Some people believe that unpaid community service should be a compulsory part of high school programs (for example working for a charity, improving the neighborhood or teaching sports to younger children). To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Children’s education has always been a highly debated issue, not only by the parents but also as a society in general. Every few years new ideas emerge and people want them to be included in the curriculum. One of these recent suggestions is to oblige young adolescents to perform voluntary community work such as working on social projects in their city. Personally, I think that forcing teenagers to commit to extra tasks would be counterproductive for the following reasons. Firstly, children are already overloaded with too much work. Currently, children spend a lot of time at school, on top of that they have a lot of homework. Additionally, schools are becoming more and more demanding and children have less and less time to play and be children. For example, there are children that I know who wake up before 6 to go to school and come back after 5 in the evening. Then their parents send them to other classes, such as dance, music, or even extra Math or English classes. Only to come home around 8, after which they still need to finish their homework, eat, and go to bed. Therefore, adding another few extra hours of voluntary work will not be helping them, it will only make them feel worse Second, volunteering should be done of one’s own free will and making it mandatory defeats its purpose. Moreover, this is especially true when dealing with teenagers, which are notorious for hating anything that has to be done. For instance, when telling a teen that he or she will have to go clean up the neighbourhood because it will make the place better as well as make him or her feel better, the resentment will only grow. Therefore, it is paramount that volunteering should not be forced upon them, but rather give them some sort of choice. Providing options has more chance of fostering some responsibility, rather than being counterproductive. In conclusion, obliging children to volunteer outside school as part of their curriculum is an unhealthy idea. However, I personally believe that volunteering could be part of a schooling program if it were offered on a free basis. Additionally, it should replace certain classes, instead of added to the already overtaxed time of the children.