Interacting With The Elderly

The Benefits of Youth Volunteering with Elderly

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

I really want my son to start spending some of his free time volunteering and am trying to decide what type of organization would be best for him. He doesn't have any grandparents around and I really think it would do him some good to spend some time with older people down at our local nursing home. Do you think kids can learn by spending time with the elderly?

Sincerely,

Young Meets Old

Dear Young Meets Old,

Whenever people step outside their normal social circles and expand their horizons and their experiences, it's a positive. Youth have a particular tendency to think the world revolves around them -- and the truth is, the world does revolve around children -- or it should while they're very young. As they get older, they step out into the world and become socialized. This process is never-ending in a best case scenario. However, many people don't have the proper developmental steps in their young lives that allow them the confidence and skills to step beyond their comfort zones. So they get scared. And they stay in their own circles. And sometimes they act out because of their fear. This acting out can take the form of being snobby, disdainful, and mean. But the behaviors are really just self-protective, and keep the people in their own tight knit circles by helping them manufacture reasons and feelings that keep them from branching out.

However, the people who have the backgrounds and the courage to move beyond their own worlds will really do themselves and everyone else some real good.

What volunteering can do:

Volunteering with old people gives youth an opportunity to see the future. This glimpse gives them an opportunity to readjust the way they're living to prepare. It also gives them an appreciation for youth and the life process and the fact that it's finite. Old people are not objectified when young people are volunteering with them. The old people are individuals with special talents, needs, quirks and desires -- just like young people, but their bodies don't function as well. This is something that is only realized up close and personal.

For the elderly, the interaction with youth is nourishment. Everyone needs food and water to live, but to live and thrive, we need love, attention, to be listened to, and social interaction -- the more diverse, the better. The elderly can impart wisdom and gifts that they've learned along their journey to youth. They can also help youth appreciate their youth by reminding them about the journey of life, and the stops along the way.

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

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