"Students Should Not Be Forced to Do Community Service" This essay explains the negative effects of forcing students to fulfill a community service requirement in high school.

Do you think you would have the time and effort to add a forced 75 hours of community service into your life? Well, the Massachusetts legislature is considering adding this idea as a requirement to graduate high school! To those already with the high stakes of MCAS and 130 credits worth of courses to pass, students may increase the dropout rate. This requirement may keep many students back from graduating, could lessen the quality of service, and add more pressure to the already hectic life of a high school teenager. Students should not be commanded to do 75 hours of community service!

To begin, requiring 75 hours of community service could be a disservice to students because it could hold many back from graduating. A lot of students have a very busy schedule and might not be able to do the required amount of time of community service. It may be mandatory to go somewhere or to do something such as, work, sports, and family occasions. They wouldn't be able to attend the voluntary work. Community service can lower students grades because of a lack of time to do homework and a lack in study habits. This can hurt a students' grades and record. In addition, physically and mentally disabled high school students might not be able to participate in community service and they may have to stay back.

The quality of the community service work might not be the best if the students are forced to do the 75 hours of work. The students may not want to do it, so they may not give the same effort as volunteers would. Other students think they will waste their senior year or social events (prom, football games, etc.) You wouldn't want to miss out on preparing for the prom or the last football game of the season! If there are more students then community service spots, then students might not be able to choose which one they want to do. This may cause anger wherein the students may rebel and not work well. In addition to holding back students, pressure and stress is a disservice to the students.

Lastly, the pressure and stress from so many activities could cause many problems. For instance, a senior A+ student who also is a varsity football captain, may have to keep up his grades, go to work, play on a football team, help out at home and have a social life. Now add 75 hours of community service. His schedule is even more filled up then before! If the community service was voluntary, then some students who have the time, could do that, but people who do have other things to do, don't need the added stress of homework, midterms, finals, and projects are also a cause of stress. This is also a health problem. Teenagers are supposed to get about 9 1/2 hours of sleep a night. Well, if they have to come home from school and do about an hour of community service, two hours of sports, and then spend the rest of the night on homework, they won't be able to get the needed rest. Students may start bad sleeping habits from staying up very late and maybe even sleeping disorders!

As a result, forcing students to complete 75 hours of community service is a disservice to them. This requirement could hold too many otherwise eligible students

back from graduating. It could also cause the quality of work to decrease and increase the stress and pressure put on high school teens. High school is the place for students to learn the fundamentals of knowledge. Grades should be enough of a requirement to assess this.