President Bush’s visit to Philadelphia last week to promote the value of community service and his new USA Freedom Corps didn’t draw much national attention.

The event was overshadowed by other news of the day, the conviction of Andrea Yates for drowning her five children, the unveiling of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge’s new multicolor, terror-alert system.

If Americans saw anything of the president’s stay in Philadelphia, it most likely was his memorable performance of “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” complete with all the appropriate hand gestures.

The president deserved better. His efforts regardless of whether they go far enough to encourage service, and volunteerism are critical parts of the attempt to convert America’s new patriotism into productive activity on the domestic front.

His visit spotlighted activists and volunteers of all ages, but teen-agers and young adults are the most important audience for the general message. Why? Because they are the ones with the energy and often the time to devote to community service. And if they get hooked on it now, they’re likely to stay involved for a lifetime.

Even before Sept. 11, you often heard it said that today’s young people were the volunteer generation, that for them service had become a peer-imposed expectation.

A recent survey of 1,500 individuals age 15 to 25 conducted in January on behalf of several nonpartisan groups seeking to enhance civic engagement paints a more complicated and less glowing picture. One of its central conclusions was this:

“Overall, the terrorist attacks and the war appear to have influenced the way young adults feel about the government, their communities and, in theory, about their own civic and political involvement. … However, these tragic events have not yet impacted young adults’ community or political behavior. Relative to two, four and six years ago, levels of voter registration and volunteering are down.”

But the new attitudes provide an opportunity to reverse some of those trends.

Enter President Bush. In addition to talking about the joys of service, something he loves to do, he reiterated his call for expanding AmeriCorps from 50,000 slots to 75,000; starting a new, part-time Citizen Corps to assist with homeland defense; growing the Senior Corps; and increasing the size of the Peace Corps from 7,000 to 15,000.

A more ambitious proposal, offered by Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and John McCain, R-Ariz., would take AmeriCorps up to 250,000 slots, and make military enlistment more attractive by expanding benefits for service members.

Some conservatives have belittled such initiatives on the grounds that they do not represent pure volunteerism, given that they bear the imprimatur of government and often come bearing stipends or college scholarships. But the survey suggests that these efforts are on the right track.

The pollsters found that young people will commit their time to community service only if asked, whether by a friend, a respected religious or civic organization or by their government. And they’ll be more likely to say yes if and when they come to believe that doing so has become the norm.

Consider that 81 percent of those asked said they would like to see AmeriCorps expanded to the point that every young person would have the opportunity to give a year on a voluntary basis, in exchange for money toward college or training.

“They’re all dressed up with no place to go,” said William Galston, a professor at the University of Maryland and a former domestic policy adviser to Bill Clinton.

“If we have a vigorous response from our public institutions, asking or telling young people to serve, I think we’ll convert the sentiment that’s out there into positive action,” Galston said. “If we simply leave it up to individual choice, I think things will subside very close to the status quo ante.”

And that would be a shame.

Larry Eichel is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. His e-mail address is leichel@phillynews.com.