Mandatory Community Service at Iowa Highschool

I know the "Give Act" is causing a stir among many here. I heard from a friend that her son was required to attend a mandatory "community service day" at his high school in Newton, IA.

Are many other high schools across the country beginning these "community service days" that anyone knows of?

Yeah, it seems the first meeting they pass out the brown shirts and teach you how to raise your hand to salute a poster of Messiah Obama.

Second meeting they get their jack boots, arm bands, and dagger with the phrase "Blood and Honor."

I think the third, or maybe fourth meeting, they get to go around and beat the hell out of anyone with a Ron Paul bumper sticker.

[edit on 26-4-2009 by dooper]

Here in California every high schooler needs 60 completed hours of community service to graduate

I see nothing wrong with mandatory community service. We should be taught to help our fellow man just as much as we should be taught math. I was unaware that Californians were required to do that for graduation, but I applaud such efforts.

My High School has had mandatory community service for years and years and it was never a big deal. It's a great way to help the community and has nothing to do with the GIVE act, since it was around before the act was in place.

Mandatory Community Service is just a form of slavery. It doesn't matter if your slaves are picking cotton or doing something good for the community. Slavery is slavery. After all, we could get everyone together and force them to rebuild all the roads in the country. It's for the common good right? But it's still slavery. Someone should take it to court.

If you want something done you should be willing to hand over the cash to make it happen or keep your mouth shut and do it yourself. Unless of course you're telling me I can have some free slaves? I got some community work around my house I wouldn't mind having a couple of high schoolers do for me? However, until I get free labor, nobody else including the city should be able to get free labor either. If I have to pay, everyone should have to pay or it's slavery.

In the province of Ontario in Canada (the one across the border from buffalo, detroit, etc, etc). Since 2005 students need to complete 40 hours of volunteer work inorder to graduate. I dont see anything wrong with this. If anything it will look good on their resume having completed volunteer work, or help increase a students work ethic?

Used to have to do community service at my old school. It was annoying, since I used to do a lot of the community service type stuff, but rarely got people to sign the forms.

Generally speaking, I and others got more good out of it, and benefited from it more than anything.
A lot of my friends rarely did anything but watch tv or go online, they felt better after community projects, one of them now volunteers for Habitat for Humanity on a daily basis.

reply to post by stevedel0

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Not true, I need to do 15 hours and if I dont do them I could still technically graduate.

But I dont think community service should be a mandatory requirement for graduation since I thought community service required volunteers or prisoners.

Tinfoilman, I'm not trying to attack you, but I feel like you have a negative outlook on this. You can view it as forced labor, or view it as a learning experience. Would you consider our public schools slavery? Yeah, we're forced to learn certain subjects, but it's because we think it'll make our youth better people. I think the same idea applies to community service.

[edit on 26-4-2009 by killuminati2012]

There is nothing wrong with well-managed community service done on a school-level. It gets kids to stop for a little bit and think about others.

My problem comes in when the government at the federal level starts to poke around in making people do things in favor of general and ludicrous goals.

Service is a good thing, and shouldn't be mandatory, ideally. I blame parents for their dilatory attitude in not stressing community service in their kids and kids for not taking it on themselves to care about others. We left this gap open for the Feds to come in an exploit it.

Edit: Spelling

[edit on 26-4-2009 by Iago18]

3/4 of the teenagers I know will not do anything for anyone without some tangible reward. Trying to force them doesn't help either. Tell them they won't graduate without it and they'll drop out and get their G.E.D.

When I was in school, we needed 220 credits to graduate. All the 'basic' requirements (math, English, civics, sciences, P.E. ) added up to 160 credits leaving students 60 credits shy of completion. To answer this they had 'advanced' (higher math- trigonometry, physics, calculus, etc.) and 'elective' (journalism and other more career oriented) courses. Students could advance their credits through choosing advanced or elective courses either after completing prerequisites (ie.: to get to any of the other math courses, you had to complete advanced algebra and geometry) or in parallel with normal studies (English students could take journalism for instance).

So how about making it a more tangible system? Instead of being told you won't get a diploma how about making it like elective courses used to be in high school- extra credits. Gives one some motivation to do it and in the end they will likely walk away from the experience having learned to care more for their surroundings and one another.

And if that doesn't work, I'm going to start my own 'cap and trade' industry on community service where those who can't perform community service can purchase community service credits from those who have too many.

Her son was required to attend a community service day at school? Can you confirm any connection to the government, or are you simply speculating?

Most American schools that I know of already have their own mandatory community service programs. Typically, the students have a set number of hours to complete each year, or a total number to complete before graduation. They can usually seek out any volunteer work they feel comfortable with, from helping at the local animal shelter to reading to tutoring other children. I don't have a problem with requiring community service of students; when you go to school, you follow the rules of that school. If you don't, you're expelled. Parents and students should both understand this. Community service is just another rule that schools have the right to enforce.

And what exactly is the argument against school-based mandatory community service? The arguments put forth thus far seem to amount to nothing more than foot-stomping, pouting, "I'm not gonna do it!" behavior that we all see quite enough of from the average human three-year-old.

It's a requirement of graduation; nobody's forcing them to do it, except maybe their parents. By your reasoning, you can call school in general a form of slavery (sure the kids are the ones who benefit from it, but they also benefit from community service, as well). What about children who have to do chores at home? Are they slaves? Not every family can afford to give an allowance to their kids.

That's not to say the United States doesn't employ slaves -- what do you think selective service is? -- but this isn't a case of that.

Same in MA.

I live in Cedar Rapids Iowa. But i go to an alternative high school do you think this will apply to me also?

I'm surprised at how many of you actually agree with mandatory community service. We are suppose to be a free society. Freedom is all about choices and our ability to make them on our own. When we aren't allowed to make those choices, we are not free, we are slaves. If I don't want to do community service, that is my choice, and one should not be punished for it. There are always consequences for choices, but consequences for not being a slave to society should not be so severe as to be held back from a proper education.

I guess it's no so free to be free anymore.

reply to post by Oreyeon

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It's not slavery, it's education. It's not like they're taking people who aren't in school anymore and making them volunteer. It's no more wrong than making them go to school or making them eat their vegetables. It's for their own good.

For there own good? That is the issue right there, someone else thinking that they know whats better for other family's children.
When asked for volunteers My kids almost always jumped in and helped. But school is not for this. And we like many took our kid out of public schools and put them in private schools. The change was unreal on what and how much they learned!

Now we are doing this for the grandchildren , so they will have a chance to learn what they need to know and be able to get along in life and make the right choices. Helping others is not the issue at all.
It is using the wrong people at the wrong place to do someones bidding.

This is kinda off subject but maybe not ..

My Sister gets foodstamps (she is layed off and so is her hubby which has a kid) ...this month they sent her a letter telling her she has to do mandatory three day classes to learn how to get a job ..and the only other option they told her was mandatory 63 hours of community service EVERY month that she is on them ............(at least in the state of Florida)


As far as the high school kids ..I dont really see why that is so bad ..I can see good come from that ..maybe it will make them appreciate their community better and will also help them get involved more on a personal level with them .........so many youth of today are way to busy and dont slow down for a minute to think of the local scene (whats going on ..where the needs are etc ) ...at least in their own community...I think it will be a good thing in the long run ..even if it does have its bad side (the feeling like a slave laborer) .............but heck we are all slaves to the system anyway so we might as well lend some help to those who are in the system with us (our own community of people) ..........