Youth Voluntary Acvivity As A Resource For Social Development

Voluntary activity in any society is considered to be an effective tool for involving young people in public life, increasing their social and political participation, and providing opportunities for realizing their potential. The current difficult situation caused by the spread of the Coronavirus infection has served as a kind of trigger for the development of new forms of voluntary activity, including "socially distant volunteering". The use of digital methods and technologies significantly expands the opportunities for attracting additional youth resources, as it allows people to get direct access to the information bases of volunteer organizations from social networking sites and significantly simplifies the process of voluntary participation. However, attracting a youth voluntary resource requires direct assistance from institutional structures, including assistance provided at the regional level, since young people do not always understand all the areas voluntary help could be applied in. Targeted information and propaganda work need to be conducted among young people to form an infrastructure to support youth volunteering through the introduction of some programs and projects in educational institutions, youth centers, and centers of additional education, as an integral part of the teaching-educational and educational processes. The authors of the article, based on the comparison of the results of the sociological survey conducted at different times on the territory of the Kemerovo Region, revealed the students’ attitude to voluntary activities and identified the main problems that arise in the work of voluntary and volunteer organizations when choosing participants for the implementation of their projects.