Many people are able to find this in a community. Being part of a community can be essential for youth. Young people especially need to feel safe and understood, as it helps them later in life. Feeling like they belong somewhere gives them reassurance: “[they take] that strength and those ‘good thoughts’ with [them] into the world” (Alvord 303). The encouragement that young people often find within a like-minded community is a feeling that they will keep with them as the years pass. It is a sentiment that they can remember when they are feeling anxious or like they do not belong. Without a sense of belonging, people begin to feel alone and stressed, and it becomes harder and harder to function normally in society. Being part of a community “provides a feeling of inclusion in something larger, of having a set place in the universe where one always belongs. It provides connectedness and a blueprint for how to live” (Alvord 305). People are not meant to be alone, and when they are, it affects how they see themselves and the world around them. It is vital, not only to youth but to everyone, to feel accepted into a community because not having a connection to a community harms how people feel about themselves, and it deprives them of a necessary component of learning. They are not able to observe others in the same way, which is an important part of a person’s learning process. Without a connection to a community, people are not as happy as they can be and not as intelligent as they can
Many people are able to find this in a community. Being part of a community can be essential for youth. Young people especially need to feel safe and understood, as it helps them later in life. Feeling like they belong somewhere gives them reassurance: “[they take] that strength and those ‘good thoughts’ with [them] into the world” (Alvord 303). The encouragement that young people often find within a like-minded community is a feeling that they will keep with them as the years pass. It is a sentiment that they can remember when they are feeling anxious or like they do not belong. Without a sense of belonging, people begin to feel alone and stressed, and it becomes harder and harder to function normally in society. Being part of a community “provides a feeling of inclusion in something larger, of having a set place in the universe where one always belongs. It provides connectedness and a blueprint for how to live” (Alvord 305). People are not meant to be alone, and when they are, it affects how they see themselves and the world around them. It is vital, not only to youth but to everyone, to feel accepted into a community because not having a connection to a community harms how people feel about themselves, and it deprives them of a necessary component of learning. They are not able to observe others in the same way, which is an important part of a person’s learning process. Without a connection to a community, people are not as happy as they can be and not as intelligent as they can