I personally think that community service has the power to be a great and wonderful tool. I have a longstanding history with community service so I have seen the positive effects that community service can bring about. Throughout my life I have had to get so many hours of community service every year starting in sixth grade when we sort of officially became old enough to do things by ourselves. I had to get hours in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades because I could not pass CCD and become confirmed without these hours. And then, throughout high school, I proceeded to need a minimum of ten hours freshman and sophomore years and twenty-five hours junior and senior years in order to advance to the next grade and to graduate. These minimum were strictly imposed on us and we honestly could not graduate without the required hours. There are numerous true story examples of kids who did not complete their hours and then ended up not graduating. Therefore, that is my background with service.
Because of my longstanding history with service, I feel that I am well educated with it in order to speak this way about it. I personally think that service as great, as I stated earlier. However, I do not think that service is fulfilling its true purpose if it is something that is mandated by someone else. Volunteering is exactly just that, volunteering. If we are required to complete so many hours then that is not necessarily volunteering, now is it? To me, it becomes just another homework assignment that people hate doing. Once this service becomes mandatory, it loses all the characteristics that are supposed to come with it. People do not put forth the amount of effort that an actual volunteer would, and that, in turn, may end up actually hurting the company. Thus, I think it can be a great thing, but I do not think that community service hours should never be imposed upon someone unless court mandated, and they should definitely never be needed to pass a class.
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteThat is peculiar that they would have you complete hours to graduate! I did a lot of service hours from 6-12 grades; however they were never required, especially not for graduating. My schools did offer opportunities for volunteering and would always help students who did volunteer their time with awards and other such things. I agree though. I think that students tend to take for granted the experience they are getting and who they are helping when it is mandated. I think that most students in high school and junior high think of volunteering as a resume builder. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but if you aren’t’ passionate with the work you are doing, it will show in interviews. I think it is best to provide opportunities and maybe as a senior require a few, three or four, but not mandate for a large amount to be done. In high school and junior high, I feel like that responsibility falls on the parents and they are much too busy trying to work, raise kids, etc. Seniors can drive usually and the students will benefit from the experience and will be able to use it on their college applications. Overall, I am glad you enjoy volunteering! It’s important to have dedicated volunteers in any organization! Good Luck!
Shannon
Hello Jason,
ReplyDeleteI think mandatory service has it's ups and down. Yes, it loses some of it's meaning when it becomes mandatory, but I actually like the idea of requiring young children to use their time to go help the community. What else would they be doing, playing video games or getting into trouble? I think it teaches them something about the importance of using their skills to help the community. If they learn that at an earlier age and begin to like it I think it will be become something that they will want to do naturally without having to make it a requirement. Look at yourself for example. You said you think service is something great and very beneficial. I can't speak for your thoughts directly, but I have a feeling the time you spent serving as a younger kid influenced your opinions about service today. If we were never called to serve the community we would never understand it's importance. I believe requiring students to serve at a young age is better than trying to get them to serve in high school or college. As we get older we have more time commitments that prevent use from dedicating to a service opportunity, but during middle school we have less after school commitments and more time to spend doing other things. Well I think that's 150. Bye!