a long-term commitment to public service.  They are hooked for life!

Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA

Marilyn is a developmental psychologist, educator, researcher, and writer with a passion for learning how today’s youth grow into healthy, successful, and engaged adults.  She synthesizes multidisciplinary research in psychology, education, sociology, child & adolescent development, social psychology, and neurobiology to bring trusted, evidence-based research to parents, teachers, mentors, coaches, and all those who support kids. Visit her blog at Roots of Action; Twitter; Facebook.

©2011 Marilyn Price-Mitchell. May not be reprinted or adapted without permission.