Mandatory Public Service

Alexander Law Essay 1 English 124 September 16 Public Disservice Most people would not argue with the fact that helping the community is a bad thing. Some might even say that it is necessary in order to fully appreciate how critical community is. Performing public service is a valuable and rewarding way to give back you the community; this is especially true for high school and college students. However is it right that most schools and universities actually require this in order to graduate? The reality is however that people should not be forced into performing community service. It is overreaching to believe an entity such as a school can force someone to do something they do not want to do, or simply do not have the time for In the 1990s high schools around the U.S started doing mandatory community service, many believe this to be overkill as many students already want to help the community in various ways (Clemmet). Some believe that the students who do not want to perform community service are the exact reason why it should be mandatory. It could be argued however that these students that are forced to will end up resenting the community and not want to perform public service in the future on their own time. Many students in high school are more worried about their grades, significant others, and family and as such they simply do not have time to perform community service. This should suffice as these are the students who who will most likely learn a valuable skill in high school and college, which in turn can not only benefit the community, but the country by getting a good job. College students are expected to help their community in various ways. Some believe that college students are uniquely suited for public service, and can benefit greatly from doing so (Eggers, 649). Though it is true that they can benefit from doing so, the cost of it should be closely looked at. The time students use to help their community is time that is taken away from them doing homework and working to help support themselves. The cost of colleges today is astronomically high, and unless a student has a scholarship, he or she can very rarely pay for college without working or taking out loans. Supporting one’s self should be the priority; if you are fortunate enough to not have to work during school then public service could be a legitimate option. Many students however cannot take the time away from their studies and work. The statistics show that 7 in 10 people who graduate from college are 29,000 dollars in debt when they graduate (project on student debt). The fact that some colleges require public service knowing this statistic is unreasonable; how is a student supposed to work and make money if their time is spent elsewhere for no pay? People often criticize college students for being lazy and simply partying their way through school. Some believe that community service would it least give them something to do other then drinking and not taking life seriously. As a college student, I see how hard the majority of college students actually work. The misconception about students partying all day and night is vastly untrue. 71 percent of undergraduates work full time while attending school at the same time (CBS News). Though some students do not take their educational careers seriously, I would say the majority of students do. Knowing they have debt to pay off and that the real world is closing in on them is not lost on most students. Mandatory public service would simply take away time from the majority of hard working students, and make the lazier students resent having to do it. High school students usually do not work; however they should be more focused on simply enjoying school and playing sports. They will have plenty of time in the future to give back to their communities, and the majority of them will. It’s hard to get young people interested in the community, and forcing them to do so is counterproductive Service Learning projects are an interesting alternative to community service. As much as community service may benefit an individual and a community, Service Learning does the same thing but takes a different tact. In high school most students pick up trash at a beach in order to get their hours completed. It is a noble task to do, and helps save the environment. However, is this truly the best way to teach teens? The point of forcing kids to do community service, according to high schools, is to have them get something out of it. Service Learning is like community service, but lets the kids take the initiative on what they want to do. Service learning lets teens truly examine the needs of their community, and makes sure the service they are providing is actually meaningful as well as something they care about. Even so, Service learning is something else that should not be mandatory; however, if schools insist on making it so, it should it least mean something to the community and to the child. Some may get the idea that community service is bad and that no one should do it. The simple fact is students can allocate their time better by focusing on school and working, instead of being forced to perform Public Service. Schools are determined to make kids learn something that they perceive to be worthwhile, and there is nothing wrong with that. Service Learning Projects however take it one step further. If schools are going to force kids to learn something, it might as well be the right thing.