This article1) is to identify the positive effects of adolescents’ voluntary service learning program on happiness. Happiness is the human right for everybody. According to Children and Youth Prevalence Rate in 2005 by Seoul City, 25% of children an...
This article1) is to identify the positive effects of adolescents’ voluntary service learning program on happiness. Happiness is the human right for everybody. According to Children and Youth Prevalence Rate in 2005 by Seoul City, 25% of children and youths under 18 years had problems in mental health. Although there have been many previous studies on the happiness of youths, the current school field in 2012 is dotted with school violence and suicides.
The study is to provide materials to compose happy school atmosphere by verifying that youth voluntary service learning program makes positive effects on youth happiness, developing and distributing food youth voluntary service learning programs so that they can have better opportunities to participate in youth service learning.
In this study, 20 high school students (10 males and 10 females) in Seogwipo, Jeju‐do were selected as subjects and Oxford Happiness Test was used as pretest and posttest to measure the sense of happiness of the subjects. Youth voluntary service learning program was used as an experiment tool. The results were analyzed using SPSS 12.0. Average and standard deviation were calculated and T‐verification was used to verify the difference in experiment group between the pretest and the posttest.
The following conclusions were induced from the study result.
First, in the hypothesis verification that the internal happiness, the sub‐factor of sense of happiness of the youths who participate in Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program gets significantly higher was accepted in the level of p<.001. It shows that youths’ participation in Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program makes positive influence in internal happiness.
Second, in the hypothesis verification that the relational happiness, the sub‐factor of sense of happiness of the youths who participate in Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program gets significantly higher was accepted in the level of p<.001. It shows that youths’ participation in Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program makes positive influence in relational happiness.
Third, in the hypothesis verification that the external happiness, the sub‐factor of sense of happiness of the youths who participate in Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program gets significantly higher was accepted in the level of p<.001. It shows that youths’ participation in Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program makes positive influence in external happiness.
Fourth, in the hypothesis verification that the self‐coordinating happiness, the sub‐factor of sense of happiness of the youths who participate in Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program gets significantly higher was accepted in the level of p<.001. It shows that youths’ participation in Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program makes positive influence in self‐coordinating happiness.
Thus, this study has the following meanings.
First, as Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program is verified to be a very useful program for happiness improvement, this study can be a meaningful previous study in happiness improvement program development in the future. Second, this program can be used as an effective educational program to make a happy school as well as happy people. Third, it is a field study with the interest in the improvement of happiness of youths.
In the times when youth suicides increase, their mental health status gets poorer and school violence is prevalent, Youth Voluntary Service Learning Program will provide and expand the opportunity of positive experiences, consequently increase sense of happiness and make more youths happy by developing positive psychology during the voluntary service. Such happy youths will change the school culture into positive and happy school and will help to stabilize voluntary services among youths.
Footnote: 1) A thesis submitted to the committee of the Graduate School of Jeju National University of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of education (Educational Administration) in August 2012.