Source: Chapter 5: Volunteer Activities from Monograph vol.53, " Relationship with Society - the Social Awareness of High School Students" edited by the Educational Research Center, Benesse Corporation, May 1, 1998 (Supervising Editor: Dr. Masashi Fukaya, Professor, Tokyo Seitoku Junior College) |
2. SELECTED DATA AND SUMMARY | |
(1) | Volunteer Activities by High School Students The highest percentage of the students (43.6%) who joined volunteer activities, joined as a part of the school curriculum or school events: 25.3% volunteered through their schools; 19.5% took part in volunteer groups or organizations; 11.7% joined on an individual basis. Thus, many students join these activities through schools rather than on personal initiative (Table 1). 75% of those who joined such activities volunteered only one to three days (Table 2). Many activities are related to the preservation of nature and the environment, such as picking up garbage, cleaning up the community, collection of empty cans and recycling waste materials. |
(2) | Gender Differences in Volunteer Activities Female students have more experience in volunteer activities than male students (40.9% for males and 49.0% for females) and are more satisfied with those activities (Table 3). 34.8% of the female students expressed a desire to take part in such activities if given the opportunity, while the ratio was only 15.2% for male students (Table 4). |
(3) | Volunteer Activities through Schools 55.2% of the students who have no experience in volunteer activities wished to take part in such activities if possible (Table 5). There are more students who think their schools should provide them with these opportunities than those who do not (Table 6, Table 7). 90.5% of the students who participated on a voluntary basis felt satisfied while only 80.5% of those who joined such programs as school events were satisfied (Table 8). It is, however, still meaningful for schools to introduce volunteer activities. When schools have such a program, the students tend to become more positive and active in volunteer activities (Table 9). |
(4) | Views on Volunteer Activities 71.2% of the students support the voluntary nature of these activities and 72.2% like the idea of not receiving compensation. 58.4% think that they should volunteer for their own sake; 57.6% consider it an obligation as a member of the community (Table 10). Three out of four think that high school students should engage more in volunteer activities (Table 11). Those with experience in volunteer activities are very positive about such involvement regardless of the reasons for participation. |