As December approaches, we enter the “season of giving” — and it’s that special time of year when people traditionally support an abundance of charitable activities. As parents, we often use this time of year to help instill the value of charitableness in our children, with the hope that they will create meaningful connections and traditions for supporting others throughout their life. Though this is a key season to focus on generosity, imparting children with these important values can happen all year round, with many benefits for children.

The many ways
giving benefits children

So how do the youngest members of society benefit from being involved in charity and volunteering? The benefits are vast, including increasing a sense of social connectedness, empathy and responsibility, as well as improving personal welfare. In fact, according to Mark Snyder, psychologist at Minnesota University, “People who volunteer tend to have higher self-esteem, psychological well-being, and happiness.” Although children are naturally good at giving, it’s important to continuously encourage this and to provide a platform for them to focus on good character and charity as they mature, and this can happen both at home and at school.

Establishing a firm foundation in character

At home, of course, helping children focus on values normally stems from regular family conversations about behavior and how children can help others. Schools can also have a significant impact if there is a focus on the importance of charity and helping others as part of daily routines. At Yew Chung International School of Shanghai (YCIS), for example, the school has long recognized the importance that character education plays in nurturing the whole child, and charity and love are central to the school’s mission and culture. To develop this culture requires commitment from the entire school community, and at YCIS, the Character Education program is integrated into the curriculum, helping children to embrace positive values from a young age.

In Kindergarten and Primary classrooms, children are praised and celebrated when they show positive characteristics, and each character lesson focuses on a different positive trait, such as compassion and perseverance. Leo Lazo, Character Education coordinator at the Regency Park and Century Park campuses, explains, “We hold special assemblies to educate the students about a variety of character traits. The focus of these assemblies is not only about what the character means, ‘head knowledge,’ but also about how to apply it, ‘heart knowledge’. It’s the demonstration of, and emphasis on, these characteristics that we want permeated throughout the school.”

As students enter their formative teenage years, developing the foundation of a strong character is critical as they begin to make decisions that will directly affect their adult lives. At YCIS, students in Lower Secondary (Years 7-9) take a weekly class where they are encouraged to demonstrate and discuss positive values at an even deeper level, which also helps form their own opinions on what it means to be a good person.

Making charity
meaningful for students

As with most things in life, children learn from what is most meaningful to them, and charity is no exception. Therefore, the key to creating a charitable culture involves forging significant connections to students’ lives. Although fundraising and donating money to charity is a noble initiative, for children, it’s important to learn why they are making these efforts and what impact they can have. YCIS’s Regency Park and Century Park campuses recently held a “Charity Week” full of activities to raise awareness and money for charity. In addition to encouraging all Primary students to participate, the children were also asked to reflect on their experiences in writing. Melissa Shaw, Primary Curriculum coordinator explains, “While the school was abuzz with the daily activities for Charity Week, so too were the conversations in the classroom. There was talk about what the student’s favorite activity was, but most importantly, what the money was being raised for. We turned this talk into writing, helping to make the link more meaningful and relevant for the children.”

Children also find meaning in enjoyment, and so it’s important that schools encourage students to participate in charity activities that they personally enjoy. For Secondary students at YCIS, the school’s faculty encourages students to create “Creativity, Action, and Service” projects based on activities in which they have interest. As a result, many of the students’ projects stray from traditional community service activities and involve an array of personal interests, such as music, language, and art. For instance, this year, a Year 12 student at the school’s Gubei campus who is passionate about art has been assembling a team of volunteers for an organization called “Tuck In,” a student-organized charity that provides free art lessons to underprivileged children.

Experience in action

To encourage a benevolent community from within, it’s also necessary to provide experiences with the community beyond the school, as well. At YCIS Shanghai, students are given numerous opportunities outside of the classroom to provide service to those in need in their host country of China. In addition to trips to support local Shanghai charities, the school organizes annual service trips to locations throughout China through the school’s own charity, “Seeds of Hope,” and the “Education Outside of the Classroom (EOTC)” program for Secondary students. These trips provide students with a real perspective of the impact they can make, often placing the students in “someone else’s shoes.” During a recent EOTC trip to Tonglu, Zhejiang Province, for example, Year 7 students from the Gubei campus took on the duties of the local farmers for a day and were responsible for earning the wages needed for the entire village to eat for the day. Ethan, a student attending the trip, reflected, “I had heard the saying that ‘one grain of rice equals one bead of sweat from a farmer,’ and now I understand that this is very true.”

By providing students’ with new perspectives, schools can help to encourage a change from within the students. Fred Runkel, Secondary co-principal at the Century Park campus says, “Through these experiences, our students start to take more responsibility for themselves, their choices, and behaviors, and to make positive contributions to the global community.”

There are many gifts parents give to their children, and one of the most important is the “gift of giving back.” In addition to the special focus this time of year on charity, with support at home and at school, children can understand and experience the benefits of giving all year round. By immersing students in a school culture that values building fundamental character attributes and the awareness of the significance of their contributions, children are empowered to make themselves and the world a better place.