July 3rd, '06
What Did You Do During Summer Vacation?

Let's take a break from the war for a minute, shall we?

Despite the headlines - the kidnapping of a soldier, the kidnapping and murder of a teenage civilian, and the start-and-stop army tactics that testify to Israel's inability to control the ever-more sophisticated missiles cruising in daily from the recently-evacuated Gaza strip -- for most of us in Israel, life goes on.

School's now officially out for the summer, and while working parents of younger kids make due by cobbling together a program based on the informal two-to-three-week day camps crop up all over, working parents of teenagers have a stickier problem. Do we let them stay home, abandoning them to the dubious attractions of TV and the Internet (not to mention hanging out with their friends unsupervised, which of course is a whole 'nuther kettle of fish)? Or do we take out a second mortgage in order to finance a sleepaway camp, here in Israel, or perhaps abroad?

In my home town of Bet Shemesh, there is a refreshing alternative for restless teens. For the second year running, local parents have created volunteering opportunities for teenagers (and even younger kids) in coordination with the city and private welfare organizations.

I was present at a meeting about a month ago which attracted several dozen young people (and their drivers). After an inspirational speech by one of the project's coordinators (her main point being that, in helping others, we are really letting those less fortunate than ourselves help US become better people - amen to that!), kids stood in line to sign up for voluntary activities.

The projects from chopping food in soup kitchens, to visiting with the blind and elderly, to shelving books in our wonderful Benjamin Children's Library, to working at one of the free summer camps run by the city's welfare department, to forming clean-up-and-recycle squads for the city's (much neglected) park spaces.

Spending a few hours a week doing good won't completely get rid of the teenage blues, and I'm sure most of those volunteers will also be "volunteering" plenty of time at the mall. But what a difference it can make to a kid's self image to know that they can make a difference in the lives of others!

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