Should students be required to complete community service hours in order to graduate? Make sure you establish your ethos, and that you appeal to logos and pathos. Your initial entry must be at least 350 words.
Friday, April 20, 2018
To Serve, Or Not to Serve, That is the Question!
http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-high-schools-require-community-service
Should students be required to complete community service hours in order to graduate? Make sure you establish your ethos, and that you appeal to logos and pathos. Your initial entry must be at least 350 words.
Should students be required to complete community service hours in order to graduate? Make sure you establish your ethos, and that you appeal to logos and pathos. Your initial entry must be at least 350 words.
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Personally, I do not believe that students should be forced to participate in a designated number of hours of community service activities. While this may be an unpopular opinion, I think it comes down to the morals behind a situation. This was a strong point of argument in our discussions this week, but I do think it is important to include these parameters in making judgments as to if this is an important practice. We as a society often think very little of teenagers. Oftentimes, it is for understandable reasons. Many think that, if given the choice, teens would rather do fun things with their friends than help someone in need. In this case, however, I believe that teens are given too little credit. Many high schoolers would gladly participate in community service projects. For example, members of ECC’s Future Business Leaders of America club do many charitable acts, including making crafts for people in nursing homes. The Students for Life Club is making a display to help draw attention to the Maternity Closet so that people know where they can get help. None of these students are obligated to do these things, but they choose to because they want to help people. If someone really wanted to get out of doing their ECHO hours, they easily could. Many people forge their slips or get people to sign for things that never happened. With approximately 200 kids in the school submitting multiple slips, they cannot check every single activity for credibility. People are getting credit for doing things they never did. Who is this helping? The whole point of Elk County Helping Others is that we are helping people. We would like to think that everyone would enjoy taking part in this, but they do not. While the whole idea is a great concept, it just does not work. It is not full proof. This is not how community service is supposed to be done. Things like Meals on Wheels and other organizations involve people who actually want to participate in something and help people. Making a difference is certainly important, but when it is required, it does not always turn out as intended.
ReplyDeleteEmma, there are a few things I would like to touch on regarding your blog post this weekend:
Delete(1.) In her prompt for this week, Mrs. Messineo said specifically to make sure that you establish your ethos. While I think the consistency of your tone does well to maintain that ethos, you do start out a little weak. In my experience as a reader, beginning with something such as “personally” or “in my opinion” does nothing to convince me that you are capable of expressing something worthwhile. Show me that you don’t just have an opinion (that much is clear—you are writing an opinion piece) but that your opinion is worthwhile, experienced, and credible enough for me to read.
(2.) I am interested in something you say in the second sentence of your blog. You say it all comes down to morals. Are there really moral ramifications to mandatory community service? Can you elaborate on what those may be?
(3.) I can’t help but notice that all of the examples of community service you use for high schoolers take place within the context of clubs such as FBLA and SFL. These clubs do have outreach requirements as part of their missions as well (education, service, etc.). Their missions and requirements, while expected of the club/community and not necessarily individual students, are not unlike those presented by the school. What sets these clubs apart from the ECHO program in mission and outreach for you?
Overall, I think you did a very good job maintaining and defending your point. The only reason I am confident in posting these criticisms and questions of your blog is because I know just how capable you are of considering them intelligently and creatively and formulating something both unexpected and interesting. I can’t wait to see what you have to say on it. And again, excellent job.
Emma, I very much enjoyed your blog, and I find myself agreeing with much of what you said! I am in FULL agreement with you that there are plenty of people who would still get involved if the requirement were to be lifted. And I have always thought about the forgery. There is absolutely no way they can enforce the activities of 200+ people. Great work!
DeleteEmma, I was on the other side of the argument before I read your blog but it is true that many people forge their hours. The people who like to get involved with charitable acts do and those who don’t do not, so I think it was great that you stated that!
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I do think that students should be required to complete community service hours in order to graduate. In fact, I see nothing wrong with our ECHO hours program we have right now. 20 hours seems like a good amount for us to do, it’s enough to make an impact on our community, but not so much that we are freaking out over it on top of all of our other many things that stress us out. My reasoning behind being on this side of the argument is that even if you didn’t want to do the act, it was still done. To use an example from our debates in class, me not wanting to shovel my neighbors driveway doesn’t unshovel the driveway. I also chose this side of the argument because of the limitless possibilities we have with this program. We are not told specific acts of service to perform, it is very open ended. This leaves me with room to do whatever I want to help people out. I can do things such as help out with first and ten, that way I can do something I love such as football and help people at the same time. Now of course, you will always have the people who don’t do their service hours or just make them up. However, not having required service hours would only make the number of students who don’t do acts of service even worse. The argument could also be made that it is selfish to do these hours sometimes because people will boast or brag about them. My response to that would be that there is nothing wrong with being proud of what you have done, I mean the Bible even says that we will achieve happiness through good deeds. Now of course, there is a fine line you could cross with that. However, I think that the number of people who boast over their hours would increase if they weren’t required. It would just give them another reason to be like, “Oh look at me, I didn’t have to do this but I did anyways, aren’t I such a good person?” I will be honest as well and say that if I was not required to do the acts of service, I probably wouldn’t do most of the things I do. However, in the end I am extremely happy that I did them. They serve as a motivation for me and for others to do good deeds, therefore I see nothing wrong with them.
ReplyDeleteI am on your side about how it should be required. I also liked how you included in your argument about what the Bible says, that was very bold of you. Also, you included many great points, I am impressed. Great work!!
DeleteI like how you included that it is open ended and allows kids to participate in what they want, I did not see it that way. Very convincing blog!
DeleteNope. Schools cannot rightfully impose this onto students. Any reasonable person will reach this same conclusion. Community service and other voluntary exchanges with the community are, by definition, voluntary, and cannot be imposed by the will of some bureaucrat in the state capital or any private school system without being immoral. Forcing and coercing students into living a "moral" life is itself immoral. This conclusion is based on the reality of the situation. There are benefits to giving to the community, many benefits. It would be difficult for most people NOT to give to the community in some way. There are countless incentives that alone should render the need for obligation unnecessary, but that does not make the obligation itself moral. If a school's aim is to better prepare students for post-graduation life, they ought to provide more incentive for community service, not impose it. Imposing it will only result in fabrication and insincerity, thereby worsening the students' odds in life, and actually making the students less moral and more careless.
ReplyDeleteThe argument ends here. Should schools require students to give to the community? No. Regardless of whether it is moral or not, which it isn't, doing so is actually contrary to the objective of any school: to prepare students for post-graduation life. Anyone who is against this conclusion generally surmise that "oh, well, it's good to be giving and compassionate, let's just force everybody, regardless of one's cirumstances in life, into being so. If you're not a giving and compassionate person, no diploma for you!" This is the essense of it, and can be drawn from everyone who argues for this nonsense.
I do not agree with you at all. I do not understand how this is immoral. The school wants to prepare us for the future. When you are a senior, you will be happy that you had to do service hours because they come in handy, trust me.
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DeleteI have to agree with Bethany in her disagreement. Excuse me if I am mistaken, but it seems that your view of education seems to be one to benefit only the mind, but not the soul. Education, in my opinion, is not solely to prepare one for college or for the workforce; its purpose is also to form an individual into one who is, as those who oppose your opinion put it, “giving and compassionate.” And to dismiss such an idea, I think, is more “immoral” than what you’re proposing as such and poses a great danger to every community that we are a part of.
DeleteSecond of all, I would like to address your tone in this. Reading your third sentence, which states that anyone who disagrees with you is unreasonable, I was kind of uneasy. A similar tone continues throughout the argument, as you describe requiring community service as “immoral” and as “nonsense.” This doesn’t really build upon your ethos, and if you’re really trying to convince your reader to agree with you, it might be a good idea to tone down the language you use.
I do think that you had some good points here, however, your tone just didn’t really sit with me right. You seem to have this “everyone else is stupid” attitude here, which made me favor the other side of the argument even more rather then lead toward your side. There are better ways to “roast” the opposing side without using a tone like this.
DeleteHow do we determine when the "greater good" should replace freedom? Answer: it never should! That's my argument and nothing else.
DeleteWhy does Elk County Catholic High School make it mandatory that in order to graduate, you must complete service hours? The main purpose is to teach the students about how important volunteer work truly is. I completely agree that students should be required to complete service hours in order to graduate. After four years, I strongly believe that doing theses acts has not only drawn me closer to my community, but I also became more mature. Personally, I think these who do not want to do service hours are just lazy and only concerned about their self, usually because they complain about having to give up some of their own time to do absolutely nothing. When you are a senior, you will be required to complete an activity resume, and because we are required to complete so many hours a great, this was a very easy thing to do. Also, there comes a time when you need to fill out scholarships because clearly you do not want to be in debt, plus it is free money so you want to apply to as many as possible. Almost every single scholarship you fill out will require you to list all of your community activities/volunteer work. Again, this is a very easy thing because the school requires us to do service projects. Honestly, at Dutch, you are not required to complete any service hours so filling out scholarships would have actually been very difficult. Community work does not have to be something that you can not enjoy. There are endless possibilities on how to earn your twenty hours each year. One of my favorite ways to earn hours included working Cheer Frenzy. This is something I absolutely loved doing, and I even got a large number of hours from working it so earning these hours was not painful at all. People just need to stop seeing all the things required to do as a negative. One’s mindset determines the outcome of completing service hours. If you have the mindset that it is terrible the whole time you perform the action, then you will be miserable the whole time. If you believe that you are doing it with a purpose, then you will love every second on it. In conclusion, service hours should be required because students need to be taught how valuable it truly is.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you started your blog with that question. Starting out with something that will make your reader think is always a good idea. Good job!
DeleteYou had a few mistakes (grammar, spelling, etc), but I enjoyed your argument. I liked that you included your own experience because I also really enjoy service projects. Good job, Beth!
DeleteI think that, despite the few grammar mistakes Emma pointed out, you make a pretty solid argument. However I very much disagree that the hours should be mandatory. Yes it gets people involved who otherwise wouldn’t, but I feel that the authenticity of the good deeds takes a hit. I don’t think those people should bother if they’d just be miserable the whole time. And if they can’t fill out a resume or scholarship application, that’s too bad. More for those who did give up their precious time and volunteered out of the goodness of their hearts.
DeleteCommunity service hours are a wonderful way of serving the community and those who live within it. They are volunteer hours doing deeds for the good of society. To be the helping hand at disposal, I believe that service hours should be required to graduate. If we did not make students to service hours, they would have no idea what it is like to go out into the world (sometimes alone) and do something they are maybe a little uncomfortable doing. But that’s the great thing about mandating these hours, it’s forcing people to go out and do stuff that not only benefits themselves but others too! The other up side about the hours, could be the fact that the students decide what they do for their hours. If you’re into sports, work sporting events. If you love animals, volunteer at a local shelter. There are many options to choose from. Not only does it feel great to help people in need, but it also helps with your graces. God is watching over you and He sees what good you are doing. Those graves will help you stay true to your faith and get into Heaven when the time comes. Just believe and pursue the good of life.
ReplyDeleteFor the people that drag their feet about doing hours, what is the damage? I understand that it is uncomfortable but so are many things in life. What about when you go to college and have to room with a random person? I’m sure you’re going to be uncomfortable about it, but that’s life. That’s why doing such deeds will help you open up. Go out and see what stepping out of your comfort zone is like. Find something you might love to do as a hobby or full time job. Put forth some effort and see where life takes you. Maybe you have a negative attitude toward volunteer work? Maybe because it is for the school that you won’t want to do it. That is all okay, I understand your reasoning, you don’t have time or you don’t want to, easy. But think before you endanger your diploma. You wouldn’t want some old lady trying to shovel her driveway, slip and fall, while breaking her hip while you are perfectly able to help, now would you?
If you were to walk up to a random person on the street and ask them how they feel about community service, I would be willing to bet that their answer would be in favor of community service. Who would not like to see a young person taking time out of their busy schedule to help the less fortunate or work for a good cause? If that is something you would like to see, how would it make you feel if you knew that the aforementioned “volunteer” was only doing such a deed to get his or her diploma? Personally, if I knew that someone was forced to do a good deed, I feel that the deed would lose its sincerity. That being said, I do not feel that completion of x amount of service hours should be a prerequisite for graduation. I feel that a person should volunteer out of the goodness of his or her heart. At our school, which requires a grand total of at least 80 hours (or ~20 hours per year) to graduate, it is not uncommon for people to exceed the required number of hours, which says to me that some people genuinely are volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts. But there are people who graduate Elk County Catholic with the bare minimum number of hours. If those people do not want to volunteer, I do not think they should be required to. The whole time they volunteer, they are likely miserable and unhappy, which wipes all good intent from it. If you volunteer because you want to volunteer, volunteering is made so much more fun. So, rather than requiring a minimum number of hours every year, I feel that high schools should capitalize on the good feeling that volunteering gives you. They should simply encourage people to volunteer, not force them to. I volunteer for the Blue Tide swim team every year, and I love it. I love the good feeling that I get knowing that I am helping people become better swimmers. Because I focus on the good feeling, and not on the fact that I am being forced to volunteer, I have no problem giving them 40 hours every year. If I thought about being forced to volunteer, I would be miserable. I would worry about how much of MY precious time it is taking up. I feel like it would take a lot of pressure off students if service hours were not mandatory, and that would make volunteering much more pleasant all around, but I still think volunteering should be encouraged.
ReplyDeleteJarret, I thought your argument was very clear, well-thought out, and showed a willingness to compromise. I do disagree with you when you speak of the fact that such a program shouldn’t be maintained, simply because some students don’t like it. As Kristen mentioned in her blog, there are things in life that we probably won’t like, but we should face them anyway. In the end, it makes us a better person. If we’re not uncomfortable at times, how can we truly grow? And in that sense, how can education really serve its purpose if it cannot be directly involved in such a formative stage of our lives? However, I do feel that the program needs some major reform.
DeleteI really enjoyed your introduction. It was so unique in its method of drawing me in. It made me want to keep reading. In the rest of it, you had a good argument. While I cannot agree with all of its points, there was a clarity in your presentation that I cannot overlook, as much as Isaac already addressed it. I will not go into the section I disagreed on, as Isaac already spoke on my disagreement. Otherwise, I think you did a great job with it.
DeleteI do agree with your points that students should not be required a certain amount of hours, rather they should be encouraged. The fact that you pointed out that kids graduate with above the minimum supports your arguement that the kids who want to help, will help.
DeleteJohn F. Kennedy is oft remembered for saying “For of those to whom much is given, much is required.” This quotation indeed bears an undeniable truth reminiscent of a divine call to action, and rightfully so as it is, in essence, a paraphrasing of biblical text. Luke 12:48 reads, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” Both of these quotations, when juxtaposed against each other, create a stark, harmonious point. We have received a call as both citizens of this world and the next. It is a call to action, to involvement, and to service. Elk County Catholic High School (an institution, I must add, accredited with the purpose of forming the mind, body, and soul) continually attempts to take up this call, like many other high schools across the nation, by instating community service requirements for all attending students. These requirements highlight the essence of community service and its purpose in a grander sense; however, it seems that, while the program is indeed beneficial, it may err in some ways.
ReplyDeleteCommunity service serves as a means of cyclical contribution in a given collective. In other words, it is beneficial for the community as well as the individual. It enforces a greater sense of unity and identity among people. It creates a greater sense of “empathy” among members. It strengthens the bonds of that community and changes it in a positive way. On the other end of things, community service still does much good for the individual. It shows him that he has a place, and it instills pride in him for his community. It reveals his dependence on his community. It also shows just how integral he is to his community. All of this good is apparent in the mission of required service, and yet it seems that it is still lacking. At ECCHS, we have lost the purpose of service as a unifying source. The focus seems to be not on the community, and is instead clearly focused on the hours. It is understandable; hours are measurable, and concepts such as solidarity and involvement are more abstract. Still, it seems that the purpose of service could be better extracted from a more community-centric act than cleaning a teacher’s room over the summer break. Essentially, the community service program at our school needs to be better about defining its requirements by way of its purpose. True outreach should be telling. Service makes apparent the codependency of man.
I totally agree that a sense of unity is established through service. You really come into contact with your community when you help heal part of it. Good work!
DeleteThroughout my high school career, I have questioned the legitimacy of our ECHO hour/“forced” community service program. “Will some students not just forge their hours? Will all students take it as seriously as it should be taken? Is mandatory community service true volunteerism?” Of course, while these are all legitimate questions to be asked when debating the issue of required community service, the answers that are often provided do not justify not requiring such a program. So, although I have questioned such programs, I have arrived at the conclusion, through my experience and that of others, that community service should be mandated by high schools.
ReplyDelete“I walk into the Boys’ and Girls’ Club, surrounded by many young boys and girls, smiles on their faces, ready to color, as my nerves start to build up.” If I were to summarize my feelings on the day I completed my Pay-It-Forward project, the previous sentence would probably most apply. Yes, I came up with the project, but did I want to do it? Certainly not. I couldn’t relate to a large group of kids (in the slightest). But, when developing my project, I thought that I should try to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. And I wouldn’t change my decision for anything. Not only did I gain a renewed sense of confidence in myself through interaction with those who were younger than me (sorry for the selfish reason, but that’s important too), but I also had the ability to make a difference in the lives of about twenty or thirty students who probably are no where as close to as privileged as I am. That feeling that I had made an impact on others while doing something that I may not have entirely enjoyed (although I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would have), was truly energizing; the feeling would not have been felt had the project not been required because, well, the project simply wouldn’t have taken place!
Now, one might ask why that story is significant. Well, in the past, I had served my community in different ways. But, time and time again, I found little purpose in those things. It was always something that was out of habit, never anything that felt like true service. So, because of this, I didn’t value service at all. Being required to find new ways to earn these hours, however, finally gave me a sense of purpose. And, sure, perhaps not everyone may take such a program seriously and may forge a paper to get their hours. But, what about those who may experience a change, but will only experience this if given a reason to perform an act of kindness?
To conclude, I would like to end with the story of Emily Fried. She was a former student at Roslyn High School, a school which required 40 community service hours every year. She stated, “If it was not mandatory, I never would have looked into doing it. But once I started, I liked it. And I have continued doing it because I realize how important it is to help other people. It has been very fulfilling for me.'' If not for the mandated community service program at Roslyn High School, Emily may not have experienced this change and given her talents to her community. And this story remains true for so many others. So, the question I have for you is this: is it the duty of our educational system to at least attempt to unlock the hidden talents of students for the betterment of the community? Or should they be left locked away until the student figures it out for himself or herself?
I agree with your side, you did a great job supporting your argument, especially with providing specific examples.
DeleteI really enjoyed your second paragraph, regarding your Pay-It-Forward project, but personally, I think it would have served as an amazing introduction to the whole argument, with the first paragraph moved elsewhere. Only a suggestion, though. On the whole, I think you did a great job with it.
DeleteMany schools require a set amount of service hours for their students in order to graduate, including Elk County Catholic High School. I think that service hours should be required to graduate high school but in a different manner compared to what they are now. As of right now, students either participate in the volunteer hours or they do not. Somehow, in the end, everyone still obtains these service hours. Many kids forge signatures and make up volunteer acts that they did not participate in or even add hours to something they did actually do. Nobody is getting anything from doing this! There are kids however who do participate and make the most of it, that is what we need for our schools! I think that there are better ways about doing this. There are many needs for charitable, volunteer acts at schools. Many of these schools lack the participation so parents and others have to step up. So why do these hours anywhere else if we have the need for them right in front of us? I think that kids should be required to do the twenty set service hours at school, that way teachers can record it. This way it is true and it benefits the school along with the student. There are so many acts to name it’s unreal, working concession stands, selling 50/50 tickets, announcing games, working clocks, cleaning, etc. So my question is why schools (including ours) are making service hours required even though a majority of students do not benefit and put stress on themselves for lying. There are better ways to do it and the way things are going now are not productive as they could be. We can develop ways to benefit the students along with the high school! I am on board with the requirement for students to participate in obtaining a set amount of service hours to account for graduation. We just need to way out the options and develop the most effective way to do so. The goal should be to benefit the community or school, but most importantly the student because as of right now, it is the opposite for many.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more on supporting it and realizing that change needs to come to system.
DeleteI completely agree that there needs to be some sort of reform to the system. Your points in this argument are solid. Great job!
DeletePersonally, I feel as though school mandated service hours are far from a bad thing. Community service is the cornerstone of citizenship, and an excellent teacher. I will be honest, I have a pretty darn good life, as I am sure many people do. Oftentimes, it is not until one begins working in the community that they begin to appreciate what it is that they have. While service hours for school obviously has other reasons to be mandated, I believe this is one of, if not the, largest and most important reasons out there. Perhaps it’s my experiences in Boy scouts and similar groups but I truly think that community service and community membership are inseparably linked. If school is a place of learning, why not teach this lesson through service in school? Many people will point out how some students will make up their hours, or forge signatures, or pretend they did something and cash in the hours, but would not requiring hours make this any better? The government has laws on just about everything. Crime still happens. Do you really think, though, that if a law were lifted, crime wouldn’t increase? Perhaps this is a bit extreme of an example, but the similarities ring true. It’s the same as the old adage,”A lock only keeps an honest man honest.” A rule with service hours only manages to make the honest students do their work, but it’s far better than the alternative. In any case, if just a small handful of students graduate every year, with the desire to serve in their community and the knowledge of just how big an impact they can make, would they not be able to move (metaphorical) mountains? One person helping out with a fire in their stomach and a desire in their heart can do a world of difference to a community or just a person. And if it is just one person, is their contribution any the lesser? “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). So yes, some people will fake their service hours. Sure, people will moan and complain, but people will find something to moan and complain about either way. At least, with this program in place, the school might reach a couple individuals and make them dedicated to giving back. Is that not a worthy goal?
ReplyDeleteThis is a great argument! You have solid points and you backed up all of them very well. I like your comparison of the criminals as well! I never would have saw that similarity. Good job!
DeleteI love how you brought up that once we start doing community service, we see what it truly is that we possess. I completely agree and think that we should take none of it for granted, even though most of us do.
DeleteThroughout my 4 years of high school thus far, I have thought bait this before, questioning if mandatory service is still considered volunteerism, as well as how many kids forge signatures and lie on their papers. Sure one may question this when they are deciding whether or not service hours should still be required to graduate. However, despite these questions, I still believe that service should he required for graduation. I believe the potential benefits in the future, benefits available now, and what has been accomplished thus far indicate no reason to stop, especially not now. If you think about how many people have reaped the benefits from the ECHO program, it is hard to say what we are doing right now is a bad thing. What would all those people have done if they did not have been given a helping hand from the students? Yes, since there is a certain amount of hours required per year, some students may not be as mentally invested as they should be, however, the acts of service are still getting done, and who can say that is a bad thing? Would it be better if we were to selfishly value our own personal opinions and put ourselves above those who are in need of our help? Yes, there are flaws with the system. Children frequently have signatures forged, exaggerate the amount of hours worked, or simply make no effort to try to complete them. It is a problem, however, with a little reform to the system, it could be transformed to something even greater than what it is now. I am 100% on board for students to be required to complete a certain amount of service hours before graduation, I just believe some changes must be made to the flaws in the current system we have now. It has helped an incredible amount of people in the past and hopefully will help an incredible amount of people in the future, and I believe we become great models of what all Catholics should do everyday when given the opportunity. When we take a part in ECHO hours, we represent our school and all of our brothers and sisters in faith, and we truly have a great opportunity to do good for those who are in need of it.
ReplyDeleteI like how you acknowledge that some people find ways around doing their community service hours.They’re missing a great opportunity to help others in their communities and themselves, but it will only benefit those who want to benefit from it.
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ReplyDeleteCommunity service is, by definition, voluntary work intended to help people in a particular area. Emphasis on the word voluntary. At Elk County Catholic High School, students are required to have at least twenty hours a school year in order to graduate. The students are being forced to participate in the service. I do not believe this should be a requirement because it defeats the purpose of doing a deed for the good of others. Many students dread participating in something for their community service because it is a requirement instead of a want. For example, many students will work the concession stand at a sporting event to obtain these hours, not because the school is looking for helpers. If students were not forced into community service, I believe that they would participate more on their own. Now, there are some students who volunteer purely for others but most do not. Those who do not often cheat the system anyway. Towards the end of April when the hours are due, many kids fill out a sheet with incorrect hours and have an adult sign them. This is not showing the students the satisfaction of helping others, rather it is showing them that volunteer work is not important. I recently was in a situation where a group needed help in a dinner and I already had all my hours, but I still went to help. It felt knowing that I was not there because I had to, rather, I was there helping for the good of the group. Instead of having hours being required, students should be encouraged into helping others. Kids in high school, especially, respond better to encouragement or subtle hints rather than rules and requirements. Students, when they do not have a requirement, could participate in something and thoroughly enjoy it and encourage their friends to participate. Monkey see, monkey do. This would show even more kids how much fun helping can be and how important it is. Volunteer work is needed in the community, but it is often seen as a bad or boring activity because of the intense requirement on it. Students should not be required to do community service, rather, they should be encouraged to do it because the community is asking for help.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have a different opinion I can completely agree with you on some of your arguments. I do hate the fact that some people cheat their way through it and maybe the system could use a new structure to stop that.
DeleteMaddie, you make some very good points; however, there are some other things to consider on the matter:
Delete(1.) Community service is not “by definition” voluntary work. You see, I went through the first few pages of Google (not the best resource for specific knowledge, but when you are trying to understand something conceptually it is a very helpful tool), and the only entry that specified community service as voluntary was the first definition provided by the Google dictionary. Every other entry so far as I had conducted my search specified that community service is independent of volunteerism. The two can intersect, but volunteerism is not inherent to community service. For example, legally, a community service sentence is by no means voluntary.
(2.) Does requiring service, as you say in sentence four, negate the purpose of that service? Does it really matter if it is required so long as it is doing good? Does it really breed a sense of dread and unappreciation, or can it promote students to explore areas of involvement they otherwise would not partake in?
(3.) Should the fact that some students are dishonest about their hours be enough to get rid of the whole ECHO program? Is there a better way to conduct such a program to avoid these flaws in the system?
I think your approach this week is unique in its incorporation of personability and neatness of perspective. You aren’t necessarily singular in focus, but you are clear. You lead your audience though your argument almost conversationally while maintaining just the right amount of formality for the topic. All things considered, you really were solid throughout the exploration of your points, and I think the natural progression of your argument served that well. Really good job.
Serving others is an act that everybody should partake in. Community service is an important part of our school’s responsibilities. I believe that it should be required by students to do at least 20 hours of service to our community. A little bit of help to those who need it can’t hurt, right? 20 hours of service is such a small amount. Most students here go above and beyond that just because that is what they like to do. Of course there are some students who absolutely dread the service hours. Some may even forge their papers and not actually do any hours. This is a minor problem that could be solved with some reforming of the ECHO project. Even those kids that dread the hours still do them at least. Yes, maybe they hate it while they do it, but at least they are getting it done. As long as the student does they act of service we’ll, I believe that is what matters most. If the people who are receiving the service are happy, and it had impacted them in a positive way, then the student did their job even if they did not necessarily want to. Giving to the community is such an important thing because it betters society and unites the people within the community. Serving the community gives a sense of belonging. For those students that go above the 20 hours, the requirement of service hours is great for them. They see it as an easy challenge that they would love to partake in. Another positive about requiring service hours is that it looks great on college applications or resumes. Colleges love to see students who give back to their community. It helps colleges to assume that you are a hardworking student who loves to serve others. This gives a greater chance of getting into your college of choice. Even though some students dread there community service in the moment, they will look back and think that what they did was actually a great act of kindness. God always want us to be helping others, and requiring ECHO hours is a great way of achieving this part of God’s plan.
ReplyDeleteEvery year, students at ECC are required to have twenty hours of community service in order for them to graduate. Although it’s not really volunteering, because the students are being forced to get community service hours in order to graduate, it’s not really a difficult task. Throughout high school, we have tens of thousands of hours to achieve this very small task. In my opinion, I see no problem with the requirement of having twenty hours a year of community service. By doing these twenty hours a school year, you’re helping others and their communities while helping yourself as well. While some students do these community service hours unwillingly, they gain nothing from it and completely miss the point. Doing community service, even if it’s a requirement, helps students with many things. Some of these include an increased motivation to do more community service in the future, boosted academic achievement, and a new sense of responsibility that could last for a long time. The only downsides to community service occur if the student is unwilling to do it and see it as what many students see as a waste of time. These downsides are that the students will be even more unmotivated to do community service hours in the future because they’re being forced to do something they don’t want to do. So overall, if you see the requirement of twenty hours a school year as a positive and a way to become a better person, then you most likely will become a better person. If you decide that you don’t want to become a better person or gain from doing these hours, then that’s your choice and you most likely won’t. It’s not like doing these community service hours puts much pressure on you, considering it’s a very simple task and a small fraction of your time in high school. The reason that we are required to do these community service hours are for our own benefit, along with the community’s. I just think that some students need to open up to this requirement and take advantage of it, because of the benefits that can come out of it and the impact it can have on you as a person and your community as well.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your argument. I really like how you set it out as two sides; you either enjoy it or you don’t, simple. I think that is a real issue in our school so it’s very relavent.
DeleteI like how you states that it is the state of mind of the student is he or she gets something out of the experience of volunteer work. I one hundred percent see this problem at ECC, students feel forced so they do not enjoy it.
DeleteWhat defines service? Is it the voluntary aspect of doing an otherwise undesirable action? Is it the aspect of providing help to one who needs help? It is a question I have pondered many times in the three years I have been filling in ECHO hour forms. Am I really serving, or does this assignment of value make this something else? Well, the short answer is that yes, it is still service.
ReplyDeleteLet me first mention Mark 10:45, which says “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus came to serve. He may not have filled out an ECHO form and asked Lazarus, Bartimaeus, and Jairus to sign, but it was still what Jesus thought He had to do. Likewise, we are tasked with a mere twenty hours of service every year. We are set on this course not because it uplifts our reputation or the reputation of Elk County Catholic, but because service is what we have been charged to do time and time again in the Bible.
It is our responsibility to act. The required service we have now is a preparation for what is to come. I think we are all aware that adult life will be difficult. Between a working life, social life, and family life, how are we going to fit in service? ECC is preparing us for the future. They show us that we can find time for service in the best way possible, making us find time for service. They teach us to be responsible enough to do good, despite it being easier to simply wait for someone else to do the good. I believe this responsibility of action ECC wishes to teach us is best summarized in one John F. Kennedy’s most famous quotes. It was given in his inaugural address, and went on to be carved into his memorial grave at Arlington National Cemetery. He said, “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together, we can do for the freedom of man.”
This is service. It is acting for the greater good, despite the toll it may inflict on oneself. It is doing what is right, not because it is easy, but because it is hard; because others are unwilling to do it. That is the moral virtue ECC wishes to teach us. They want to show us that it is possible to serve others. They want us to be helpful to others. They want us to serve, and what is wrong with that?