Young people in Hong Kong are in lack of social awareness. Some critics suggest that local teenagers should do charity work by joining regular charitable activities as one of their school programmes. Write an article for your school magazine saying why yo

inadequacy of joining social activities. There is growing consensus that regular charitable activities be included in school programmes to alert students of the social happenings. This is undoubtedly a feasible and effective solution to the problem.Living in money-oriented metropolises like Hong Kong, it is not surprising to see that good academic result, which has long been seen as an indicator of well-paid jobs, is placed on the highest priority when it comes to secondary school life. Too much emphasis is placed on studying. Not much is devoted to keeping abreast of the social happenings. It is understandable that people want to achieve better future living standards, but this should never be the excuse of attaching no importance to the things around them. In this case, only by making charitable activities compulsory school programmes could the young taste the bitter-sweet social life.You may wonder: it does nothing to help us acquire better school results, then isn’t the idea entirely meaningless? Yes, we cannot achieve better results in return to our efforts paid in the programme. But instead we are rewarded things which are much more valuable – the sense of community, the sense of sympathy, self-criticism and,most importantly, a new definition of life.Over these years, Hong Kong has experienced the sour of economic downturn. Arising from the phenomenon, the disparity between the haves and the have-nots is now a major concern of the community. However, as a group of people who have their physical needs and vanity gratified by their parents, it is not probable that teenagers nowadays are aware of the poverty problem. In this case, joining charitable works such as visiting the under-privileged families and selling flags can help them better understand the staggering situation of the issue. Not only does it inspire the young to exercise self-criticism on their luckiness, it also helps them to review the role they are playing in the community. Through the process they learn how to care and to contribute, which these essential elements in life can never be acquired from textbooks.To understand love is the prerequisite of experiencing love. Only by learning how to give and care could the young live a life of love and happiness. Such happiness is not what wealth can bring us. As long as students are not aware of it, all we can do at this stage is to make the try compulsory. The significance of including charitable activities in school programmes is beyond dispute.