Opinion: Teenagers Have Become Impressive Fund Raisers

High-school students are increasingly raising large amounts of money for causes and are showing incredible skill at it, writes columnist Nicholas Kristof in an opinion article for The New York Times.

Mr. Kristof calls these young people “piggy-bank philanthropists” and cites several examples. Ana Slavin and Nick Anderson, two high-school students in Massachusetts, raised $420,000 through their nationwide campaign Dollars for Darfur, an effort to give aid to people in the embattled region of Sudan. Rachel S. Rosenfeld, a student in Harrison, N.Y., raised $57,000 to build an elementary school in rural Cambodia when she was bedridden for a year.

Mr. Kristof agrees with Sen. Christopher Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut, that it should be mandatory for high-school students to complete 100 hours of community service. He also believes that colleges should encourage students to take a year off to devote themselves to public service, as Princeton University has done.

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