Would you like to know how to transform a delinquent teenager? Do you send him or her away to boot camp or military school? Teenagers who are involved in low-income outreach programs not only improve the lives of others but find themselves changed as well. The young person impacted by outreach will improve the local community, enrich their own life, and find a direction for their future. .
First, teenagers can improve their communities through efforts as easy as painting a fence, feeding the poor and organizing clothing drives. Dictionary.com says the word "improve" merely means "to raise to a more desirable or more excellent quality or condition; make better." When a teenager paints a fence they raise the quality of that fence to a higher standard. An example of teenagers improving a community would be an organization called The Xchanged Drama Company. This group of teenagers went into a local community and passed out 50 backpacks full of school supplies. Without this outreach, the majority of the benefiting children would not have had school supplies. Not only do they improve the community in which they are involved, but they also reform their own quality of life. .
When a teenager gives of himself, through physical labor or emotional labor, they gain an understanding of pride, self-esteem, and relationships. An adolescent that is proud of himself is more likely to have accomplishments and make long lasting friendships with people of the same esteem. This in turn keeps him or her away from people of negative influence. One example of this is a juvenile that I will call Jon. Jon had been in trouble with the authorities since the age of nine. He has been in trouble with drugs, gang activity, theft, and assault. You name it and he has probably done it. Then he was introduced to an outreach program that reached into his community for years. He got involved with helping others and now works in that community.