Community Service as a Graduation Requirement

Students sometimes find it hard to find opportunities to complete community service hours but they often never have to look further than they're neighborhood or the local businesses and clinics and a lot of students are blinded to that fact(khan 1).Community service is something positive but it shouldn't be forced upon you to do it because it becomes more of an assignment and will be done half-hearted, and that's due to the fact that it focus more on the hours than the service itself(khan 1).

Although community service is a great way to give back to the community, it has been tainted by its use as a requirement for high school graduates. Forcing volunteer work should be recognized for more than just a bare minimum, is unfair to those who have other obligations and provides no lasting benefit to the students. Many people and schools believe that making community service not optional for receiving a diploma could only benefit the students it’s required of but in a way it’s more harmful than helpful.

Community service is a good way to help people in need, but if it is required you are not doing it for the right reasons. Students may not ever want to help people after they graduate because they will fell like its only something they do for school and they already got credit and graduated so why should they keep doing it. Students could volunteer if they want to help someone but if they are forced to do the work they may not be much of a help. They may do a bad job or be rude because they do not want to do it, they might have other things they have to get done.

Community service, one of the several pillars outlined by the National Honors Society (NHS), is defined as the desire to work and serve the community in order to improve the conditions for the citizens who dwell in it. Most importantly, those who uphold those standards do so without the need of money, or recognition; they are simply intrinsically motivated to make the world a better place. It wasn’t until I volunteered at an event hosted by the Jubilee Center that I learned the true meaning of community service and charity.

Winston Churchill’s quote "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give" embodies what community service is really about. Over the years I have had the pleasure of working for several organization and volunteering in a variety of different areas. There has been a community service experience that changed my life tremendously though. From 2009 until 2014 I had the amazing opportunity to work for the Nash-Edgecombe County Teen Court Program and doing so profoundly shaped my future.

Encouraging students to engage in meaningful, sustained community service and get involved in causes that speak to

The mission for adolescent and adult community service is to develop compassion and the spirit of service and charity in elementary, middle and high school. With that said, community service workers provide young people and adults with hands-on volunteer opportunities to help others in their local and global communities. For instance by being a part of volunteer community service work it can solve a few problems such as: health care, child care, literacy training, education (including tutorial services), welfare, social services, transportation, housing and neighborhood improvement, public safety, crime

As young adults, our characters are still being molded and we believe to have an efficient environment each individual should strive to be modified to his or her full potential. An aspect of community service promotes finding individuality and purpose in life. Actually connecting with hundreds who have

We are mirrors in the dark, covered in layers of dirt. We each have our own roles to fit into and that includes our contribution to the Earth and our own society. Involvement in community service can help us understand ourselves and see things more clearly. Community service allows us to labor away at the dirt covering us and realize that we can shine more than ever before by deflecting the attention off ourselves and onto someone else for them to glow. In response, the mirror of ourselves, lit by the illumination of others surrounding us so by our service we benefit ourselves and thus, push away the darkness of our own self-centeredness. To me, community service means people conducting voluntary work in order to make a change in a community

The act of volunteering is offering personal service to others with no fee. This promotes good moral in the community and a sense of personal pride. Along with the emotional benefits are those of a higher rank to promote yourself in an organization. Schools and organizations alike should require service hours to promote the student as well as the school.

Students are often close minded when it comes to learning, but when they are forced to volunteer they learn new things that are beneficial to their future. When helping others, students learn how to think outside the box and to be innovative. Volunteering can give students the chance to explore and be creative when helping those in need. Being innovative and creative can give students the chance to excel in their academics and school events.They take problem solving to a whole new level that they would have never thought of . Community service is a useful tool to give students a chance on a second outlook on

Imagine immigrating to a foreign country where uncertainty and unfamiliarity awaits. That was my family in October 2008 when we arrived in America as refugees, deprived of basic necessities such as food and clothing. We faced difficulties adjusting to the culture and meeting our needs. However, volunteers of all ages from different charities delivered and donated foods, clothing, and presents, and warmly welcomed us with comfort during a time of major adjustment in our lives. They guided my family in our transition as we apply for schools and jobs. Volunteering was also a rare and uncommon practice in my birth country, so the number of volunteers helping us in America made a good impression of the country to my family. As I grew up and attend high school in America, I realized the amazing and endless opportunities for young people to make a difference in other’s lives by feeding the homeless, responding to natural disasters, caring for the elderlies, cleaning the community, saving the lives of animals, and much more. Community service should be required to graduate high school because it provides essential skills, builds character, and promotes higher education for a successful life.

Discussing about volunteering to teenagers should be the first step for a better life, since teenagers are the future of tomorrow and they will leave a mark from yesterday. Volunteering has been such an important matter, that schools in many countries around the world established that 12th grade students will need certain hours of community service in order to graduate. But the frequent answers all the schools are getting are “Why do I need to volunteer? I have better things to do!” What people are forgetting is that each one of them is part of a community, a community that is not perfect and that the government sometimes forgets about their problems or needs, because obviously the government needs to take care of other things that require more attention. People are not only helping others, they are also helping themselves (Volunteering).

She explained that volunteering not only offers the chance to give something back to the community, but also aids her in developing new skills and gain a better understanding of the USA. She has volunteered at a variety of settings including in school, the town’s library and food bank. From the beginning of her freshman year, Linge became a member of the high school’s “Interact Club.” Students in this club are required to develop a plan, and execute community service projects both within the community and outside of it. The goal is to allow students to connect with community leaders, develop leadership skills, make new friendship within the school, and better our community. This club has strengthened her commitment to helping others.

Nevertheless, the common misconception linked to graduating College students is that they are well-rounded adults, who have done their time and are ready and able to enter the working force and go on with their lives. The fact of the matter is that not all recent college students are mature and knowledgeable on their community and the world at large. “Teens who volunteer increase their knowledge of the world and the problems that face it” (“Youths”). This quote is not only applicable to teens, but college students as well; unfortunately, college students become isolated from the rest of the world while they are in their course of study and do not make time to give back to the community that helped them become who they are.