A continuous debate that is currently receiving much attention is whether community service should be a mandatory graduation requirement. Preparing students to effectively function in the real world is an important aspect of our education system. Today more than ever, there is an emphasis on having experience before beginning work. Most jobs are now focused on looking past your resume to see what you have given back to the community. Nevertheless, it is important that schools focus on preparing college students for the work force by mandating that they receive all of the necessary exposure and experience. Numerous schools across the country have mandated that in order for their students to graduate, they must complete a predetermined amount of community service. In Maryland, high school students are required to complete a minimum of 75 hours of service in order to graduate. However, this decision has resulted in a lot of mixed responses. Advocates of this decision stress that mandatory community service opens doors for students, while the opponents feel that it takes away valuable time from students who need to focus on their education. I believe that gaining experience outside of school is critical for future success in life. To ensure that students are prepared to transition smoothly from school to work, they need to be involved with the community while in school in order to build the leadership skills that are necessary to succeed.
Advocates for mandatory community
Many schools require students to participate in community service, but I think this is a good idea. Many schools do not require students to volunteer in community service. I agree that students should have to volunteer to graduate. I think that students should be forced to volunteer for community service sometime in their high school career as it makes people work and shows them what work really is. It also gets people off there lazy tail.
High school administrations care about the well being of their students. They aim to guide the students in a way that will prepare them for the future ahead of each student. Thus administrations of high school have certain requirements that students must finish before graduating. There is one requirement that is commonly debated by high school administration and students, this topic being community service. Community service should not be required in order to graduate from high school since forcing students to volunteer leads to false information on their records, forcing students to do so does not mean that they will continue doing community service after they graduate, and it does not mean the student will mature.
What does community service means to me? Well, to me community service mean helping your community become a better place. When you do things for your neighborhood, it makes you feel like a better person. There are all sorts of activities you can do in your community. You can work with children at school, work with the elderly, or help people that are less fortunate and make their day very special. Community Service is very important because it gives you a chance to bond with the people in your neighborhood. It will also give you a chance to give back to your community , you’ll learn a lot from your experience, and you’ll make a difference in someone’s life. I recommend a lot of people to go out and make a difference.
When applying for a position at a job, managers always check to see how much experience you have in order to check if you are qualified. When filling out a college application there are always questions that ask to write down any extra curricular activities you participated in or any clubs/service work you did and for how long. It is important to be a part of the community and to be dedicated to one or two locations for a certain amount of time to show commitment and effort. A student that has been a part of an organization for about three months and has not missed will be prefered at a college than a student that goes five times a month. Community service does not only help build relationships but allows students to spend their time learning new skills and it will benefit them in the future. Community service for high school seniors should be mandatory because it will teach the students how to be responsible, allow them to explore in depth something related to their career and improve their communication skills.
As a student, I have demonstrated many works of service to my community and school. Service opportunities have shaped me into the person I am today and these projects have made me realize how fortunate I am for all that I have. While I've been doing these service projects through the years, it has been a pleasure seeing the joy on the faces of people that aren't as fortunate as I am. Service projects that I have completed include managing the fish booth at the St. Leo's Parish Festival, being an altar server at St. Leo's Parish, helping cook dinner for the Ridgway Fire Department during carnival day setup, participating in the St. Marys Light Up Night by dancing, and Christmas caroling to local residents. I also participated in a zombie/princess
Should community service be a requirement to graduate high school ? While many high schools have made it mandatory to complete a certain amount of community service hours, many high schools don’t find it necessary and put it as optional. Students may find it as absurd or completely unnecessary to complete their community service hours while others find it rewarding. In my opinion, I don’t believe having a certain amount of community service hours should be a requirement to graduate high school.
The author, Steve Cohen, seems to understand the anguish and stress most high school and college students face during the application process, especially those who come from poorer neighborhoods, but doesn’t feel as if the process needs revision. In fact, Cohen says that community service is overloading students with the already “essential” work, however, says this, “Encouraging high school kids to make “more meaningful contributions to other” will just provide new ways to game the system.” He looks down on students who work hard in their home life. Kids who support their families and struggle through school are
Is graduating a goal for you? To be the first one to graduate in your family? It’s like as if you’re almost there, just one more step but you need one more requirement to be eligible. In this article “Pro/Con: Should Student Service Learning Hours Be Mandatory?” By Claire Koeing, it states the opinion of why high school students should and shouldn’t do community service as a requirement to graduate high school. Many have their own opinion of why it is and isn’t important to have community service as a requirement. High school students mainly seniors already have so much stress and to do, but this does prepare them and give them a taste of how it will be after graduation.
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.
High Schools throughout the country have different graduation requirements for their seniors. At Preston High School, a senior portfolio is a requirement to graduate. For the portfolio, students must collect all of their accomplishments and report cards to place into a binder. The binder will then be presented to employees of businesses. Another example of a graduation requirement would be community service. For example, Maryland schools require 75 hours of student service. Based upon research, some experts say that community service should be voluntary; however, it gets students involved in the community, allows for better schooling, and gives students a better work experience.
At first when I found out I was going to have to do this essay I was not too excited. I had no idea what I could possibly write about because I did not know that things I did on the average day could be considered community service.
In Maryland, 75 hours of community service are required for students to graduate. Getting in the way of many after school activities, students should not be required to have community service hours to get a diploma.
Some individuals do not realize how privileged they may be, while some individuals’ live in a bubble and thinks that everyone lives lavish or swell like they do. However, this is not the case. In the United States of American there are approximately forty-five million people or in other words there are about fourteen point fiver percent of people who live below the poverty line. That number may seem not that drastic to you, because you may not come from a household that is considered to be poor, but this level of inequality is not right. Coming form a middle class or upper class home, having a roof over your head, clothing on your back, shoes on your feet and being able to eat more than one full meal a day makes you privileged! Instead of keeping your privilege to yourself, ways in which, you are able to give back to not only your community, but other communities as well. Is through community service.
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.
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