Profile of a Volunteer

I have volunteered a couple of times but really it has been a very long time since I have really volunteered in a classroom with young children. When I have done some volunteer work, I have volunteered to help watch children many years ago. When I volunteered at the time it was a one time thing and it was for parenting classes. I have also volunteered with child care when a friend of mine was doing his Senior voice recital back when I was in college. It was so that the mother of the young child was able to attend the event.

The work that I have done has impacted others in a positive way because it made sure that the children had someone to look after them when there was no one else around that was willing to do it. It can also be a very selfless act because it means that you have to be willing to give up something that I wanted to do to do something that would make the mother’s life a little easier. I have also helped with grading papers for a third-fifth grade teacher and provided a little extra assistance to her for which she was very grateful.

The take-away that I view from volunteering is that as an advocate, sometimes the job really doesn’t seem all that glamorous and thankless. At the same time, when we as advocates feel like we are not making that big of a difference, we really don’t know the kind of impact that we are making in the lives of young children and their families until who knows when. The passion and the perseverance has to be there when you feel like no real difference is being made. The fact is that you may not be always thanked for your efforts, but they are appreciated by people even if it is not always apparent.

Using Social Media to Get Connected

My past and present experience with using social media is that of having had a MySpace page, which I don’t think is active anymore. I currently have a Facebook page, Twitter, I have a YouTube channel. With using Facebook, if I happen to be on my cell phone and I see an article that I find particularly interesting, I will post it to my personal Facebook page and then when I get onto the computer I will post it to the WUECO group that I am a member of so that I can share it with other people. I have not really posted anything to my Twitter account or posted any videos other than what I have filmed to my YouTube channel. I also use Google+ as well.

As far as what social sites lend themselves well to effective advocacy is Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. While all of these social sites can work really well, it doesn’t work if you really do not have that big of a following. The same holds true for having a personal blog. In order to make sure that you have more people that can actually access a blog, it is important to post the blog link to any other social media accounts. However having different accounts can actually lend themselves very well to advocacy issues.

I have signed up for one newsletter for one website and have posted a couple of links to articles to my blog. By finding different videos and posting them to my YouTube channel and then posting that link to both my Twitter and Facebook accounts as well as my Google+ account is a good way to advocate for different issues. By sharing some information about the particular issue in blog form, this can give me more of a chance to expand on how important I think that the issue is to the early childhood field. If any of my classmates can offer suggestions as well as other pointers on how to utilize social media as a way to inspire others about early childhood issues, please feel free to share.

Advocacy Messages

FATHERHOOD INVOLVEMENT

86 percent of dads spend more time with their children today than their own fathers did with them. However, a majority of dads (7 out of 10) also reported that they could use tips on how to be a better parent.

These PSAs are reaching out to all fathers to inspire and support men in their commitment to responsible fatherhood. The PSAs communicate to fathers that their presence is essential to their children’s well-being. The tagline “Take time to be a dad today” is part of an ongoing effort to encourage dads to play an active role in their children’s lives. The campaign also serves as a resource for fathers by providing the information they need to become more involved with their kids.

Audiences are directed to visit http://www.fatherhood.gov or call 1-877-4DAD411 for parenting tips, fatherhood programs, and other resources.

– See more at: http://www.adcouncil.org/Our-Campaigns/Family-Community/Fatherhood-Involvement#sthash.opx2nhty.dpuf

HUNGER PREVENTION

Hunger is a concern for millions of Americans, but many people don’t realize its disproportionate effect on children. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that nearly 16 million children, or one in five children in America, face hunger.

The new Child Hunger PSAs highlight how food banks work collaboratively with their communities to bring surplus food to children and families in need, including working with farmers, grocery workers, food bank employees and volunteers. The new campaign, which includes television, radio, print, outdoor and digital PSAs, is an extension of the Hunger Prevention campaign, first launched in 2008.

Additionally, a supportive PSA effort promotes the Summer Food Service Program, a service administered by many Feeding America food banks across the country, which provides children who rely on subsidized meals during the school year with free and nutritious meals over the summer. The campaign draws attention to the fact that, “summer isn’t fun when you’re hungry” and encourages parents to visit feedingamerica.org/summermeals to find free meals for their children through their local Feeding America food bank.

The Hunger campaign has also teamed up with Sony Pictures Animation to create PSAs featuring characters from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, inviting families to help solve hunger in their community.

– See more at: http://www.adcouncil.org/Our-Campaigns/Family-Community/Hunger-Prevention#sthash.Mc7Lbunm.dpuf

LEARNING AND ATTENTION ISSUES

“Understanding is everything”

In the U.S., one in five children struggles with a learning and/or attention issue. That’s 15 million kids ages three to 20, and many of their issues go undiagnosed. The adults in their lives often have a hard time understanding their issues due to misconceptions and a lack of information and resources. As a result, these children often face both academic and social challenges. However, with the right strategies and support, they can succeed in the classroom—and outside of it, too.

This campaign stems from the idea that parents can sense when their children are struggling but may not know why. Or what to do. By demonstrating the realities that children with learning and attention issues face daily, the campaign aims to increase the number of parents who are actively helping and seeking help for their kids. Parents are encouraged to visit Understood.org, a comprehensive, free online resource that empowers parents through personalized support, daily access to experts and specially designed tools to help the millions of children with learning and attention issues go from simply coping to truly thriving.

– See more at: http://www.adcouncil.org/Our-Campaigns/Education/Learning-Attention-Issues#sthash.FmVw1Wtl.dpuf

I think that these three different issues inspired me so much is that these issues are ones that face children a lot. I think that these issues are so important for creating action because in some form or another, all three of these issues affect or could affect all children in some form or another. By bringing awareness to people about these three issues, the public can have conversations with their own children and try to find ways to help out the children that may be in large part impacted by any one of these three issues.