Volunteering

I just answered a question about after school programs and reminded me of a situation. Our schools after program is horrible. I was told they would have planned activities and homework help. Well my 5 year old constantly came home with her homework done wrong. I asked her why. She said, "no one would help me and since I can't read good yet I just figured it out." I would pick them up at various times and each time the "volunteers" were just sitting on their rear ends running their mouths while the children were just running around doing whatever they wanted. They were in the program for 2 months and I counted 3 art activities they did. Which were just gluing fuzzies on paper. I ended up taking them out and leaving them with a friend until my husband returned from deployment. It is sad that both parents have to work to make ends meet. Does the school system have to make it harder? I was PAYING them right? So to end this. If you volunteer at a school, no matter what it is, give it 100%. First off you did VOLUNTEER, second, you could be just as lazy and useless at home.

Parent Comments on "Volunteering"

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You are absolutely correct about that. If they do not volunteer the tuition they pay goes up. And the fact that you felt your hands were tied in speaking your mind is worse. It is hard enough on chidren when their parents have to work. They should feel safe in the after programs and be interacted with. This way their time there away from the parents does not seem to drag on.

They are parents of students at the school, which is why it frustrates me.

I used to work at an after school program for a very elite private school. A lot of private schools have a requirement that parents volunteer a certain number of hours per month. Well, the parent volunteers for the after school program used the time to chat with each other and kind of looked at me and the other after-school teachers as the hired help. There was no way for the two of us to be everywhere at once. In my opinion it wasn't an effective program for this reason. There are a lot of politics involved in schools and that made it hard to come out and say anything. Those same parents who did nothing to help out are the same ones making huge donations to the school.

Sometimes there are organizations in the community that can help schools develop good after-school and volunteer programs. A little time spent researching these resources in your community - Rotary Clubs and other service organizations, local colleges, churches and your local school district - could be a great gift you could give your school and the many other parents who are probably feeling the same way you do.

To be blunt, do you know where these volunteers came from? If they're young people (in high school or college), they may have a graduation requirement around community service...so they may be "volunteering" at your daughter's school just to get credit for it. Don't get me wrong, though -- there are PLENTY of young people who volunteer because they want to make a real impact on the community.

This may not work with your current situation, but, if there's a college or university near you, you may be able to hook up with the school's teacher education program to find volunteers/after-school programs that really do make a difference. Speaking from experience, college students who are studying to become teachers are generally very enthusiastic about their future professions while they're in school (the whole "burn-out" thing usually happens much later : ) ).

The program you describe sounds like it's in desperate need of a slightly different type of volunteer or or paid staff: somebody to step in and ensure quality, set up volunteer training as juliag suggested, motivate the volunteers, direct the volunteers in the most effective ways. I'd set up an appointment to talk with the principal and discuss your concerns about the program and find out what needs to be done to get this type of leadership into the program. Even though your daughter isn't in the program anymore, this would be a big help to the other children at the school ... and who knows, maybe help bring it to a level of quality that would enable you to utilize it yourself.

Maybe I am really reaching for a silver lining here...but your 5-year-old's resolve to complete her homework was really touching! Hopefully, she'll get more help in the next program you find.
I would agree about the volunteering; if you can't focus or be present, maybe it's not the time to contribute.

I've been on the volunteering end of this many times. It's hard to walk into this situation without proper training or knowing any of the kids or what the program is supposed to offer. That said - the fact is that if you jump in and play with the kids it's fun and you can find ways to make up activities that are fun and sometimes even educational. So I agree - all it takes is some effort and, of course, some patience!

I think that one question people can ask when they're signing up for a before or after care program that is volunteer driven is whether the volunteers are trained & come back weekly, or whether there are different volunteers each time. The programs that I have volunteered with that are the best are the ones where I received at training and was required to make a commitment to coming for the year or at least 6 months.

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