jesushlincoln

I recently heard from a teacher of mine that many schools around the nation are making volunteer work a mandatory requirement for graduation. The number I heard tossed around was 60 hours. I knew I'd heard about this somewhere before, going on, I think, in Montgomery County, Maryland.

I don't know for sure if this is as big a trend as I've been told, since I can't really find anything about it off the bat. However, as an idea it strikes me as ludicrous. Volunteering isn't volunteering if it's mandatory!

What would you think if you found out your local middle school/high school/university/whatever made volunteering a mandatory prerequisite for graduation?

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1069

I see no problem with it.
Catholic kids have to do it already, in order to make their confirmations.
I wouldn't call it 'mandatory volunteer work', however, which as you pointed out is something of a non sequitur or contradiction in terms.
I'd call it something like "mandatory community service"... although the phrase has unpleasant connotations, calling to mind criminal penalties and such, so perhaps something with less punitive connotations, such as 'mandatory civil service', or even 'mandatory community outreach/activism'.

Just a few ideas.
The way you phrase things can be an important factor in how well they're received/ perceived.

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jesushlincoln

The phrase with volunteer work in it is what I'd been hearing, but I imagine if this were implemented it would be called "community service" or "civil service."

1069

Right. Well, I don't see anything wrong with it.
I was required to do it as a child, and I see that as a positive thing. I continued to do it as an adult; I encouraged my kids to be involved in community activism.
It's just important, I think, to instill in young people that one really doesn't have any right to complain about anything, if one isn't willing to actively get involved in working toward solutions.

I agree that presenting this as 'mandatory volunteer work' does not make it sound too enticing: for one, as you pointed out, if it's "mandatory", it ain't "voluntary", and for two, the phrase "volunteer work" conjures up images of old church ladies knitting matching woolen scarves and mittens for the poor.
Presenting it in a more exciting manner might make young people more enthusiastic about it.
The basic idea, however, I think is sound.

Korimyr the Rat

I don't object overmuch, though it's worth keeping in mind that many of our young adults are already overburdened with their "studies" and their extracurricular activities.

Tough thing to fit into an already tight schedule.

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Gunface

At my high school, volunteer work is required for graduation. They get around that frightful contradiction by never actually saying "volunteer work". Rather, they call it "school/community/church service" and require the students to have a specific amount of service hours.

As a student, I have to say it sucks. Not only because I don't like doing work, but also because it requires a disgusting amount of bureaucratic trash (paperwork and signatures to verify you did it, recommendations and ideas and lists of not-allowed work and more lists of approved work, etc.) and because it violates the spirit of doing the work in the first place. I imagine it's supposed to make us appreciate God and community and crap, but come on. It only cheapens the idea of the work and makes kids more lazy.

It sucks. End of.

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jamesrage

I do not think community/volunteer service should be a requirement for graduation.You go to school so that one day you will be able to support yourself.Feeding the homeless or picking up trash on the side of the highway has nothing to do with that.

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Korimyr the Rat

These are legitimate complaints, especially pertaining to the idea that there are lists of approved and unapproved volunteer tasks. Makes me wonder what their criteria are.

And while your point concerning the spirit of volunteerism is noted... it's good practice to acclimate people to doing volunteer work. I would imagine that people expected to do a certain amount of volunteer work would be more likely to continue doing so afterwards-- as long as the experience itself is not unpleasant.

Gunface

I couldn't agree more. I've been volunteering since I was about 9 (there's a local soup kitchen my mother and I volunteer at sometimes), so it's not a real problem for me at all. I think volunteering is something people should do, like giving to charity. But if someone doesn't want to do it, for whatever reason, it's a total violation of the *idea* of volunteering (or giving to charity) to force them to do it. The whole point is that it's voluntary.

Revolution32

If my school would have told me that I had to have mandatory volunteer work for the school to graduate I would tell them to kindly shove it. There is no way I would have had the time to put the hours in when I was doing studies as well as playing football, basketball, baseball and track. On top of that I had a job in which whenever I was not doing studies or sports I was working every day on the farm. During the very seldom free time I had I was going to spend it doing what I wanted to do.

Volunteer work for a school in my opinion should stay the way it is "volunteer work". It should have no bearing whatsoever on whether or not a student can or can't graduate.

Volunteer work is a great thing and had I not been so busy I'm sure I would have chosen to do so, but to demand it as a graduation requirement is a little too far if you ask me.