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Community Service

In: English and Literature

Submitted By cassielove
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Community service should be required in order to graduate high school.
Community service helps an application look professional when an employer sees the work experience that a student has. To begin, Donna St. George, journalist for The Washington Post states “Many people were more likely to work in professional and business management due to volunteering as an adolescent.” This is important because it shows the impact that community service has on the type of work an individual continues with, which helps with getting and keeping a job. Also, the article “Even When It’s Mandatory, Volunteering Is Good For Kids” states, volunteering is good for many students because it gives them work experience, and it is good for their future careers, and community service helps inspire them to find an interest he or she likes. To end, Alina Tugend a journalist for The New York Times states, “Students who volunteered were more likely to contribute the community and to vote when they came of age”. This is important because it is showing the relationship between those who volunteered and those who didn’t. Those who volunteered were much more likely to engage with the community and continue to help. Therefore, community service is good for students because it helps with finding a place of work and feeling good about it.
Secondly, community service allows students to use skills they learn in the classroom beyond the classroom, such as responsibility, organization, or problem-solving. Kelly Vaughn writer of the article “Should It Be Mandatory For Students To Perform Community Service To Graduate?” state's, community service is good and honors both ends of the service. When a students volunteers they are not only improving their own lives but they are improving others as well. This shows the amount of importance volunteering has on both the lives of the volunteer and the person receiving the service. Also, Michael Nocella, journalist for The Ithica Times, also states students end up giving back to their helpers, which shows responsibility. Responsibility is a skill that a student learns in as early as kindergarten and is kepts through the rest of adulthood. Lastly, the article “12 Reasons Community Service Should Be Required In Schools” states that taking part in community service teaches students skills that are valuable to employers, like problem-solving, teamwork, and the ability to follow instructions. All of these reasons are because of the skills that schools taught their students like being responsible and acknowledging the people students work for, keeping organized with a schedule of all the volunteering being and problem-solving when something goes wrong.
Another reason is, community service also has positive impacts on the behavior of students. The article “12 Reasons Community Service Should Be Required In Schools” states students who do community service work learn that they can actually make a difference with what they do. This helps students better understand their own competence, leading to more self-confidence and a can-do attitude that can spread to their work and academic pursuits. The article also states that as students work within their community, they learn that they can be responsible for making great things happen. This helps to build a sense of responsibility in students, and a sense of pride when they see what they’ve done is actually helping others. The article “Even When It’s Mandatory, Volunteering Is Good For Kids” states behavioral problems would decrease with volunteering being mandatory due to the positive outcomes that follow. And by volunteering, students have a higher chance of a better and more successful life. Molly Latham, at the University of Nevada states eighty-one percent of Americans who volunteer as an adolescent are more likely to give to charity as an adult. Giving to charity has positive impacts on an adolescent because they are giving to the community and still helping others financially, mentally and physically.
Although there are some critics who believe otherwise. Such as, Sarah D. Sparks. Sparks states “Some people might have thought this would build up an individual sense of volunteerism, I don’t think it ever really achieved that focus, because there’s a bureaucratic nightmare that could come from that. So instead we’ve tied to to the curriculum”. This statement says that the many rules and procedure of volunteering are too complicated, so many students don’t wish to volunteer, which makes it become mandatory for students. This statement cannot be refuted because it simply states the truth of volunteering.
An article “Should you have to volunteer in order to graduate?”states, “Some students have to work after school and weekends to help support their family or to buy the clothes and supplies they need for school. Many high school students have very busy school, work, and sport schedules that barely leave time for sleep. Adding community service requirements would severely stress some high school students who work long hours simply to keep their family financially afloat.” Although this article has a fair argument it can still be shown that volunteering is good for students because of the positivity it has on them. This also helps them get better jobs than the ones they have while in high school. Lastly, James Roland writer for Livestrong states, “Once you begin to volunteer and organizers of that particular activity or program see that you're a valuable asset, you make be asked or encouraged to do more. This can lead to scheduling problems and leave less time for school, family, work and other obligations. It's important to know at the outset what the expectations are of your volunteer work and to make clear to organizers just how much time you can devote to the cause. Setting boundaries is a necessary evil in the volunteer world.” James Roland has a good point, although scheduling can be a problem it can be solved by talking to a teacher or an adult helping. And parents also have a say in the hours students may work and if volunteering is done through the school, teachers are more understanding of the problems that may arise. Overall, community service should be required in order to graduate because it helps improve behavior like decreasing teenage pregnancy and the attraction to drugs, helps get a job that is more professional and also allows students to use skills they learn in the classroom outside of the classroom such as, organization, responsibility, and problem-solving.

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