People tend to believe that all young adults should undertake a period of unpaid work for the good of the community. Do you agree or disagree?

In recent years, it has become more and more common for societies to encourage and organise young people to work as volunteers for non-profit organisations and the community. Community service has even been proposed as a requirement for graduation in some middle schools. There is a lot of opposition to "mandatory" volunteer work, a term which seems to be self-contradictory. I agree that the voluntary participation of youths is required, but volunteerism is a preferred option to most youngsters in today's world. A fact to support volunteerism is that it allows young people to gain experience and exercise skills, which are beneficial for their performance in the future workplace. Most of the young workers that are volunteering have little social experience, as they spend much of their time at school. Working with others and interacting with people from all social backgrounds, they can enhance their abilities of problem solving, communication and teamwork. They are thus better prepared for the public life in the future. Another benefit of volunteerism is the development of a young worker's motivation to help others and serve the interest of others without reward, a spirited fightback against individualism and egoism. A worrying trend in today's society is that a young adult's motivation is sourced more from individual interest than from the interest of others. Organising volunteer service on a large scale, especially among youngsters, can counteract the corrosive effect of this trend. Youngsters are directed to look after the good of others and help others without asking for payment or reward. In the long term, it upholds a sense of community, rebuilds the cohesion among members of community, and reduces distrust that is escalating between people. Despite those merits of organised volunteer work, participants' entire willingness should be guaranteed. Otherwise, they would be less willing or likely to commit to their work. Instead of enforcing a policy without consulting young people in advance, schools can take another approach, showing youngsters the meaningfulness of their commitment to the local community. If possible, young adults can be given a range of options so they can choose one that is most helpful for their skill enhancement. It seems from the above discussion that youngsters should be encouraged to participate in volunteer work, increasing both skills and their awareness of the long-run interest of the community in which they live. If administered well, volunteer work has benefits to both individual workers and the society as a whole.