Social Justice: Serving Others

In the last newsletter, I spoke about some of the activities that our Senior children were going to participate in to raise money for St Vincent De Paul. It made me stop and think of the ways we are of service to others and how children can contribute to their communities.

One way that children develop EMPATHY (one of our school values) is by being of service to others. Being of service is also a great way to develop self-esteem and confidence as well as a positive way of teaching citizenship. When we understand that there is more to the world than just ourselves we can make it a better place to live by helping others.

Serving others opens your eyes to those who are less fortunate than yourself. It can boost a child’s self-esteem when they can apply their talents and skills to the benefit of others.

I found three easy, great ideas that I would like to share with you.

One: Collect Tennis Balls for Animal Shelters

Contact local tennis clubs or secondary schools and ask if they have any old tennis balls they no longer need, then ring up a local animal shelter and ask if you can drop them in.

Two: Giggle Bags

Contact a local hospital and ask to speak with the volunteer coordinator. Ask them if Giggle Bags are suitable to give to sick children in the hospital. Some things you could include are markers, colouring books, bubbles, handheld games, and art supplies. You could write a short letter explaining who you are, wishing them well and an outline of what all the items are.

Three: Charities

The senior children have already demonstrated their capacity for raising money. There are so many wonderful charities that support people less fortunate than ourselves. The World Hope Website is one such charity. After you have raised some money you can decide where you want the money to go - clean water and sanitation, health and nutrition, protection or social ventures. You can look up their Gift Catalogue and decide not only the area you want the money to go to but also what you want to purchase. For example, a gift of $40.00 can provide a family with seeds for farming and planting or $25.00 can provide someone with a bag of school supplies.

One of the articles, I read mentioned "giving your child rose-coloured glasses." The article went on to say that there is often bad news all around up and that children also need to know that lots of good things also happen and that there are many good people that make these things happen. For example, talking about student groups who volunteered to build homes or collect clothes after a natural disaster can help children feel better about the world they live in. It can also help them think creatively about the ways they can make a difference.

Below is a short video of how even the youngest members of our school community can show citizenship and service to others when we encourage and model it for them.

Connie Drossaert

Wellbeing Leader

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