Volunteering should be fun

Alison3, I totally agree with you about students not being “forced” to volunteer, but I also wonder what other options students should be given. Any ideas?

I went to a high school that required 100 service hours upon graduation.  I personally enjoyed volunteering, so that wasn’t a big deal, but for some it turned into a chore.  I knew a lot of people who would forge signatures or make up a story about volunteering in order to complete the minimum requirement.

Unfortunately, in this day, not everyone does things out of the kindness of their hearts.  It makes me wonder how many students at my high school would have actually done “service hours” if no one was monitoring them.

Maybe schools could offer specific service projects instead of saying “go to 100 hours of whatever you want.”  Maybe the issue is providing more guidance and direction to students who might be timid to go out on there own and find something they want to do.

Mandatory Fundraising

OK, I am going to jump on the band wagon like everyone else and talk about the mandatory fund-raising.   In last class was the first time that I ha heard about companies/high schools making it mandatory but, I think it is an AMAZING idea. I know that if I was applying for a job and they told me that mandatory fund-raising was a criteria, it would be a plus for me to work at that company. For one reason, I think that everyone one feels good about donating their time and money, and it’s a good incentive and gives people that little push they need to do something. I don’t think that companies should make it mandatory to donate money esp. when they push a cause on you (I hate that-put the sheets in your pay stub).

I also think a plus about mandatory volunteering and fundraising at work is that the company could give you a huge list to choose from. You would talk to other people at work (network) and if you didn’t have a passion you could easily find one by expanding your horizons and going to things with other people.

I think that in high schools they should make families and students to go volunteer together.   I think that the earlier that students learn about fund-raising and volunteering the more likely they will be to do it in the future. I wish I could have been more influenced to do these things when I was younger.

Mandatory Community Service?

I’m going to go off the beaten path and bring up a topic we were discussing in class today.  Should community service be mandatory?  What implications does this have?

I think that  obligatory community service can be good, especially for high school students to learn more about their feelings toward certain philanthropies and get started on real-world experience.  I admit, I volunteered a few times with my family, but I really got going in high school to reach the 300-hour presidential award.  It was great because I got to volunteer with the Kansas City Symphony, giving me the opportunity to see amazing shows I could not have otherwise afforded, as well as many other peeks into the “real world.”

But, how can we be sure these programs are running correctly?  While I did get a lot of great experience through required community service, I also learned a lot about life in general.  The hours were required through National Honor Society, a group many of us found to be counter-productive in the end.  For most “service projects” we did as a large group we did mostly fund raisers in which each student was required to sell or purchase a certain amount of goods.  It quickly became “rich kids club” and took all of my part-time job money.  We were doing “good things” in the community, but at what cost?  I joined the honor society to learn how to be a productive member of the community, not give away my personal money during high school.

So, I ask: how do we regulate mandatory community service?  How can we create a positive outlet for students to voice their concerns when stuck in situations such as these?  I don’t know the answer yet, but I hope others share my concern.