By: J.C Montenegro, Ph.D
Province Delegate for Mission Animation
As the pandemic continues and our children are attending online school, it is important to measure where young people are and how they have dealt with the pandemic. This survey was created to hypothesize that volunteerism can help young people’s well-being during these rough times.
The volunteers who serve in our summer program in Bellflower and Boyle Heights were asked to fill out the survey and send it to two of their friends who were not involved in our summer programs.
Some of the results of this research shed light on what is going on with young people during the pandemic. The people who can benefit from this research are school administrators, teachers, parents, youth ministers, or anybody in contact with young people.
Here are some essential insights based on our analysis;
- Self-awareness: if young people are accompanied during this pandemic, there is a significant opportunity to help them be self-aware of who they are and how they react in situations like this.
- Closeness with family: young people need support, especially during this time of the pandemic. We recommend that families create some type of routine where the entire family can spend time together. Many times, just playing video games or “wasting” time with them will make a difference. Try to be interested in their hobbies and find how you can be part of these hobbies.
- Conflict resolution: this pandemic has given us the opportunity to be close together as a family, and this closeness can create some type of conflicts. This can be an excellent opportunity to practice conflict resolution techniques and empathy.
- Dying and uncertainty: are the biggest fears of young people during this pandemic, this is an excellent opportunity to help our young people deal with fears.
- Anxiety and depression: are words of which we need to be aware. Many of our young people suffer from these issues. As a school administration, nonprofits, and churches, what are we doing to support our young people who are going through these situations? Especially now during the quarantine.
- Gratefulness: our young people have grown up with everything; whatever they need, they can have it. They have this sense of ownership. This pandemic brings us an excellent opportunity to help our young people be grateful, learn to appreciate what they have, and, more than anything, show them how they can utilize their assets to improve our society.
I enjoyed this analysis from the data that young people have provided. I hope you find this document as useful as I did to improve the service that I provide to our young people.
To download the document, please click below!
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