There are a lot of negative stereotypes about teens. A lot of people think teens are lazy and selfish. When some people think about young people, they picture us sitting around playing video games and smoking vapes. The truth is a lot of teens are making a positive impact on their neighborhood.
While we might not get the recognition we deserve, teens are out there picking up trash along the road and collecting donations for different causes.
Schools provide young people lots of opportunities to help their community. For example, a lot of students are involved in National Junior Honor Society and National Honor Society, which requires members to complete 20 hours of community service each school year.
Hillsboro High School, where I’m a student, has several other clubs students can join to help out their community. Students involved in the Heck Club, or ecology club, recently spent two hours picking up trash on the side of the road.
Just last October a group of students in the Interact Club threw a barn dance to help raise money for a Horses for Hope campaign, partnering with Shiloh Stables to provide equine therapy to people receiving services through the Covering House and the Crisis Aid International U.S. Refuge Home in St. Louis, which help victims of trafficking. Hillsboro High students spent a month making more than 100 decorated and painted horseshoes for the fundraiser. They also collected and donated items for baskets to be raffled and auctioned at the fundraiser, bringing in $4,771.
The funds the Interact Club raised helped Shiloh Stables provide more services to the people, said Stephanie Reed of Shiloh.
“Interact club got involved and they were able to raise enough money to where each group (receiving services) could come out twice a month, and we’ve seen a really big impact on the girls with their meetings being more frequent,” Reed said. “The horses provide someone to talk to besides a random stranger. They teach the girls boundaries and how to say no.”
Peggy Hughes of Shiloh Stables said in a promotional video that 12 weeks of equine therapy is equivalent to one year of office counseling.
People who have taken part in the equine therapy said it helped them.
“My experience with the horses was amazing. When I visited the horses after almost a year, I still felt a connection and all my stress from my personal life went away. When I hugged the horse, I wanted to cry. Not because I was sad, but because I felt at ease,” said a client who received services.
These are just a few examples of the important work teens have done to help others. But, if we want to encourage young people to keep helping the community, we need to recognize what they do and stop degrading them.