Youth Empowerment and Volunteerism in Hong Kong and How It Impacts the Society - Dissertation Example

? Youth Empowerment and Volunteerism in Hong Kong and How It Impacts the Society No: Youth Empowerment and Volunteerism in Hong Kong and How It Impacts the Society Introduction Volunteerism is the unselfish attitude or activity of a person, community or organization for the welfare and benefits of other person, organization, community etc. Volunteerism is the main or prominent tool for youth empowerment in the society. Volunteerism and youth empowerment are interrelated parts. In this paper, we will discuss Youth Empowerment and Volunteerism in Hong Kong and How It Impacts the Society. Volunteerism is the activity that is done for the purpose of good deeds, to fulfill the human rights and for removing the tears of effected ones for examples voluntarily activities help or support in the time of earthquakes, accidents and air crashes etc. In return, of volunteer activity, one cannot get the money but he or she gets the respect in others as well as his own eyes. Volunteer activities consist of capabilities and expertise that a person has. The purpose of this study is to encourage the volunteerism as the part of the youth empowerment that would positively impact the economy and community and would enhance the abilities and skills in the youth of Hong Kong. As the communities and regions of the world developed, peoples have developed different ideas about the world or community they want to be in. Different ideas and different strategies were made to develop a perfect society. Youth are the major pillar of any society and thus, should have to work for the community or communal organization. Societies and communities have realized the role of youth in the development of the community. Youth have the potential to work more than adults and thus it is important to realize the importance of the youth development. The development of the youth also includes the youth empowerment, which is associated with the encouragement of the skills in the youth. Different authors have different opinions about the youth empowerment. Volunteerism is the key to secure the valuable resources of the community and thus its practice should be increased to increase the pace of the community development. The Hypothesis of the research is to discuss “The Youth empowerment and volunteerism in Hong Kong and how it impacts the society” and do “youth empowerment and volunteerism impacts positively the society of Hong Kong and do volunteerism and youth empowerment have positive economic impacts and positive societal impacts”. Literature Review Youth are the main and powerful elements of society. Youth are the cream of society through which society runs in a proper way. It is obligatory for any society to utilize all required resources for flourish and progress of youth. In Hong Kong, specific books have been written regarding the correlation between volunteerism and youth empowerment. The author in his book, “Youth Empowerment and Volunteerism: Principles, Policies and Practices” focuses that volunteerism is the key element, which helps the youth in their mental, and social growth. Volunteerism is the keystone for the youth empowerment. In the book, variety of hypothesis, models, patterns and perceptions related to youth empowerment and volunteerism are expressed in detail (Holosko, 2008). Many authors discussed the dissimilar cultures add their cultural background, values, traditions, ways of life, social and political structure to assist the empowerment of youth and volunteerism. As this is, written earlier youth is the main element of society so as the empowering youth means the youth that have lot of courage to run the society in a successful manner. The youth that have courage to give their services, voluntarily is the empowered youth because by giving services without any expectation of money or any other advantage can make the any person responsible and that is the biggest achievement for any society. Empowerment in youth empowerment enhances by adopting some basic principles. To trust on the thoughts and ideas of young ones. To give them access to take decisions and take positive steps to follow their decisions so that they feel contented. Give them chance for training, progress and development. To motivate them to use their own experiences and learning for creating their plans. In this way, society will be more independent, reasonable and fair (Holosko, 2008). Youth Empowerment and Volunteerism Empowerment means to trust the abilities, skills and thoughts of a person, group, community and the society for the mutual betterment and success of society. Empowerment is the need of any society for tackle with the unexpected events like earthquake; air crash any type of accident etc. Then volunteerism is the main element of youth empowerment in any society because through work voluntarily make the person responsible, mature and contributing person of the society. If all the persons of society work voluntarily for the mutual betterment, then the society will become empowered and prosperous. If the person will be empowered then he has all the confidence to take all right decision for himself. The earliest Youth Volunteer Network (VNET) was developed in 1998 for the encouragement of the youth who wants to work for the betterment of the society. VNET also made community-based network through which they fulfill community needs and help them in the time of accidental incidents. They also published 20 successful voluntarily service stories. Successful stories proves that Community based VNET has been running successful for several years because youth of Hong Kong used to tackle with the community problem of their best (Hkfyg.org, 2010). VNET also introduced school based volunteer network through which they motivates children to help other without any expectation. They also taught children that through voluntarily services, they will learn skills and it enhances humanity. VNET in schools have been running successfully for the last ten years in Hong Kong and children are taking part in voluntarily services. VNET also provides project based voluntarily services like in the holidays of summer, they ask youngsters to teach poor and needy children. Youth of Hong Kong performs their services of their best and because of their hard work and strength VNET have good relations with other organizations. VNET encourages youngsters by making them ambassadors in several programs. With the passage of time, youth volunteerism in Hong Kong has been increasing. It means empowerment of youth has been increasing. VNET also give the volunteers proper awards and recognition for their encouragement (Hkfyg.org, 2010). University of Hong Kong has done a great research on youth empowerment and volunteerism. From many years, Department of Applied Social Studies of City University of Hong Kong initiated the national and international volunteerism programs in which, they took both teachers as well students of University Of Hong Kong. This is the great idea of the department to take teachers and students both for giving social services. The program by the department was highly appreciated in Hong Kong and the youth take great part in this program. The program of giving social services by the youth has become entirely successful and later on, this program has become a huge plan for youth empowerment. After that successful program, two international conferences were held in University Of Hong Kong regarding youth empowerment and volunteerism in which, youth took a great part and share their ideas in the both conferences. In the first conference, a topic of cross-cultural exchange was discussed in which amalgamation of different cultures for youth empowerment the impacts were highlighted in detail. In the second conference, empowerment of youth by giving voluntarily services and the impacts on the mental and social status on youth was discussed. Both conferences were also appreciated and 800 for 14 countries took a part in these conferences (Holosko, 2008). The department of “Applied Social Services” supports a lot to teachers and students to learn social services and to give voluntarily social services to others. The outcome of these conferences was great; the potential of youth was seen in Hong Kong. They proved themselves empowered and responsible by doing practices of voluntarily services, and giving voluntarily services to others. In this way, they also urge other young ones to do voluntarily services for the betterment of society and for the empowerment of youth. Voluntarily services are beneficial for whole community because it minimizes the major problems of society for example to give voluntarily services to AIDS patients. Volunteer services encourage or promote the strength of community. Voluntarily services are for the betterment or help of others without any pay and it enhances the physical strength in youth. These services are for unknown people in the time of uncertain emergencies. Voluntarily services create the good interpersonal relationship between the people who needs services and who give services. Mainly voluntarily, services are done with the help of community-based organizations. Community organizations need youth because for the voluntarily services physically fit and healthy person is required who can give their services of their best. In Hong Kong, CNFC Youth Ambassador Program motivates young ones to help needy ones. Through this program, young ones take training to teach others like their class fellows, friends and their siblings to donate for their foundations. Because of that training and skills of voluntarily services, they can take admission in the International Baccalaureate program. The program is the diploma that train students for international careers and they can directly take admission in University. As the consequence of doing voluntarily services they can easily learn skills for their whole lifetime as well as they get the various advantages personally, professionally and academically (Cnfc.org, 2009). In Hong Kong, young people are the cream of the society. They used to work after completing their higher studies or in between studies. Young used to follow running trends in the society and motivational ads have positive effect on them. For example, the ads related to voluntarily activities in which they emphasize young to do volunteer activities for the betterment of society, in which they tell the advantages volunteerism that has a positive impact on youth. For example in some ads, advertising agencies in Hong Kong motivates young ones to do volunteer activities and show the advantages like it helps in physical fitness as well it engages mind in positive activities that reduces mental disorder. Youth of Hong Kong highly depends on communication devices like mobile phones, television, radio, newspapers, fax and social networking sites etc. Then motivational advertisements regarding empowerment of youth and volunteerism that are shown on television, radio, newspapers and social networking sites have great effect on them (Chan,2010). Community Youth Empowerment and Volunteerism Matthew Morton & Paul Montgomery (2011) have the view that “Youth empowerment programs aim to develop psychosocial assets among participating youths through a dynamic process that integrates connections with supportive adults, skill-building opportunities, pro-social environments, and regular involvement in program decision-making”. At another place Matthew Morton & Paul Montgomery (2011) quotes the Bronfenbrenner, 1979) that “Youth empowerment is based on ecological models of human development that emphasize the transactions between influences at the individual level and multiple environmental levels that shape youth outcomes”. In the similar literature, Matthew Morton & Paul Montgomery (2011) quotes that “A growing body of neuroscience research indicates that heightened risk-taking behavior during adolescence compared to childhood or adulthood is a natural expression of disproportionately reward- or sensation-seeking characteristics of adolescent brain development”. Volunteerism is the tool that can be considered to be benefiting the community in many ways. On the other hand, it is equally important for the mental and social growth of a person. The person involved in the volunteerism feels better mentally and physically as it releases the mental as well as physical stress (Helpguide.Org, 2012). The mental health contributes much in the physical health. The other benefits that a volunteer attains while volunteering, are the gaining of professional experience, personal growth and self esteem (London and Young, 2012). On the other hand, volunteerism saves a lot of wealth resources, as the volunteers work for the community or of the organization without or limited compensation. Volunteerism makes the social bond stronger and thus helps people to grow as the community. Volunteerism improves the quality of education, if volunteers are helping schools, it can support the working mothers by volunteering at day care centers thus helping the families to improve their social and economic conditions. Through volunteerism, there is much for the volunteers and other associated people to learn and to employ the learning in their lives to lead a better life (Helpguide.Org, 2012). Volunteer students having some difficulty in understanding the functions of the government may work for the local government or non-profit organization to better understand the procedures that the government follows. On the other hand, volunteers should join the organization of their interest regarding the future job they want to perform (Helpguide.Org, 2012). Young generation has the highest working energy and thus volunteerism involving youth benefits much. On the other hand, it helps the young people to develop certain dominant skills in them. Young generation has the particular path to follow and thus volunteerism provides an opportunity for the young people to choose the correct path for them. Every person residing in the community may play his part faithfully for the betterment of the community (Lam, 2012). Economy of Hong Kong Hong Kong is considered as the country with stable economic conditions. The word stable does not have the meaning that there is no market economy. Industry in Hong Kong is growing rapidly and comparatively, the region has more billionaires (gov.hk, n.d.). People residing in Hong Kong, have no or less time to waste. Business, art, industry, etc each organization of the country is developing at a much faster pace. In these economic conditions, the requirement for the volunteerism is much recognized and thus there is a need to develop such strategies to evaluate the positive as well as negative impacts of the volunteerism on the economic condition s of the region. The most suitable evaluation methods are to evaluate how many persons in the region have the major contribution in maintaining the economic conditions of the regions. The rest can volunteer in different non-profit or other organization for the development of the community. Volunteerism in Hong Kong is much required in the field of art and community services to develop community with more resources and less risks and less worries. The major influence of the volunteerism can be seen in such communities with few resources. Every contributing hand is considered as a brick, which is small but it has a major importance in community building. The communal ethics are much dependent on the volunteerism, as the community services are free from the tax and thus lack the proper resources that could be employed for the benefits of the community. Relation between Economic position and Community There is a unique relationship between the economic position of a country and the social impact of the economic position. On the other hand, the economic capability of a region determines the development of community with respects to the modern and the cultural perspectives of the community (Idealist.Org, 1995). The community development and the average income of a person are much related to each other. A commonly known term “socio-economic” is utilized to describe the impact of the development on the community. The major socio-economic impacts that remain the similar with little alteration according to the social and cultural values are alterations in the demographic value of the culture, analysis of the cost of community services and analysis of the market regarding the housing (Lic.Wisc.Edu, n.d.). On the other hand, household income and employment status of the household impacts the life style. Alteration in the community’s aesthetics is considered as the socio-economic impact. While, community’s requirements of the community services is also an important socio-economic impact. The socio-economic impact on a community can be determined through the fixed factors. These factors can be determined through researching the community’s behavior and the how the community is progressing by employing the factors. However, certain measurements of the factors should be employed. After the measurement of the factors, volunteerism can be employed where the factors are considered to have low socio-economic impact. For example, if the community lacks the community services, it can be provided through the volunteer services (Conocophillips.Ca, 2009). The volunteer services are free of cost and may provide better opportunities for the community and the volunteers. A volunteer service can provide all the lacking services to the community. The intercommunication between the members of the community may boost the volunteer services. However, the interaction between the members depends on the social setup, culture and the average household income of the members of the community. The intensity of the proposed factors may differ from region to region and from community to community (Lic.Wisc.Edu, n.d.). As the region of Hong Kong is developed and thus require less volunteer services; however the country may lack some of the community services (Conocophillips.Ca, 2009). Methodology A research is considered as incomplete without the adoption of a strong research methodology. As the topic is not new and many authors have presented their opinions and view on the topic, there is some difference between the views of the different authors. Research Strategy: The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of “youth empowerment and volunteerism in Hong Kong and their impacts on the society” and “how the volunteerism is related to the youth empowerment and how society is behaving considering the youth empowerment”. The research is based on different key concepts and opinions. The research may advance the study about the research questions regarding Hong Kong. The research may open new ways to understand the behaviour of the society regarding volunteerism and youth empowerment. The information was gather from different Website that are supported by the government of Hong Kong, books, journals and literary articles, newspapers and news websites and magazines. The publications by the government of Hong Kong are the best suitable way to attaining the information about the topic. On the other hand, the Government supported publications gives good idea about the government policies and the amendments in the policies. As the social norms of the society are changing, the views of the different authors about the mater are also changing, so is important to gather information regarding the change in the social norms. On the other hand, it is essential to have knowledge about how the community and the businesses are linked. Qualitative Research Approach: For this paper, qualitative study will be utilized that collects the information from different sources and then the information is analyzed for the relevant concepts and conclusions. In qualitative research approach conclusion is drawn by analyzing the collected information with the knowledge about the principles and laws about the topics. Interviews As the topic requires the certain typical statistics that would enhance the validity of the work, there is a need to utilize interviews as the qualitative research approach. On the other hand, the books, journals, news paper articles, news interviews, web journals, websites, magazines, etc should also be considered along with the interviews to evaluate the necessity and how much work is required to enhance the volunteerism in youth. The interview should be focussed on the youth opinions, beliefs and requirements. As youth cover a major portion of the population in Hong Kong, the interviews should be collected through the internet, universities, colleges and community centres. Secondary Data Collection: In order to research the topic Secondary research method is adopted. As the topic remained under discussion by a number of authors and researchers, there is enough secondary data available on the topic. Secondary data collection method utilized the research and viewpoints of different authors and then the conclusion is drawn by gaining the similarities and differences in the ideas. On the other hand, it gives an idea of the relevant source and authentic sources. The collected data is in unstructured manner and thus it is necessary to validate the data according to the topic. Validity involves the information that is necessary for the topic and discarding the unnecessary information. As the topic deals with the youth, it is better to view the university websites and sample the population. Conclusion Through the research paper, this is proved that youth empowerment and volunteerism are the interrelated parts. In Hong Kong University, Department of Applied Social Studies has been working for society for many years. Department motivates the young to do voluntarily services for the betterment of society. The department arranges various social programs regarding youth empowerment and volunteerism and many of students take part in these conferences and programs. CNFC Ambassador Program was also introduced in Hong Kong through which, children learn to motivate other children to give donations for their organization. VNET organization has done tremendous services in Hong Kong as well as youth take an intensive interest in this organization. Through VNET, community easily deals with the incidents and youth used to do voluntarily services when they need. Volunteerism saves communities resources. It is a cost efficient and provides benefits to the community as well to the volunteers. Hong Kong is the developed region but the requirement of the better communal services is always required. Youth are the main pillar of the society and thus the Youth Empowerment programs are encourage the youth to develop the certain skills which will benefit them in the future. Possible Impacts of Youth empowerment on Community Youth has a major influence on the society, as young persons have the high capacity to work and develop ideology for the remaining life. There is much for the young people to attain from the community and the environment. However, the social structure of the community impacts the mental capabilities of the young generation. Young people work in collaboration with the adults to evaluate their skills. Some have dominant leadership skills, some have recessive leadership skills but dominating other useful skills. The organization with more youth with trained adults may have more men at work and thus it will grow at a rapid rate (London and Young, 2012). The terms youth empowerment describes the certain actions that encourage the attitudes like the self confidence, etc and abilities like the leadership, etc in the youth. The term ‘youth empowerment’ is considered as the associated program of the ‘youth development’ (Empoweryouthleaders.Org, 2009). Youth have the major role in the development of the community as the programs are designed to make sure the involvement of the youth in the community services. The terms youth development is a vast terms and describes the communal factors that may enhance the role of youth in the community services and development. Youth volunteers have the largest potential as the volunteers, as the role of the youth is not such defied in most of the communities (Empoweryouthleaders.Org, 2009). Adults have to run the families and thus have the perfect role in bringing up the families. On the other hand, youth have fewer burdens on their shoulders and thus may involve themselves in the volunteering services for the good of the community. Young organization must promote the youth volunteerism, as the volunteerism involving the youth is considered as the best suitable method for bringing the change in the community. On the other hand, the change brought by the youth would be according to the modern standards. NGOs should also promote the youth volunteerism to facilitate a large number of people by providing the technical or economic support (Yes-Asia.Com, n.d.). The lack in the interaction between the social structures may find the ways to develop the volunteer communal services that may benefit both the community as well as the volunteers. Volunteers can choose the timing of their work and the duration they want to work for the community (Conocophillips.Ca, 2009). If a person can work for one hour, he should be freed to work for one hour for the community. Thus, there should be less limitation for the volunteers working for the community or for any organization. The number of volunteers should not be fixed. On the other hand, the human activity and impact on the environment depends on the economic position of the communities and the social knowledge attained by the members of the community (London and Young, 2012). References Chan, K. (2010). Youth and Consumption. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong, pp.50. Cncf.Org (2009). Youth Volunteering Activities - The Christina Noble Children's Foundation. [online] Retrieved from: http://cncf.org/en/how_to_help/volunteers_youth_volunteering.php [Accessed: 15 Nov 2012]. Conocophillips.Ca. (2009). Volunteerism and the Community. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.conocophillips.ca/EN/sd/investment/volunteer/Pages/index.aspx [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012]. Empoweryouthleaders.Org. (2009). Empowering Youth-Empowering Youth: How to Encourage Young Leaders to Do Great Things. A new publication for youth workers and educators. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.empoweryouthleaders.org/ [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012]. HOLOSKO,. et al. (2008). Youth Empowerment and Volunteerism: Principles, Policies and Practices. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong, pp.50. Hkfyg.Org.Hk. (2010). The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.hkfyg.org.hk/eng/yvn/index.html [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012]. London , J. and Young, A. (2012). Youth Empowerment and Community Action in the Central Valley. Youth in Focus, 1 Retrieved from: http://www.nrfc.org/ln/documents/SCANReport.pdf [Accessed: 14 Nov 2012]. Lic.Wisc.Edu. (n.d.). Socio-Economic Impact Analysis; from "Community Guide to Development Impact Analysis" by Mary Edwards. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.lic.wisc.edu/shapingdane/facilitation/all_resources/impacts/analysis_socio.htm [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012]. Yes-Asia.Com. (n.d.). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Economic Status. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.yes-asia.com/hongkong/economy.shtm [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012]. gov.hk (n.d.). Hong Kong: The Facts. [online] Retrieved from http://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/facts.htm [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012]. Lam, Stephen. (2012). Population policy to tackle city's challenges. News.Gov.Hk [online] Retrieved from: http://www.news.gov.hk/en/record/html/2012/05/20120531_101016.shtml [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012]. Helpguide.Org. (2012). Volunteering and its Surprising Benefits: Helping Yourself While Helping Others. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.helpguide.org/life/volunteer_opportunities_benefits_volunteering.htm [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012]. Idealist.Org. (1995). Resources: The benefits of volunteering .idealist.org. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.idealist.org/info/Volunteer/Benefits [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012]. Morton, Matthew & Montgomery, Paul. (2011). Youth Empowerment Programs for Improving Self-Efficiency and Self Esteem of Adolescents. Campbell Systematic Reviews. 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