It is saddening to me that a majority of today’s youth seems to be neglecting its duty as far as community service is concerned, preferring to spend the majority (if not the entire amount) of their free time in the company of many a mindless activity that will have served them no good in the end. 

I have spoken to countless teens who freely admit that, just to fill time, they will spend hours playing video games or, more commonly, surfing the net: perusing YouTube, updating their blog, or IMing, fingers flying, but their minds and bodies sitting still and unproductive. 

Try as we might to ignore them, however, there are hundreds of opportunities to make a difference - and not just in your best score on Grand Theft Auto X - just waiting out there.  Is what dissuades most from the volunteering front line simply the thought of hard labor?  It is tempting here to hop on my soapbox and wax poetically about how today’s juvenile work ethic is declining, but I will content myself by saying: who said it had to be hard?

Maybe to most teens the very words community and service in the same sentence elicit a picture of standing on some Highway 10 in the sweltering heat, wearing a loud orange safety vest and spearing garbage into a bag.  While this is a worthy endeavor, certainly, it is not the only way to abet your community. 

In fact, often times, you can pick and choose projects tailored exactly to your interests.  And there are a lot to pick and choose from.  Animal shelters, hospitals, nursing homes and churches are ideal places to start.   In addition, as wonderful as it is for those you help, you do not do yourself a disservice either, seeing as service hours are required in order to graduate, look wonderful on college resumes, and are perfect essay topics. 

Most teens are graced with a considerable amount of stamina considering that they are able to endure so much time in front of a dizzying computer screen.  Instead of using it to perfect the latest in DDR, is it really too much to ask the generation of tomorrow that we instead channel that energy into something that could help make us better people, and our world a better place?