Like a house built by grandparents and lovingly preserved by future generations, youth must be encouraged and motivated to carry on volunteer work in the community begun by their forebears.

That is the message Miss Nancy Smythe, Executive Director of the Centre on Philanthropy wants to drive home to all those responsible for shaping the lives of today's youth, as well as charities and service organisations.

She said a concerted effort must be made to prevent adolescents from developing into uncommitted, unconnected adults with no sense of debt to the community, and no feeling of responsibility towards helping those in need.

"Our efforts must be funnelled into changing the pattern of behaviour from adolescence into adulthood,'' she said.

Part of the problem, Miss Smythe noted, was the fact that organisations and charities devoted to helping others often overlooked the youth potential and made no effort to court or harness their energies.

"In Bermuda, as elsewhere, the qualities which young people could contribute to society are being overlooked and lie dormant,'' she said.

"Youth as a resource is a concept that needs to be recognised and nurtured to further prevent the isolation of the civic values which hold our society together. Someone must help the coming generations understand the importance of caring activism.'' While recognising that some youth-oriented community organisations were already in place and thriving, they represented only a small portion of the total potential youth pool still untapped.

Noting that young people often completed one-off projects, such as trash- and walkathons, to raise money for a good cause, Miss Smythe emphasised that charity was very different to philanthropy. It was the latter which needed to be given more focus.

"In Bermuda, the emphasis is on money giving and money receiving -- usually to meet an emergency or specific need, then we move on. Philanthropy requires long-term solutions. We must develop in our young people a sense of long-term commitment to community service.'' They must understand that volunteering was not just about fund-raising, but also donating personal time and talent to help others in need.

"Volunteering is the perfect way for children to be welcomed as productive, active members of the community,'' she said. "They should know that good citizenship means involvement, paying back and community service.'' Teaching young people to show care and compassion for the community required the co-operation of parents and teachers. The ways in which they could go about doing this were myriad.

For parents, Miss Smythe suggested such activities as: Going for walks with the child, who should carry a bag to pick up trash.

Encouraging children to teach recreational skills to the mentally handicapped through Special Olympics.

Helping an elderly neighbour with household/garden tasks.

Encouraging children to read, feed, talk with seniors in homes for the aged.

Encouraging children to visit Agape House, taking small gifts such as toiletries.

Training children in first aid and other survival skills.

Visiting the SPCA, donating towels, bedding, etc.

Stimulating interest in animals other than as pets (e.g. through the Bermuda Zoological Society).

Youth should be encouraged to carry on volunteer work Miss Smythe also said parents should discuss with children the connection between effort and reward in helping others; the difference between donating (for no tangible return) and financing; between non-profit charities and businesses which both provide services to meet a need.

She suggested encouraging children to give part of their allowance to a cause or charity, delivering it themselves.

"I am trying to focus on the good feelings one gets from doing something good. Such acts teach self-esteem, and provide important benefits in relation to a young person's personal, intellectual and social growth and development,'' Miss Smythe said.

Teachers also had an important role to play in fostering caring, compassionate values in children.

"They are making a great contribution to students' lives,'' Miss Smythe said, "but to cope with the complicated social problems of the twenty-first century new skills need to be developed.

"Teachers should begin from ages three through ten instilling in students a sense of caring and giving. Young people will be better prepared for the next century when they understand and appreciate the meaning of community and have had opportunities to serve, to be valued, and to learn.'' Miss Smythe said there were countless projects through which teachers and students could relate classroom learning in specific subjects to community needs, including: Reading books on service-related issues.

Helping the elderly, poor and disabled to write letters and fill in forms.

Using newspapers, Government reports and other sources to research important local issues and developing ways to solve problems.

Interviewing people from different cultures and writing about their perspectives.

Surveying youth or other groups about their needs and opinions and conveying the information to policy makers.

Becoming conflict mediators in the school and community.

Researching and writing plays around current events or community issues.

Primary teachers could discuss with students the issue of community service and what it meant; ask whether they had done any volunteering and what it had meant to them.

Secondary students and their teachers could do weekly reviews of newspaper articles and assess community needs. Once these were pinpointed, students might be assigned to work with a charity, determine a specific area where help was needed, and then match youth skills to the task.

"We have a gap. We have not identified what skills are needed to do a specific job and we have not identified the interest factor in a particular student,'' Miss Smythe said. "Bermuda has a wealth of projects. Youth can find things to do.'' As for charities and service organisations themselves, Miss Smythe said more recognition must be given to the fact that youth had capabilities which could be harnessed to community needs.

Governing boards could invite young people to a brain-storming meeting, or invite them to serve on a task force or advisory committee.

"That way, the charity gains valuable insight into youth views and social issues in a changing society which they are unlikely to get from those closest to the organisation,'' Miss Smythe said. "When young people feel good about themselves they can address serious social issues, serve their community and learn personally from the experience.'' NEVER TOO YOUNG -- Learning to be a caring community volunteer should begin early in life. These children show their concern for the environment by cleaning up a beach.

THE JOY OF SHARING -- Adopt-a-granny schemes are one way children can learn to give time to others. The choices for community service are many and varied, and young volunteers are urgently needed.