‘90s FAMILY : How Kids Can Give of Themselves

People haven’t yet found a way to end suffering, but at least they’ve had enough time to practice the age-old medicine that can help stave off overwhelming despair: taking helpful action. The world’s religions espouse it and modern psychology explains it.

“The concept of being able to have some control over your environment somehow takes away the anxiety, or distresses, of bad things happening,” says Daun Martin, psychologist and president of the California Psychological Assn.

Parents may need to guide them, but children can find their own ways of giving, says Janine Olson, a head teacher at Pacific Oaks College and Children’s School.

“Then they are fulfilled, rather than fulfilling our value system,” she says.

Here are a couple of directions child-size efforts can take:

* The traditional food and clothing drives are good. At Pacific Oaks, the older children went further and planned a bake sale to benefit the homeless.

* Heifer Project International turns relatively small contributions into big yields by providing food-producing livestock to developing nations. For example, $20 sponsors a flock of chickens.

Brochures listing the animal gamut, from honeybees to milk cows, are available by writing to Heifer Project International, Route 2, Perryville, Ark. 72126.

* For more ideas, check out “The Kid’s Guide to Social Action: How to Solve the Social Problems You Choose and Turn Creative Thinking Into Positive Action” (Free Spirit Publishing, 1991).