While it would be great to live in a country where all of us, both as individuals and corporate entities, took responsibility for giving a hand where it's most needed, the sorry fact is that while it may be good for your soul, volunteerism as a social policy doesn't work all that well. The reasons are pretty commonsensical when you think about it. Our social problems are deeply rooted both in history and economics. While many studies show that mentoring can reduce dropout rates and drug use among such teenagers, the only kind of mentoring that works dependably is the kind performed consistently, week in and week out, with no excuses. Kids need to be able to depend on their mentors as they have so little else in their lives that has proved dependable.
More people claim to be volunteering than ever before.
According to Independent Sector's study, more than half of American adults over age 18 say they did some volunteering in 1998, an increase of 13.7 percent over previously surveyed periods. This is an important and laudable trend in volunteerism, but 1,200 volunteer mentors in a city with more than a million schoolchildren is still just a drop in the bucket. Its difficulty in recruiting points out just how tough the task at hand can be. Susan J. Ellis, an expert on volunteering who runs a consulting company called Energize Inc., identifies just a few of the roadblocks. First off, she notes, volunteering rarely happens where it's most needed.