Changing Community Service Requirements

[husker 0]

First off, I think that the community service hours and high school should be raised, because it seems we can never do enough to help the world. It's only 20 hours at my high school, and I did 80 our the summer before I was even officially a freshman, so it's not that hard. Just bumping it up by 5 hours could change a lot.Also, I think they should do a type of "hidden" community service. They shouldn't tell us what would count as community service, we would just have to do it and come back to the office and they would either approve or disapprove it. This way, kids are not doing work just for the hours, but hopefully out of the goodness in their heart (if you can find that in the world today). They would do something for good not because they have to. The downside to this is people would probably recognize what does and doesn't count and would catch on anyways. So, if that happens, I think we should force them to do a brief essay explaining what they got out of what they did. Make it a learning experience rather than a working experience.Do you think this would go over well? If you have any more ideas, ways to make it better, or feedback, just respond to this post. Personally I think it's a great idea, but I might be missing something about the bad side of it.

[Plenoptic 0]

Well I think it's sort of sad that high schools have to require community service hours. Don't you think we should do it anyway? My school, in order to get a scholarship you have to have 75 hours of community service but none is required to graduate high school. Colleges prefer if you have been active in your community though. I think we all should just help out out of the goodness of our hearts. You might learn something. I think we should have requirements for our high school, I think we used to but not anymore.

[tractor 0]

I think your right. 20 hours is only like 2 days of working if you don't work all day. I think it should be 40 or somthing. Just go out and help the city and people. I mean its really not that hard. THink when you get a real job when your 20 or so. That will be hard think of this as helping. Don't think of it as stress hard working labor.

[garbage 0]

I think its good that they do asome sort of community service, it looks good on college applications.. it helpsout with the communities they live in.. and also it helps them realize that there are things to value ...

[Cerebral Stasis 0]

Personally, I was brought up by my parents to be a bit of a recluse, and as such community services does not come easily, nor does working in groups. Therefore, by circumstance, such a requirement could be a dreaded and looming thing, especially if I didn't have much free time (due to personal projects and such), as well as the fact that I easily sunburn and my eyes are overly sensitive to the sun's light (not meaning I see extra-well in the dark, just that sunlight hurts my eyes very easily).Would it still be fair to require the same of me in order to graduate high school, regardless of my academic records?

[morosophos 0]

In order for true service to have a vital impact upon the world, it has to be continual and selfless. Continuity is essential because benefaction is a process rather than one solitary deed; social justice, for instance, while possibly including the drop of change into a panhandler's mug, is not limited to it. The person who drives the service must therefore be committed to what is to be done, or else there is no cause preventing him from dropping service. This also suggests that selflessness is necessary for service. Service can include either direct labor or management, but both require work, usually without return. That is, service is often a job without payment, other than any ethereal or spiritual growth that may naturally come with such service. It would be foolish for a person to commit to community service expecting yield for himself; after all, community service concerns aiding the community, rather than oneself, at least directly.

 

In order for there to be either of the two requirements to have real service (continuity and selflessness), there must be a compelling force exhorting the performer of service. A sole driving force originating from the world outside is the influence for service; the force may take any form: emotional, mental, or societal. For instance, compassion (an emotional force and response to suffering) is often an excuse for service. People are moved by the pathos of poverty, or else some other injustice. Perhaps someone like Mother Theresa may be classified in this way, who cared for the impoverished in India without regard for herself.

 

Contrarily, we may also take as an example school service. Schools that put service requirements are imposing societal forces upon the students so that they may do service. The students are obligated to the service hours in order to graduate or win scholarships. Already, the school is dangling a carrot before the students, a reward for service, or if not a reward, a threat lest they neglect their service. Rewards soil the concept of service, and by doing such the school does not require their students to do service at all. What the school is demanding of the students is slave labor, since the majority of the students are not going to be doing it on account of kindness.

 

The implications of this is that the students' service is neither continual nor selfless. As soon as their service projects end, many of them will quit their service locations and cease the activities having been required. The student has gotten hold of the carrot (the scholarship or diploma) and no longer has a reason to continue running. Teasing students into service with graduation and scholarships in no way encourages selflessness in service; the students have a goal other than service itself.

 

Reflections will not solve this problem, either. I know of one school in particular that requires service and reflections afterward. Most of the students have gained nothing from their "service," and hastily fill out the forms with exactly what the teachers want to hear. Reflection essays are effectively another obstacle in the way of a diploma or scholarship: nothing more. There is nothing that can be done after the service project to make these students comprehend not only that service is needed, but that they are directly responsible throughout their lives for meeting service.

 

Selflessness and continuity are usually instilled from early childhood by the parents, and their growth is also greatly hindered or augmented by the children's living situations. If parents who are apathetic to service have children and do not expose them to the idea, then it is unlikely that service will come naturally to the children. Likewise, if the children are born into a poor family, service is also unlikely, since their background is filled with feelings of hopelessness, or perhaps they think that poverty is the social norm, or that their emotions are tied with contempt for the more affluent. Therefore, the most effective way to inculcate the need for service in a child is in early age, combatting the negative forces or supplementing the positive. The knowledge they must gain is the reason for service and their connection to it.

 

If one does not understand the nature of service, how can one put it to action? And if one does not feel the need for service, what reason does one have to do it?

[Fimm 0]

First of all, I want to say, that I'm not american - and we don't have this type of services in my country. If somebody wants to help in something - he looks for a place. Of course, schools and city authorities organize something like this, but it's completely voluntary. It's not even in your papers, when you complete something like this. Of course - ther are few people getting involved - but all of them want to do it. And I think it's the best sollution, because, like morosophos wrote earlier: "In order for true service to have a vital impact upon the world, it has to be continual and selfless". And i don't think that it can, if it "looks good on college aplications", or even is required from somebody.

[tractor 0]

I also think that you should do it because and not because you have too. It is suppose to be helping others not working to graduate. I think they should do atleast a day (12 hours) of the work by themselfs. And maybe more. Then do other stuff for there school.

[rsf 0]

I don't think the schools should require it to graduate or anything. My school does not require it to graduate, yet I still have to do community service to stay in National Honor Society.It shouldn't be a rule, it should be a choice. The people who are out there doing work are the people who will get into a successful college and do well later on in life. If someone doesn't want that, then they shouldn't be forced to work.

[tractor 0]

It shouldn't be a rule, it should be a choice. The people who are out there doing work are the people who will get into a successful college and do well later on in life. If someone doesn't want that, then they shouldn't be forced to work.

Same. I think that it should be like a honor class. When it is easier and better to get into colleage. And it is kind of like a extra way to get accepted to a collage.

[Fimm 0]

I don't agree. Extra privilages would be even more destructive for the idea than anything else - people would be still doing this "because of something", not "in spite of everything". They wouldn't be voluntaring to help other people, just to help themselves.

[Saint_Michael 3]

IMO the School system should get rid of it, how is it volunteer when your forced to do it. I don't mind it being done I think it is good to volunteer once in awhile. But really how is it necessary for graduating high school? The only thing your learning is how to be a good, caring person, well you are suppose to be doing that already. Most colleges don't even look at it, unless you have to done like 300-400 hours of it.They might as well force us to join the the military in order for people to graduate, in order to prepare us for the real world and shatter that buffer zone we had for the first 18 years. I don't know the countries off the top of my head but in some if your born there you are forced to join the military.

[osknockout 0]

To name some off the top of my head, that would be at least Switzerland, Israel, and Finland, St. Michael.And I'm pretty sure you can opt out to do 'civil duty' instead in some of them. Which is the same thing as service hours really.Personally, I don't like the system either. I mean, I've done like maybe about 200 service hours participating in fundraisers for cancer research, but I don't think service hours should be an institutional requirement if they're supposed to be voluntary.And they already are an 'extra way to get accepted to college'. Correct me if I'm wrong, but colleges take into account whether you're in a service club like Key Club or some honor system like NHS which require service hours. It's not like these clubs do anything real besides giving required 'voluntary service' to the community. And half the people I know in NHS are in there for the college resume, not volunteering, so the system is still corrupted in the sense that a lot of people are doing it for themselves.The only reasoning I can see for service requirements is to shortcut a way through the maintenance budget by using a bunch of high schoolers to do various jobs for free. So I see no reason why we should bump up service requirements. Unless you're talking about the US government saving taxpayer dollars of course.