Volunteering In Schools Essay

Markets are not the best way to achieve a just society. They often allow the wealthy to have more freedoms and greater opportunities.

Over the past decade, as the job market has become more competitive - volunteering has become a way to show superiority when it comes to applying for positions in the work force. This influential change has encouraged high school and college level students to participate more in extracurricular activities. Most large corporations and firms are now looking to hire those individuals with outstanding GPAs, strong work ethic, and dedication of time and effort to other activities apart from their academic studies. Colleges such as Liberty University mandate that their students complete twenty hours of Christian service per semester.

In Dave Egger’s article “Serve or Fail’ he explains how college students should be required to volunteer for public service. Dave Egger’s describes how many college students spend most of their time doing things that aren't necessary such as “ maybe they're in their rooms, painting their toenails black with a Q-tip and shoe polish.”(180) I do not agree with Dave Egger’s that students should do community service hours because they are several reasons why they won't be able to. Many college students have families to take care of, jobs they have to work in order to pay off bills or attend school classes and etc.

He pointed out that there are even programs done by colleges and high schools in order to gain more than two million volunteer hours a year. Owning a lot of time, Being mature and able to handle wide range of tasks, and receiving the opportunity to discover a potential career, make Eggers believes that college students are uniquely suited to do volunteer work. Eggers admits that a service requirement will not work everywhere, therefore colleges could give credit for services instead of forcing students to finish a graduation requirement. Moreover, he thinks colleges could provide the service requirement in their junior year, because the students are settled and have more hours and stability in their schedules. Eggers emphasizes that volunteering is by nature transformative, even they are forced to serve, their sympathy will be shown once they meet those who need their help. In addition, there is no reason for colleges to ignore how students may contribute to the world.

“Serve of Fail” by Eggers brings up many interesting points as to why volunteering should be a requirement for college students. “Colleges should create in their students a lifelong commitment to volunteering,” he said while pointing out that college students are uniquely suited to volunteering. He stated that America would gain millions of volunteer hours and it would help colleges bridge the gap between the academic world and the world beyond it. I agree that colleges should make volunteering a requirements for students and I support Eggers argument, but have a different opinion on some of his points.

Volunteerism is dropping for emergency responders, and it is affecting how emergency services can be provided to local communities. Looking for reasons why volunteerism is dropping and what options are available for these volunteer companies and communities in order for them to effectively continue protecting the people and property within their communities is very important to me. If local fire companies no longer exist, how are people in the community going to be protected? In addition to fire suppression, firefighters are called on to assist with numerous other situations including auto accidents, downed wires, flooding, emergency medical service, hazmat incidents, and various rescue operations. There is simply not enough money to fund career fire departments for every community. Even in the

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).

In addition to taking away many hours of people's free time after school hours, the required 75 hours of community service is also pushing the students to do too much at one time. It isn't fair to the students who have to go home with backpacks full of homework each and every day, do their three or four hours of service, and still find a way to get the amount of sleep they need to repeat

I believe that I have the skills, experience, and knowledge necessary to make a good Junior Volunteer. I have experience caring for various types of animals. I've cared for my own pets, including dogs, cats, fish, mice, and gerbils, and I've also watched my friend's rats and my neighbor's cats while they were on vacation. Since my dogs and cats are family pets, I assume partial responsibility for them. This includes feeding, walking, and playing with them, and also cleaning up after them (for example, cleaning litter boxes). I also have been responsible for giving them medications in the past. In the case of my gerbils and former mouse, I have full responsibility. This means that I must clean the cage, feed and water them, play with them, and do all other tasks required to keep

In conclusion, is volunteering in exchange for an education really just giving communities free labor and take advantage of students? Is there enough support, and is it essential? It is clear through many sources, including our highest leaders, that public service benefits the student just as much as it does the community. Ultimately, students gain not only an education, but also the pride in being responsible to themselves, to their community and to their

As an 18-year-old tennager, I was forced by my parents to participate a summer volunteer program in my freshman year. Even though I felt that I was a victim of “tyranny” in the beginning, I realized that I actually enjoyed the process of helping people in the middle of the program. Now, I participate that program every year as an active member, and I have gained the personal enrichment that I am unable to learn from other sources such as math club or SAT preparatory class. There is no doubt that community service can bring essential benefits in helping students develop their moral value and future interest, and it should be mandatory because some students attempt to utilize community service as a tool for their own profit without the school supervision.

With this thesis I wanted to create a broader view on the systems behind all the critiques on volunteerism projects in order to contribute to projects that are both beneficial for volunteers as well as for host communities. The theoretical aim of this thesis was to contribute to the scientific debate on how volunteerism projects impact volunteers and host communities, through showing how this impact is influenced by processes of liminality and Othering. On top of that, I wanted to question the notion of “giving aid” as the starting point of volunteerism projects. The story represented two groups; volunteers and host communities, who joined volunteerism projects with good intentions. Some, however, unaware of the unintended consequences and how their expectations would work out.

Older students are more and likely to volunteer than younger students ( “volunteering”). Younger students want to spend more time on playing video games , hanging out with friends and doing what they prefer to do so volunteering doesn’t seem to come to mind. Teens of the ages 16 to 19, are more and likely to volunteer than other age groups of the age of 35 (“volunteering”). A little over a third of High School seniors volunteer at least once a month. Among all the Tenth Graders, the percentages and patterns was similar with the Twelfth Graders. In the Year of 1991 the percentage of Twelfth Graders who volunteered increased to 24%. (“Volunteering”). As many years came the percentage of Twelfth graders who volunteered increased. In the year of 2001 the percentages of Twelfth Graders who volunteered increased to 35% and stayed steady until 2010 ( “volunteering”). Between the years of 2010 and 2014, volunteering among both tenth and twelfth graders increased(“Trends”). Based on these statistics, it is clear that individuals should put in more time in volunteering because it helps a lot with the elderly and community.

Nowadays, it is very difficult to get a job without a College Diploma. Our ever-increasing demands on student’s academic performances have insured well-educated adults, but what we have failed to focus on is the vital component of volunteerism as an integral part of rearing well-rounded adults. College students should be required to complete a year of community service/volunteer work before they can graduate, in order to create mature and caring adults and versatile future leaders. By mandating all College students across the United States of America to add another year to their studies and use this year for community service/volunteer work only, we will be able to increase their knowledge of community need, civic responsibility, and allow

Before explaining the concepts of liminality and Othering and their connection to volunteerism, I will first explain how volunteerism is scientifically defined and approached. The term volunteerism is a coalescence from the words volunteering and tourism. Stebbins and Graham (2004) define volunteerism as volunteering “in an organized way to undertake holidays that might involve the aiding or alleviating the material poverty of some groups in society, the restoration of certain environments or research into aspects of society or environment (Stebbins and Graham 2004, 211). According to Beigbeder (1991) and Clark (1978), a volunteer is someone who voluntarily offers personal services, time and skills for the benefit of others. Stebbins and