The New Diluted Community Service
Years ago, I worked with a young man who had been court ordered to do community service for a vandalism incident following several other infractions. He chose to volunteer in a nursing home to fulfill his 40-hour obligation. After going for several weeks, he developed a close relationship with a 90-year-old woman. They played cards, talked about her life, and the world around them. During a meeting with him, this young man shared his experience with the elderly woman which both he and I will never forget. On one occasion he was talking to her about how his parents were always angry at him. She responded: “I only wish I had a son like you.” It touched his heart and led to continued visits to her at the nursing home long after his commitment had been fulfilled. That’s what I call real community service.
There was a time when community service taught life’s valuable lessons to young people: compassion for those less fortunate than themselves, appreciation for what they have, and a feeling of making a meaningful contribution to society. But over the past decade or so, the boundaries have shifted, along with the definition of community service.
Today, I hear stories of kids helping to coach their little sister’s soccer team, volunteering in a clothing store (where they might get a job later), and helping younger kids do their homework after school. Now don’t get me wrong — there’s nothing dishonorable in doing these things, but something gets lost along the way. It’s just not the same as working in a soup kitchen for the homeless, volunteering in a hospice for children with terminal illness, going to a nursing home like the young man I described, or even doing an environmental cleanup project. Each of these teach a more sobering lesson.
Part of the problem is that it has become fashionable for high-school students to list “community service” on their resumes—based on the assumption that it will help them get into a better college. And that definition has been stretched in recent years. Any type of volunteer work that shows that they are “involved in a constructive activity” will suffice. Unfortunately, the act itself has lost some of its meaning and it is now viewed as a means to an end, rather than a true act of kindness or giving. The net result is that students, parents, and even school personnel, collaborate to come up with creative ideas to either fulfill a requirement or increase their standing.
Color me old fashioned, but I think it’s time to return to the good old days. Young people would all be better off if we tightened the definition of community service to reflect a true sense of giving, caring, and learning a valuable lesson in the process. I’m reminded of the old saying: What’s right is not always easy and what’s easy is not always right.
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
NewsvineOne Comment
Post a comment
Loading ...
The “check –the-box- community service” that Dr Bernstein describes is better than no community service, because what’s important is that someone is being helped. Also, the high school student is getting some learning from it, even if it’s not to the extent that Dr Bernstein would like to see. But I agree that raising the standards and definition for true community service is worthwhile to pursue.
When I was a teen in the late Sixties, high schools did not have a community service requirement. While I was involved in a teen organization, our activities were all within the group itself – with sports, socially (i.e. meet girls), and some of it educational. From age 16 as a high school junior through four years of college and two years of grad school immediately following that, I either was working part-time during the school year as many hours as I could or full-time during vacations. I didn’t think of community service or volunteering. Then for the first 20 years of my career, I was focused intensely on the job. No community service or volunteering during those years either.
About a dozen years ago, when I did take the step to volunteer with first one, then two and then three non-profit organizations, the experience changed my life – for the better. And I think I did some help for other people as a result.
Kids today are hugely busy with schoolwork, part time jobs, sports, and a ton of other official activities…as well as texting and on the phone and immersed their online network pages. But maybe parents can help their kid find occasions where the community service is more than a check the box, an experience that might influence their kid’s life in a good way as well as those whom they help.