Community service should be a prerequisite for any student graduating from high school, whether or not the students plans on attending college directly afterwards. By exposing high school seniors to community service, the value of being a member of a community will become apparent and it will reinforce the idea that when one becomes an adult, there are certain responsibilities that should be the duties of anyone who is responsible.
If someone is able to graduate from high school, he or she should also be able to go out and put in a certain number of hours helping the community. Instead of telling these seniors where to go on their community service mission, however, it is important that the students decides what to do as it might become clear to them that there is a path to take in their lives they never thought of before. For instance, if there is a senior who is not sure what to do after graduation and she volunteers for a few hours per week at a nursing home helping out, it might reveal a path for her and show her that she has a talent for working with the elderly. In addition though, another great reason in because it takes doing something like helping people, something outside of the traditional classroom to really understand the great impact it can have.
If all high school seniors were required to have a certain number of community service hours, it would show them that even though they’re one person, they can have a tremendous impact on other people’s lives. While it might take some valuable time away from schoolwork in the classroom, social and extracurricular, work, and other activities, it would be to their advantage to have participated in their community. After all, it will soon be the responsibility of these young people to find a place for themselves within their chosen community and getting an understanding of the level of diversity in all communities is something that can only be learned through experience. Far too many students go off to college being isolated from the real world.
Working in a community service position allows for responsibility and will make them better citizens who are more prepared to understand that there are many people right around their area who are in need of help and that they are capable of doing something good and useful. Additionally, this prepares them for college if that is where they hope to go because it makes them a better-rounded individual with experiences that are outside the traditional classroom.
