why community service should not be mandatory essay

Essays About Community Service: Top 5 Examples Plus Prompts

If you are looking for your next writing topic, discover top examples of essays about community service and helpful writing prompts in our guide.

Community service refers to an individual or a group’s volunteer work dedicated to improving the community and its people. In America, Benjamin Franklin introduced community service in the 18th century by developing the idea of ​​the first volunteer firehouse in Philadelphia . Since then, stepping up has become a norm, with more people encouraged to participate.

Volunteering helps individuals gain experience, improve self-esteem, expand knowledge, and promote healthy goals. In addition, choosing community service as a topic in your essay allows you to explain its significance to entice your readers to get involved. To give you an idea of ​​how to write essays about community service, here are five examples that will help you.

5 Top Examples On Essays About Community Service

1. essay on community service and its importance by joni kim, 2. community service experience: essay on what i learned by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 3. why is community service important by perry mullins, 4. concept of the community services in modern society essay by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 5. community service experience essay by writer molly, 1. community service vs. volunteering, 2. community service: then and now, 3. why we should volunteer, 4. community service in schools: mandatory or voluntary, 5. community service and its influences, 6. types of community service, 7. my community service experience, 8. donation or service: what’s better to give.

“The service helps the group of people in need, for example, senior citizens, children, people with disability and the likes. Sometimes community service is geared towards solving problems related to the needs of community members, especially low-income earners.”

Kim explains that community service is a voluntary action done through various means. It includes health and child care services, education, housing, and other improvements to aid and support the community members who need the most assistance. Then, Kim focuses on its importance to individuals, the community, and the country. The essay showcases how community service improves social, interpersonal, and decision-making skills. It also allows students to explore and find their interests. Ultimately, Kim believes that the real-life experience of volunteering assists in determining one’s career path, providing advantages when applying for a job.

“This experience has helped me to cherish my ability to influence and impact others in a positive way, and it helped me to look at community service as a benefit for myself, instead of just another obligation to fit into my schedule.”

In this essay, the writer reflects on their community service experience, sharing the gains they reaped from the program. They discuss how their undying love for animals and tight-knit communities made them realize the gravity of sharing. They also had the opportunity to strengthen and develop a new set of talents and skills from the encounter. However, the author also mentions that when the desire to do good morphs into a forced responsibility, it leads to failure. The writer says they often receive more benefits than the people and animals they help, as the experience makes them more patient, flexible, and responsible.

“True volunteering lies in an individual’s will and drives to help other and enforcing it eliminates that drive.”

Mullins focuses his essay on explaining why it should not be mandatory for students to do community service. For him, mandatory volunteering takes away the true meaning of volunteerism. Students only view it as additional work – an obligatory criterion they must check off their list to graduate. He claims that students will gain nothing but stress instead of new skills and knowledge when compulsory community services are in place.

“As for me, I consider community work as a good opportunity to get the main idea of some particular services, still, I would not have the same great desire to participate in social life if the services would become obligatory for graduation.”

In modern society, volunteering is becoming a necessary factor in many organizations. People with experience in community service have more opportunities to get a job. The author delves into community service’s importance but also criticizes that making it a requisite takes away its value. With various arguments from professionals like Alina Tugend , the essay further argues that no one would want to receive help from people who consider it an obligation.

“The community service project is different from other school educations the community service can teach us how to love others and how to fulfill our heart with joy.”

Molly dislikes homeless people because of their appearance and smell, but this all changes when cleaning and selling preloved items to homeless people becomes the best experience of her life. Community service taught her that the homeless are no different from her. She also learned to be thankful for her situation. She concludes that after the program, she became more respectful, responsible, and caring to other people.

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8 Helpful Prompts on Essays About Community Service

If you’re still confused about the topic and can’t choose what to talk about, you can use the prompts below:

To write this prompt, the first part of your essay should discuss the meaning of community service and volunteering. Next, identify and examine the different characteristics of a community service worker and volunteer to clearly explain their similarities and differences. Then finish your essay with your opinion on the matter or look for more information you can expound on in your own words. 

This prompt shows how people’s definitions, processes, and perceptions of community service changed over time. Research and write down how community service started in your country or area to make it more relatable. Include examples of community services that made a big difference for the community and consider how these services impacted people’s lives.

Explain to your readers what voluntary work means and why exposure to it is crucial. Next, write the advantages and disadvantages of volunteering and what they should expect if they decide to be a volunteer. Finally, share your experience to clarify your comments, suggestions, and other points.

The decision to make community service mandatory in every school is still up for debate. First, pen your opinion on this topic and whether or not you agree with compulsory community service. Then, discuss your reasons and provide examples or factual evidence to support your arguments.

Identify and scrutinize the positive and negative effects of community service. Find news articles where one type of community service impacted its volunteers, community, and people differently. Write down how the organizer dealt with different situations and if it affected the program’s outcome.

There are three kinds of community service: direct, indirect, and advocacy. First, discuss and give examples for each one. Then, explain how these services differ from programs under service-learning. For example, direct community service includes directly serving homeless people food and clothes, while in service-learning, volunteers will teach people to garden and earn income. 

Use this prompt to share your memorable experience while doing community service and what you learned from it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a short program at your school, work, or organization. The important thing is that you have experience in community service. Include your initial reaction and if it changed over time while you were doing the service.

Some choose to donate money to various organizations that perform community service. Others join the program and personally help other people. In this prompt, share your opinion on the topic and whether you consider donating as community service. To make your essay more intriguing, look for prominent personalities who consistently contribute or engage in community service versus those who only present monetary assistance. 

AI grammar checkers are powerful resources that can help you improve your writing. See our guide on how to use an AI grammar checker. For help with this topic, read our guide explaining what is persuasive writing ?

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Community Service Requirements Seen to Reduce Volunteering

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Requiring students to take part in community service to graduate from high school can actually reduce their later volunteering, new research suggests.

Maryland’s statewide requirement that all students complete 75 hours of service learning by graduation led to significant boosts in 8th grade volunteering—generally in school-organized activities—but it actually decreased volunteering among older students, leading to a potential loss in long-term volunteering , according to a study previewed online by the Economics of Education Review in June.

“If this is for school, how do we know [students] are considering this as community service, rather than just homework for school?” said the study’s author, Sara E. Helms, an assistant professor of economics at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. “One of the interpretations that is more convincing is, maybe we are substituting this [requirement] for being self-motivated. Does it dilute the signal value of volunteering?”

Service learning—in which students engage in projects and activities to improve their communities or address social problems—has become more popular in the past decade. In 2011, 19 states allowed districts to award credit toward graduation for volunteering or service learning, and seven states allowed districts to require service for graduation, according to data collected by the Education Commission of the States. In 2001, only seven states allowed high school credit for service.

Districts on Board

While Maryland remains the only state to require universal service learning as a condition of graduation, the District of Columbia school system began requiring 100 hours of community service in 2007, and several other large districts, including Atlanta, Chicago, and Philadelphia, also require community service for graduation.

State Policies

Service learning has been growing in popularity. More states and districts are adopting policies to incorporate service learning into their requirements for high school graduation.

SOURCES: Education Commission of the States; Education Week

If Ms. Helms’ interpretation is correct, the new findings undermine some of what proponents have argued makes service learning so popular. Prior studies have found students who volunteer more frequently tend to be higher-achieving, more engaged in their communities, and less prone to risky behaviors as adolescents. Moreover, service learning in particular has been found to improve students’ engagement in school and reduce their risk of dropping out, and Maryland’s policy was touted as a way to help students “develop as citizens,” Ms. Helms said.

“I’m pro-service learning,” she said in an interview. “However, I think it matters how we implement it. What you hear over and over in the literature is, don’t require service learning; give incentives. We get very nervous about requiring people to do something because it’s good.”

Early Boosts

The study used student data from Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Values of Youth, a nationally representative annual survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, to compare Maryland students’ volunteering trends with those of other American students during the same time period.

From 1991 through 2011, nearly three in four American high school seniors reported doing community service at least a few times a year, with 31 percent volunteering at least monthly and 12 percent volunteering weekly. Among 8th graders, 65 percent volunteered at least a few times a year, 26 percent volunteered monthly, and 10 percent volunteered weekly.

Ms. Helms graduated from high school in Maryland two years before the service requirement was enacted for the class of 1997. She recalled family conversations about how her younger brothers would meet the criteria.

“It was pretty controversial when it was put into place,” she said. “It was a mixed bag. You hear stories where students got involved with something because they had to complete service hours, and it changed their life and they went into social justice to try to stop poverty—and then you hear the stories of, ‘Oh, my dad’s friend let me do something to help out,’ ” Ms. Helms said.

In each year, the students were asked as part of the Monitoring the Future survey to report how often they had volunteered: never, a few times a year, at least monthly, at least weekly, or nearly daily.

In the first years after the Maryland policy took effect in 1993, the proportion of the state’s 8th graders who reported weekly volunteering increased nearly 6 percentage points compared with the time before the requirement. The increase dropped to 3.2 percentage points above pre-requirement levels by 1998, however, and to only 2 percentage points above pre-requirement levels by 2010.

The proportion of 8th graders volunteering at least monthly initially rose by 7.4 percentage points in the early years, compared with the pre-requirement level.

But there was no significant difference between the volunteering of Maryland 8th grade students and those in other states, suggesting that some of the increase could have come from a general trend toward more service learning.

It was a different story among older students. Before the requirement, Maryland seniors were 7.8 percentage points more likely than students nationally to be engaged in service activities—driven primarily by rising service activities among boys and following a national trend of more volunteering during that time. After the service requirement, Maryland seniors were 9.2 percentage points to 17.4 percentage points less likely to volunteer from 1997 to 2011.

That contrast is particularly notable because national volunteering among 12th graders rose during the same time.

R. Scott Pfeifer, the executive director of the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals and a former principal of Centennial High School in Howard County, Md., cautioned that the findings may underrepresent subtler volunteer activities among older students because students may be better able to recall and report official school-related volunteer activities, such as those they would pursue during middle school.

“There’s a ton of volunteering that goes on,” he said, but “kids are social animals. They may not think of their activity in National Honor Society of bringing food to the old-age home as volunteering.”

‘Part of the Culture’

Service learning, Mr. Pfeifer said, is “part of the culture now; it’s pretty routine. In terms of the actual graduation requirement, looking for systematic ways that groups of kids and classes can fulfill that requirement just works for everybody. It doesn’t get to that individual volunteerism, but it works.”

Both Ms. Helms and Mr. Pfeifer agreed that schools’ service-learning programs require planning and time for students to reflect on their experiences in order to be meaningful.

Mr. Pfeifer argued that the service-learning requirement is not intended to be primarily about building civic character.

“Some people might have thought this would build up an individual sense of volunteerism,” he said. “I don’t think it ever really achieved that focus, because there’s a bureaucratic nightmare that could come from that. So instead we’ve used it tied to the curriculum.”

And as a tool for engaging students in different subjects, from history to environmental science, Mr. Pfeifer argues that the state’s service-learning requirement has been a success.

“Without it, there’d be something lacking in every one of our schools that’s there now, a focus,” he said. “There’d be something missing if [the service requirement] wasn’t there.”

A version of this article appeared in the August 21, 2013 edition of Education Week as K-12 Community-Service Requirements May Discourage Student Volunteering

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Volunteer or Voluntold: Does Required Service Benefit Youth?

Community service—whether mandatory or voluntary—promotes civic development..

Posted January 7, 2019 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

Over the past 20 years, many U.S. high schools have adopted mandatory community service policies. These policies vary greatly based on state and district—Maryland and the District of Columbia, for instance, have state-wide regulation that requires high school students to complete 75 to 100 hours of community service to graduate. Other policies allow youth to receive course credit for participating in community service or permit districts to adopt service requirements for high school graduations.

Mandatory community service programs were implemented to help connect youth to others, to teach them how to contribute to their community, and to improve academic performance and civic learning.

However, the idea of mandatory community service seems counter-intuitive and has been the source of controversy. Parents, students, and even school officials have filed lawsuits challenging the legality of mandatory service policies, claiming that they are unethical and undermine teens' motivation to volunteer on their own (e.g., Andersen, 1999; Smolla, 2000 ). Proponents of this view argue that mandating community service will lead youth to believe that they should only help others when they receive an immediate benefit in return, and thus ultimately discourage volunteering later in life ( Stukas, Snyder, & Clary, 1999 ).

Concerns about mandatory service have been taken very seriously by legal scholars. In general, this work has concluded that mandatory service is legally permissible under federal law because “community service programs amount to nothing more than conditions attached to the ‘privilege’ of free public education and thus pose no constitutional problems whatsoever” ( Smolla, 2000 ). The key here is legally permissible—there are many other ethical concerns that have been raised, and a larger review of these issues can be found here .

But what about the benefits? Does mandatory service help improve civic development or does it undermine motivation to participate in voluntary service? These are questions that have been addressed by developmental science.

There is little evidence to support that mandating community service undermines motivation for youth to engage in future service. In fact, there is some evidence to indicate the opposite.

Most research has either found that mandatory service is linked with heightened intent to engage in future volunteering ( Metz & Youniss, 2003, 2005 ) or has not found links between mandatory service and intent to volunteer ( Henderson, Brown, Prancer, & Ellis-Hale, 2007; Kim & Morgül, 2017 ).

This research may seem contradictory to other developmental research and theory that stresses the importance of autonomy for personal motivation and healthy development ( Ryan & Deci, 2000 ). One possibility is that mandatory service may deter intent to engage in future service if youth reflect on their experience and do not find any value in participation other than to fulfill the mandate ( Stukas et al., 1999 ).

This means that the types of experiences youth have within their community service activities may matter more than whether participation is mandatory.

Service experiences greatly vary, and the level of enjoyment or meaning youth derive from their service may be tied to the type of activity youth perform. Volunteer experiences that provide teenagers with an opportunity to grow, to make friends, to reflect on social problems, and to cultivate a sense of purpose and enjoyment provide them with greater benefits (including greater intention to volunteer in the future) compared to those without these opportunities ( Bennett, 2009 ; Henderson et al., 2007; Metz, McLellan, & Youniss, 2003; Reinders & Youniss, 2006 ). Thus, mandated service that involves organizational tasks (e.g., clearing floors, filing papers) or other types of activities that do not provide youth with high-quality experiences, may not be serving their purpose.

Parents, teachers, and school administrators can help youth become involved in high-quality service activities, and even increase the quality of community service experiences within their community.

So how can we make sure youth are participating in high-quality experiences? Here are a few tips:

• Help youth access service that they find meaningful for their mandatory requirements. Ask teenagers what issues they view as being important to address and work with them to find the right community service experiences.
• Talk to teens about their community service experiences. Community service programs are more beneficial when they allow youth to reflect on social problems and form their own beliefs about their experiences ( Yates & Youniss, 1996 ). Talking to youth about their community service experience is one way to improve the quality of engagement and thus increase potential benefits.
• Continue to provide teens with opportunities to engage in service after their requirement is fulfilled. Although some youth may begin participating in community service because it was mandatory, they may continue to participate in service because it can be personally rewarding. Providing teens with continued opportunities to participate in service may help further cultivate civic development.

Andersen, S. M. (1999). Mandatory community service: Citizenship education or involuntary servitude? Issue Paper. Education Commission of the States, Denv .

Bennett, J. (2009). The impact of mandatory community service and social support on urban high school seniors' civic engagement orientations. Theory & Research in Social Education, 37, 361-405.

Henderson, A., Brown, S. D., Pancer, S. M., & Ellis-Hale, K. (2007). Mandated community service in high school and subsequent civic engagement: The case of the “double cohort” in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 849-860.

Kim, J., & Morgül, K. (2017). Long-term consequences of youth volunteering: Voluntary versus involuntary service. Social Science Research, 67, 160-175.

Metz, E., McLellan, J., & Youniss, J. (2003). Types of voluntary service and adolescents’ civic development. Journal of Adolescent Research, 18, 188-203.

Metz, E., & Youniss, J. (2003). A demonstration that school-based required service does not deter—but heightens—volunteerism. PS: Political Science & Politics, 36, 281-286.

Metz, E. C., & Youniss, J. (2005). Longitudinal gains in civic development through school‐based required service. Political Psychology, 26, 413-437.

Reinders, H., & Youniss, J. (2006). School-based required community service and civic development in adolescents. Applied Developmental Science, 10, 2-12.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68-78.

Smolla, R. A. (1999). The constitutionality of mandatory public school community service programs. Law and Contemp. Probs., 62, 113-139.

Stukas, A. A., Snyder, M., & Clary, E. G. (1999). The effects of “mandatory volunteerism” on intentions to volunteer. Psychological Science, 10, 59-64.

Yates, M., & Youniss, J. (1996). Community service and political-moral identity in adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 6, 271-284.

Benjamin Oosterhoff, Ph.D. , is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Montana State University and the director of the Montana Positive Youth Development (PYD) Lab.

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Community Service: Mandatory or Voluntary?

August 01, 2000

School districts struggle to find the best approach for bringing a real-world aspect to learning

Nearly 840 miles apart, high school juniors in Jefferson Parish, La., and Chicago faced the same pressing deadline and graduation requirement.

Students in both public school systems had to perform some sort of service to the community to earn a diploma. In Chicago, students had to complete 40 hours of service. In Jefferson Parish, 60 hours were expected of each student. In both systems, the class of 2001 was to be the first to come under the new requirement.

But before the 1999-2000 school year was over, one system (Jefferson) had revoked its policy under pressure from educators who viewed the service requirement as competing with academics. The other district (Chicago) has a successful program up and running with thousands of participating students. Together, the case histories of Chicago and Jefferson Parish offer a sober reality check for school systems contemplating mandatory community service for graduation.

Their disparate experiences illustrate the successes and failures of school systems nationwide that have embraced civic responsibility by requiring students to volunteer in their community. Some districts have done this by mandating that students complete their service as a prerequisite to graduation, with administrators and teachers keeping track of the hours. Others have decided to incorporate community service into regular lessons in an approach known as service learning.

The number of school systems that now mandate some form of service has mushroomed. According to the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse for based in St. Paul, Minn., the number of high school students performing service increased nearly seven-fold from 1984 to 1997, when 6.1 million students did some form of community service. In 1997, 96 percent of school districts offered some form of community service, up from 27 percent in 1984. Between 16 and 18 percent of school districts required service for graduation, up slightly from 1984, according to studies cited by the clearinghouse.

Different Directions

The service programs vary widely in scope and quality. Administrators in school systems with programs deemed by others to be successful say the critical components include building community support, allowing students to decide what to do, training teachers, recognizing student projects and getting students to reflect on what they do. Programs that lack either administrative or community support or those seen as detracting from academics, like Jefferson Parish’s, are almost destined to fail.

Before instituting its program in August 1997, the Chicago Public Schools solicited community support, visited other systems, gave coaching stipends to educators in each school to shepherd the program and identified ways that teachers could integrate service hours into the curriculum. Top school administrators in the Windy City continue to be visible supporters of the program.

The exhortation those leaders give, says Chicago’s Chief Education Officer Cozette Buckney, is this: "No matter how bad off you think you are, someone’s worse. … Well, maybe I can’t buy $100 Michael Jordan shoes, but I can have a coat drive for children in the neighborhood."

In the first semester of 1999-2000, Chicago’s high school students completed more than 500,000 hours of community service.

In the 51,400-student Jefferson Parish schools, however, building administrators viewed the community-service requirement as something that detracted from academics. In the Louisiana parish named for the nation’s 3rd president, students were explicitly prohibited from earning volunteer hours during class time. They could, however, rack up credits while working on Mardi Gras parades, at church or in political campaigns, except school board elections.

School system administrators tried to prod students into completing the number of required hours by listing their accumulated hours on report cards and delivering reminders in grade-level and homeroom meetings and via school-created videos played over each school’s in-house TV channel. But when they discovered that only 35 percent of the parish’s juniors had completed their hours this March, administrators convinced the school board to abandon the policy, instead offering diploma stickers to those graduates who complete their 60 hours of good deeds.

"We didn’t catch a whole bunch of slack for getting rid of it," says Jefferson Parish School Board member Ray St. Pierre. "We didn’t even catch flack from the Times-Picayune," the daily newspaper in New Orleans.

Careful Preparations

What made a difference in the outcomes of the two school district’s community-service requirements? Many would point to the preparatory spadework or lack thereof.

Chicago’s community-service requirement came out of a task force that spent five years working to redesign high schools, says Buckney, the chief education officer under Superintendent Paul Vallas. That group already had communicated the goals of the program to many constituencies, foundations and organizations. Even though Chicago’s board of education approved the service-learning requirement in 1996, it wasn’t implemented until 1997, giving task force members additional time to ensure a smooth implementation.

Advises Buckney: "This is not something you can jump into."

Before developing its policy, Chicago’s leaders visited other districts with successful service-learning programs, including Baltimore and Austin, Texas. "You shouldn’t have to create the wheel on this," he says.

The Alliance for Service-Learning in Education Reform’s standards of quality for service-learning programs recommends school leaders communicate the significance of the effort even to "those who are not directly involved in service learning."

Service learning is "often a hard sell because folks think it's one more thing" added to the curriculum, when in fact it can enhance learning, says Marilyn Swierk, author of A Guide to Service Learning, a how-to book to running a program.

That seems to be the official view in Jefferson Parish, La. Administrators there suggested repealing the requirement, which would have gone into effect for the class of 2001, by arguing before the school board that increased academic achievement was the priority of the system and that graduation should be the result of academic achievement alone.

Although the district’s original policy tried to prevent procrastination by requiring seniors who lacked their hours to take a community-service course, administrators balked at the likelihood of offering the course to about 1,000 students the following year.

"It meant another semester of [financial] spending on a course that would have no bearing on their academic future," explains Jefferson Parish School Board member St. Pierre, a former coach and teacher. "Generally speaking, I think the kids who did (complete the hours) are usually your better kids, the ones who get their work done on time. They’re probably not the complainer-type kids. Probably when they did it, they enjoyed doing it."

Stakeholder Buy-In

Many school systems with community-service mandates began by creating study groups, comprised of community members, teachers and school officials who debated the merits of the plan before putting anything in place.

Randy Collins, superintendent in Waterford, Conn., which mandates service as a graduation requirement, advises his colleagues considering a community-service program to first "get a read on their community."

He adds: "Although I’m a huge proponent of service learning--where we use service to the community as a teaching strategy--I would not advocate every school system mandate it. In some systems, that would be more destructive than helpful."

Collins believes the use of a community wide study group establishes a base of wide support once a service requirement takes effect.

"I felt it was important that they reach their own conclusions without my opinion unduly considered," the superintendent says. The night the Waterford board adopted the requirement, the board chair voted in favor of the mandate, while her son, the president of the high school’s student council, opposed it.

"But she voted, and he didn’t," quips Collins.

In the Corpus Christi, Texas, Independent School District, community service is a required part of the social studies curriculum in 1st through 8th grade, says Dixie Binford, the school services consultant responsible for the district’s K-12 social studies program. Then-superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, pushed hard to include service learning as Corpus Christi revamped its academic standards, she said.

Before the policy was implemented, the system held community forums in different parts of town to explain the proposal and ask parents what they wanted students to be able to do when they graduated.

After hearing from teachers, Corpus Christi opted not to require community-service hours of high school students, Binford says. High school teachers argued that their students had full course loads and were involved in extracurricular activities that fostered leadership and similar skills and character traits.

"We just felt that to require it through the academic standards would be unfair to the students," Binford explains.

Even in the lower grades, the district leaves how to incorporate service to the discretion of individual teachers because, she says, "We felt if you made it a hard-and-fast rule, you are destroying the spirit of community service. A student’s time in Scouting might apply to the service, depending upon the wishes of the teacher."

The District of Columbia requires 100 hours of service for high school graduation, but Beverly O’Bryant, the community-service coordinator, thinks administrators should begin stressing service to students in middle school or junior high. "Generally their apprehension level is slightly lower," she says.

Waterford’s Collins advocates having an advisory committee of students, so that the leaders of the student body will take responsibility for the program.

Academic Merits

Advocates of service programs refute the notion that their programs aren’t academic. Done well, community-service programs can change people’s minds about the educational value of service, argues Luke Frazier, executive director of the Maryland Student Service Alliance.

Maryland is the only state requiring all students to perform 75 hours of community service to graduate. The state leaves the details up to local systems.

"I can’t count the number of times in the last four years I heard from someone who said, ‘I really thought this was a bad idea and didn’t want to do this, but wow, I got interested in fill-in-the-blank, working with youngsters, environmental studies, working with a soup kitchen, and I still do it,’ even after their requirement for service learning was filled," says Frazier.

Among the examples nationwide:

• In the District of Columbia, high school geometry students honed their graphing skills with a community improvement project. They scoured their neighborhoods and inventoried the number of liquor stores and liquor advertisements posted near churches, recreation centers and health facilities. They graphed and analyzed the data, then wrote to the mayor, pointing out the heavy concentration in certain city quadrants and suggesting ways to improve the neighborhoods.
• In San Diego, Calif., high school students are volunteering as literacy tutors in feeder elementary schools. The older students bolster their own reading skills, while maintaining a journal of their activities, and monitor the progress of the child with whom they work.
• Students in Corpus Christi, Texas, read a newspaper article about the oldest house in the city falling apart and decided to take action. They studied the historic construction of the building, an unusual amalgam of oyster shells and mortar. Students collect money each month to send to the local heritage society.

Real-Life Learning

Several superintendents believe that service must be integrated into the curriculum for the greatest impact. Robert H. Holster, superintendent in Passaic, N.J., is among them. He says school districts shouldn’t have to defend community service for its academic value because service fulfills John Dewey’s credo that "all genuine education comes through experience."

Holster adds: "A lot of students are in isolation in the classroom, disconnected from what they are learning in school and what happens in the real world."

Passaic students have been performing community service through various courses. In one, bilingual students in social studies classes have gone to the polls to help Hispanic voters to interpret the ballot. Now the school board is considering mandating service as a condition of graduation. Holster has proposed students accumulate at least 50 hours of community service during their four years of high school to earn a diploma.

Community-service programs enable administrators to "demonstrate to constituents and to taxpayers that what we are doing has a sense of value," he says.

"We have to have students and young people feel that they are stakeholders in their community," says Janet Delaney, who manages the San Diego City School’s Partnerships in Education program, which oversees the service-learning program. "We have to promote our young people as not part of the problem in a community, but they are part of the solution in the community."

Service learning also offers students real-life examples of what they’re studying, such as bringing students studying Alzheimer’s disease into contact with elderly sufferers, she adds.

"This brings learning alive. It makes it real," says Delaney. "One of the things public education has struggled with forever is finding real-life context. That’s what service learning does."

And service learning produces tangible academic improvements. "We’ve seen improved attendance and learning. Real kids are more into the visual and experiential. They need to do it to understand it, rather than having someone talk at them," Delaney says.

Chicago’s program also afforded many students, especially inner-city youth, an opportunity to "feel that they’re contributing to someone else," says Buckney. Volunteerism, she adds, allows students from Chicago’s diverse ethnic groups--African-American, Chinese, Latin, Polish and others--to mingle, which doesn’t happen often enough outside of school.

Dubious Quality

But even those who support community-service programs acknowledge that the quality can vary widely. Frazier admits that Maryland’s service-learning programs in its 23 county school districts range from marginal to exemplary.

"I defy anyone in another state to show me that every 9th grade algebra class is equally excellent," said Frazier.

To help promote quality programs, Maryland offers a guide to the best practices in student service and posts these on the Internet.

Swierk, the 1993 National Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year, recommends that systems "start with a non-required small program first so models are developed, successes and buy-ins can be seen."

"The majority of what I have seen is isolated programs that are the models and the system grows from there," says Swierk. "So much depends on the people coordinating this and their dedication and of course the support they receive from administrators."

But opponents of mandatory service have argued that some systems allow students to earn community-service credit for things not done outside the classroom. In Maryland, some school districts give students credit for extracurricular activities such as performing in the marching band or managing a sports team or for simply completing a course in photography.

Staff Support

Programs for mandatory service that include training at the outset and ongoing professional development are more apt to encourage teacher involvement and to be more successful, says Swierk. Sometimes, a schoolwide or district-wide program catches on when one teacher notices another having great success with a service project.

"One of the biggest problems with mandatory service is lack of preparation of the staff," says Swierk, an author, speaker and consultant who earned a national teacher of the year award for her work in designing a service-learning program.

In Chicago, each school has a service-learning coach, who is paid a stipend to work with teachers to develop service-learning projects. The District of Columbia has community-service coordinators, teachers or counselors who earn a stipend by helping students find community-service placements and help to track the student service hours.

Corpus Christi sends principals weekly informational packets, and Binford, the community-service coordinator, frequently visits different schools to consult with teachers. She encourages them to contact her via e-mail between visits. She helps teachers focus on lessons that she believes are "manageable and worthwhile" and raises questions to guide their thinking.

"Do you want kids to do individual projects? Do this as a class or with the whole school? Do this as a long-term project, like recycling? If you do something like that, you can do this as an interdisciplinary thing and bring in science, math and language arts," says Binford.

She has discovered elementary teachers are more willing to incorporate service learning, while middle school teachers "become more territorial of content area."

Safeguarding Students

Systems need to think about the safety of student volunteers. In Chicago, parents voiced concerns about children venturing into unfamiliar neighborhoods.

In fact, concerns about student safety are one of the primary reasons schools balk at requiring community service, says Robert Shumer, director of the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. At the same time, he says, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence students have been seriously injured in school-mandated service projects.

To allay such fears, Chicago set up a service-learning office that works with about 200 partners with pre-screened volunteer programs. San Diego schools contract with the United Way Volunteer Center to maintain a list of 150 agencies they have screened and approved as a safe environment for young people.

"Because they have been processed through United Way, we’re not just sending kids anywhere," says Delaney, who oversees community service in San Diego’s schools.

The San Diego district also developed a handbook advising agencies how to receive student volunteers.

Tracking Hours

Service learning must be evaluated and tracked, without becoming an undue burden on teachers.

At the beginning of the senior year, school counselors in the District of Columbia review student files to check on academic credits and community-service hours.

"It has to be treated like any other mandate," says Waterford’s Collins, who believes school districts should give students who don’t want to do volunteer work within school courses an opportunity to accomplish their hours on their own.

"I know for a fact, in my heart, there are kids who have submitted documentation who didn’t do the hours," says Collins. "Just like there are kids who cheat on English papers. The idea is not to monitor it so closely. My theory is that the vast majority will benefit. Those who sneak by, we’re not going to spend a lot of time monitoring."

In Corpus Christi, community members "didn’t want students graded on how much they did, because it’s so hard to compare my hours in Girl Scouts to your hours as a candystriper," says Binford.

Administrators who have had service mandates haven’t reported large numbers of students barred from graduating because they didn’t complete the hours. In most cases, students who haven’t completed mandated volunteer hours lack the academic credits or grades to graduate.

Recognize and Reflect

Effective community-service programs also tend to publicly recognize successful service projects. San Diego, which doesn’t require students to complete hours, instead honors graduates who fulfill a service commitment with a service-learning recognition citation, likely to impress college admissions directors.

Chicago publishes a monthly newsletter, paid for by a grant, called Service Learning News, that lists successful programs and students and teachers who have done outstanding projects.

Service-learning advocates agree that the most successful programs require students to reflect on their experiences.

In San Diego, graduating students present a portfolio of what they consider their finest work during high school years and many students "are talking about service-learning experiences," says Delaney.

Passaic’s Holster says service programs should lay out expectations that are measurable and observable. In his district, students are required to reflect upon their service. The superintendent attributes the improvements in student attendance (up to 93.4 percent daily in 1999-2000 from 90.1 percent the year before), lower dropout rate (down to 10.6 percent from 12.2 percent) and fewer student suspensions (a drop of nearly 1,100 in a single year) largely to the community service students have performed.

Long-Term Value

Swierk, the service-learning consultant thinks every school could benefit from some sort of community-service program for its students.

"We don't do enough in schools with this. ... We worry too much about advanced calculus and not enough about applying learning to practical situations," she argues.

"All parents want for their children--college prep or not--to be successful in life, family, career and community," Swierk says. "Most kids don't use the calculus or French but do use human relations skills, budgeting, parenting, etc., every day."

Diane Loupe is a freelance writer in Atlanta specializing on education.

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The Logic of 'Mandatory Volunteerism'

By Stewart Ain

• March 23, 2003

EMILY FRIED, an 18-year-old senior at Roslyn High School, has put in more than 350 hours of community service at various sites, including at her former elementary school and Hebrew school. It all began because her high school requires students to perform 40 hours of community service in order to graduate.

''If it was not mandatory, I never would have looked into doing it,'' she said. ''But once I started, I liked it. And I have continued doing it because I realize how important it is to help other people. It has been very fulfilling for me.''

Miss Fried added that she believes community service should be mandated at all high schools because ''most kids don't even consider doing community service on their own.''

Beginning with the class of 1997, Roslyn High School students were required to complete 30 hours of community service at any time during the 9th through 12th grades. The standard was increased to 40 hours the following year.

Jayson Stoller, principal of Roslyn High School and vice president of the Nassau County Principals Association, said most of his colleagues ''have been looking at mandating community service for a long time but have not gotten the cooperation of the community.''

Part of the argument against it, he said, is the ''kids' right not to do involuntary servitude.''

Dr. Stoller added that many districts were using Roslyn ''as a model to see how things worked out. Well, things have worked out.''

But a spot check of school districts on Long Island found only three -- Roslyn, Commack and William Floyd -- that require students to perform community service before they graduate. William Floyd, which includes Mastic, Moriches and Shirley, requires 10 hours in the senior year. Commack requires 65 hours -- 15 hours in each of the 9th, 10th and 11th grades and 20 hours in the 12th grade.

William R. Bolton, superintendent of the Copiague schools, said his district considered mandatory community service but decided against it because it is a ''high-need district.''

''Many of our children work to make money because a lot of them are supporting themselves,'' he said. ''We are a 50 percent poverty district and 60 percent minority.''

As an alternative, the Wise Program, a school-business partnership, was developed in which seniors may intern with someone in the business community. ''As long as they are not paid and make a formal presentation about the work they learned, they get credit for it,'' Dr. Bolton said.

The Great Neck school district declined to mandate community service, believing that volunteerism is the ''purest form of community service,'' said William A. Shine, the district superintendent.

''It has been talked about by school administrators, but it has never risen to a board discussion,'' he said. ''The high school principals and faculty feel as though the youngsters are participating, especially as they get into their junior and senior years. The list of things they do is heartwarming. It just seemed to the faculty that when you mandate it, you lose the joy of volunteering.''

Dr. Shine estimated that 40 percent of the 2,000 students in the high school perform community service.

The Port Washington school district also rejected mandatory public service.

''If you say to kids they have to go to an old age home or have a coat drive, they will do it but it is not self-directed, and teaching kids to self-direct and make good decisions is important,'' said Geoffrey N. Gordon, the Port Washington superintendent. ''I don't believe in mandatory community service, I believe in volunteerism.''

He estimated that 75 percent of the district's 1,200 high school students perform 25 to 75 hours of community service in their four years.

''I want to emphasize to students that excellent citizenship and giving to others not only helps others but makes you feel better about yourself,'' Dr. Gordon said. ''Everything today is about what kids get -- toys and computers -- and in school it's important to teach what students can give.''

Eleanor H. Kurz, a Port Washington parent, said she believed it was wrong to impose community service on youngsters.

''Everything today is mandatory and arranged and organized,'' she said. ''I don't believe that people should be like a horse, put in harness and driven down the track. People's minds should be able to grow. We're living in a society where things are more and more controlled, and to have a great society you need to have a society that is inspired by great ideals.''

The Herricks school district considered mandating volunteer community service in 2001, but abandoned the idea when ''students and some others pointed out it can't be both at the same time,'' said John E. Bierwirth, superintendent of the district, which includes New Hyde Park, Williston Park, Manhasset, Roslyn, Albertson and East Williston.

''There is strong interest on the part of students, parents and staff to encourage community service and the question is what is the best way to do that,'' Dr. Bierwirth said. ''I think there is probably universal agreement that the ideal way would be for students to do it on a voluntary basis because it is something that is important and is a way to give back to the community. If you mandate it, you take out the voluntary part.''

He added that ''a tremendous number'' of his district's 1,300 high school students were performing community service, but that the district was now exploring how to get even more involved. ''And there are people who think it should be mandated,'' he said.

A number of school systems nationwide require mandatory community service as a high school graduation requirement, but William W. Reinhard, a spokesman for Maryland's Department of Education, said his is the only state to require it of all its high school students.

Mr. Reinhard said several cities, most notably Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Seattle, have a similar requirement.

Some students around the country fought mandatory service in the courts, claiming it violated the constitutional prohibition of slavery. All of the cases lost.

In the mid-90's, the New York City Board of Education studied the idea and dropped it after finding that some administrators nationwide viewed it as a distraction from academic studies. Last November, the city schools did implement it, but only as punishment.

William K. Costigan, president of the Roslyn school board, said that when the board first broached the idea, there was some apprehension from parents because it was ''always thought of as a punishment.''

''It's a shame school districts are using it as a punishment because our plan in no way has anything to do with punishment,'' he said. ''We just felt there was enough time in four years of high school to take 40 hours and do something to help the community. And when you look back on it, it has proved to be correct.''

Jay H. Pilnick, assistant principal of Roslyn High School and coordinator of the community service program, said most students found the experience so worthwhile they put in substantially more than 40 hours.

''Last year, the average was 114 hours,'' he said. ''There are at least 150 agencies that kids are working with, including local hospitals, nursing homes, Habitat for Humanity, churches and synagogues, the American Cancer Society, the American Red Cross and soup kitchens.''

Mr. Pilnick said he met with students and tried to match their interests with the work of the agencies.

''We also invite agencies to speak at our community service class,'' he said. Each student is required to take the one-semester course, which explains community service, multiculturalism and values training.

Daniel H. Ostroff-Moskowitz, 15, a sophomore at Roslyn High School, said he had been working at the gift shop at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens since his freshman year. And last summer he volunteered at Camp Kehilla in Melville, a camp for children with special needs.

''It has given me a new perspective on everything,'' he said, noting that he put in 320 hours of community service at the camp.

Gennifer C. Soren, 16, a junior at Roslyn, said she had amassed more than 500 hours of community service working with children in an afternoon program at the Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center in East Hills and in its Teen Council program, in which participants visit old age homes and help at soup kitchens each month.

''I'm not so sure I would have thought of doing this'' if it was not mandated, she said. ''Doing this made me realize that I might want to work with kids'' professionally.

The Jacobson Center is the largest placement site for Roslyn students seeking to perform community service, said Stuart R. Botwinick, director of teen services.

''Last year we had over 200 volunteers perform more than 4,000 hours of community service here,'' he said. ''On any given day we have 15 to 20 students here.''

He said that students from Herricks also volunteer at the Jewish Community Center but that the numbers are not as high because it is not required there. And Mr. Botwinick said he could understand why. ''We made up a list of what kids do after school,'' he said. ''They have homework, extra help, a tutor in every subject, sports, clubs activities and working out at the J.C.C., and they have a job, household chores and want to hang out with friends. There is so much going on in their lives that if it is not required, the numbers doing it are not going to be that high.''

The superintendents of Commack and William Floyd school districts said community service was no longer an issue there because it had been mandated for more than a decade.

''It is historically ingrained in the culture and is part of our mission statement,'' said James H. Hunderfund, the Commack superintendent. ''The value of altruism is something we want in our value system. Our primary mission is academic, but we want the kids to acquire not only skills but attitudes and values to become a contributing member of the community and the greater society.''

Asked about those who object to the coercion of students to perform volunteer activities, Dr. Hunderfund replied: ''How many students would do homework if we didn't require it? I don't think a lot of kids would read all the books and do their assignments. We think it's up to the professionals to decide what is important to learn, and to do that, you have to have them experience it.''

Richard J. Hawkins, the William Floyd superintendent, said the requirement had been ''institutionalized for such a long time, that the students know this is an expectation the district has of them. ''The only feedback is positive,'' he said. ''It connects the kids to the community, and our kids have told us that being connected is important.''

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Tips for Writing a Standout Community Service Essay

←6 Diversity College Essay Examples

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Through your college applications process, you’re likely to come across the term “community service” many times. In fact, you may be asked to write an essay about it. This post will cover the specifics of a community service essay and how to go about writing one, including what to cover and common mistakes to avoid. 

What is a Community Service Essay?

You may encounter the community service essay as you’re writing your supplemental essays for college. These are school-specific prompts that only go to the college that requests them, unlike the personal statement , which goes to every school you apply to. Not all schools require community service essays, but several do. It’s also a common requirement for scholarship applications, especially if it’s a school-specific merit scholarship. 

The community service essay is an essay that describes the initiatives you have taken outside of the classroom to benefit your community. In a 2018 survey of 264 admissions leaders across the US, 58% said that community service is a tie-breaker between students who are otherwise equally qualified. The community service essay offers you the opportunity to shine light on the work you have done to make an impact on the world and people around you, and is an additional way to help you stand out among other applicants. 

Approaching the Community Service Essay 

Understand the essay requirements  .

As with any essay, it’s important to first understand what is expected of your essay. For a start, elements to pay attention to include: 

• Length requirements
• Focus or subject of the essay prompt 
• Organization of the essay 

Although all community service essays ultimately have the same purpose of having you describe your local service activities, they can come with different types of prompts. Below are three sample prompts. Note the differences in topic specificity, length requirements, and breadth of the prompt. 

From the CGCS – Bernard Harris Scholarship Program: 

Please describe a meaningful volunteer or community service experience, including what you learned from participating.

From the University of California Application :

What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? (350 words).

From the Equitable Excellence Scholarship:

Describe your outstanding achievement in depth and provide the specific planning, training, goals, and steps taken to make the accomplishment successful. Include details about your role and highlight leadership you provided. Your essay must be a minimum of 350 words but not more than 600 words.

Brainstorming for your community service essay 

Once you have an understanding of what is required of the specific you are to write, the next step is to brainstorm ideas for a specific topic. If you have various community-engaged service experiences under your belt, consider the following before you finalize your decision. 

The best topics:

Are substantial in length and scope. It’s better to cover a long-term commitment than a one-off afternoon at the food pantry or animal shelter. 

Are transformative or inspiring. Although community service is “others”-oriented, colleges are looking to learn more about you. The ideal community service essay topic should be an experience that changed or challenged your perspective, and was ultimately fulfilling. 

Illustrate personal qualities or passions that you want to highlight. Given the specific prompt, and taking the rest of your application into consideration, which personal interests do you want to highlight? Which activity illuminates the personal quality that you want to bring attention to? 

These are all elements to consider before you begin writing your essay. 

Tips for Writing Your Community Service Essay 

1. include anecdotes.

Anecdotes are a great way to begin your essay, not only as a way to grab your reader’s attention, but by launching right into the experience of your service activity. You can start with a line about a particularly busy afternoon at the orphanage, or a morning cleaning up the streets after a storm, or the sense of accomplishment you felt when you watched a dog under your care at the animal shelter get adopted. 

2. Show, don’t tell 

We’re sure you’ve heard this axiom of general writing before, but it applies to college essays just as much as with any other piece of writing. Opt for evocative examples over plain explaining whenever possible. Take this sentence: “There was a lot of food waste at our school cafeteria.” It’s not nearly as powerful as this description: “I peered into the tall, gray trash cans to inspect the mountain of Styrofoam trays and discarded food. There were countless pizza crusts, globs of green beans, and unopened cartons of milk.” 

Anyone could write the first sentence, and it’s not a unique experience. In the second description, we’re shown the scene of the writer’s lunchroom. We get a peek into their perspective and life, which makes the writing more vivid and relatable. Aim to bring your reader into your world as much as possible.

3. Share your responsibilities and accomplishments.

The more tangible your community service activities feel to the reader, the more powerful your essay will be. Concretize your work by stating the basic details of what kind of work you did and what your duties involved, where it was based, when you began working, and the amount of time you spent working. 

Be sure to quantify your work and accomplishments when possible; it’s better to say your fundraiser yielded 125 books than “a large number” of books. It’s important to also elaborate on why the work you did matters. Why was it important? Did the books you collected or purchased after the fundraiser expand the library of the local orphanage that they already had, or did it offer the children easy access to books that wasn’t available previously? Be specific and detailed.  

4. Highlight what you learned and how you’ll use those lessons moving forward. 

Towards the end of your essay, you’ll want to share how you benefited from the community service work you did. This is an important part of the essay, because it shows how you are able to distill your experiences to applicable lessons in your own life. 

Think of this section in two potential parts: skills you learned, and personal development. Did you gain any hard skills, such as public speaking, poster design, or funds management? Then think about how you developed as an individual. Are you more empathetic or patient now? 

Things to Avoid in Your Community Service Essay 

1. don’t list out everything that happened..

You want to keep your essay well-structured and concise. This isn’t a résumé, or a play-by-play of the entire experience. Stick to the most telling details and anecdotes from your experience. 

2. Avoid using a pretentious or privileged tone.

Humility goes a long way, and entitlement can be smelled from afar. The purpose of this essay is not to paint yourself as a savior of any kind, but rather to show what’s important to you in your non-academic life, and how you approach solving real-world and interpersonal problems. 

3. Avoid clichés.

It may be tempting to quote famous people, but doing so can easily seem like a shortcut, plus it shows little of who you are. Try also to steer clear of trite and vague life lesson lines such as “I learned that people can be happy with so little,” or “I learned the importance of giving back.” Not only do they carry a tone of privilege, they are also sweeping general conclusions and don’t convey anything specific of what you learned. 

Community service is only a part of the college application process, which can be daunting and confusing. CollegeVine will help you navigate each step of the process, from building a college list, to calculating your chances at each school using our chancing engine. Create your free account and get started now !

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Opinion: Mandatory Community Service, An Oxymoron

Hannah W. | April 16, 2020

Finishing my history essays and studying for a math test can keep me occupied the whole night, but a new task has been consuming my time: community service. Like many high school students across the nation, I must serve a certain number of community service hours over the course of four years in order to graduate. The specific form and amount of service may vary between schools, but the message is clear: serve your community or risk not graduating.

Don’t get me wrong; I understand why community service is necessary and an important part of education. It teaches students about communal engagement and helps them gain work experience. However, most of my peers volunteer to fulfill the requirement; their philanthropic efforts end there. 

“When mandatory, people treat [service] like it’s another task to finish,” said Charlotte Z. ’22. 

“[It’s] supposed to be something you do when you are moved by an issue, and you wanna spend your free time helping people,” Sonaya W. ’22 stated. 

In the U.S., high school districts across 35 states require some kind of community service for graduation. However, doing so compromises the real principle behind volunteering.

The primary purpose of community service should be to help others in need. And the purpose of education is to inspire students to become individuals who want and choose to help because they see themselves as agents of change in their communities.  

With mandatory volunteering, students count hours fulfilled rather than examine their impact and role in their communities. However, when schools emphasize service learning instead of just requiring service, students will do more than fulfill the requirement: they will find more opportunities to change their community. “If the work students do in the field is coupled with group discussions on social issues and community initiatives, then their service work has an exponential impact, deepening their connections to the community and producing longer-lasting engagement,” said Becca Marcus, Director of Global Programs at Chadwick School.

“I think there is probably universal agreement that the ideal way would be for students to do it on a voluntary basis because it is something that is important and is a way to give back to the community,” Dr. Bierworth, Herricks School District Superintendent, stated in the New York Times article, “ The Logic of ‘Mandatory Volunteerism’ .” “If you mandate it, you take out the voluntary part.” 

No one is arguing against community service. In fact, schools should do everything they can to encourage students to develop meaningful relationships with their community and to see their education as a vehicle for helping others, but schools rob students of that opportunity when they require volunteering that is isolated from any meaningful educational program.  

Works Cited: 

Ain, Stewart. “The Logic of ‘Mandatory Volunteerism’.” The New York Times , The New York Times, 23 Mar. 2003,

      www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/nyregion/the-logic-of-mandatory-volunteerism.html  

“Schools Take ‘Voluntary’ Out of Community Service.” Los Angeles Times , Los Angeles 

      Times, 13 May 1997, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-13-mn-63033-story.html .

 “Student Volunteers: A Required Course?” The New York Times , The New York Times, 8 

      Mar. 1992, www.nytimes.com/1992/03/08/nyregion/student-volunteers-a-required-course.html  

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to write a great community service essay.

College Admissions , Extracurriculars

Are you applying to a college or a scholarship that requires a community service essay? Do you know how to write an essay that will impress readers and clearly show the impact your work had on yourself and others?

Read on to learn step-by-step instructions for writing a great community service essay that will help you stand out and be memorable.

What Is a Community Service Essay? Why Do You Need One?

A community service essay is an essay that describes the volunteer work you did and the impact it had on you and your community. Community service essays can vary widely depending on specific requirements listed in the application, but, in general, they describe the work you did, why you found the work important, and how it benefited people around you.

Community service essays are typically needed for two reasons:

#1: To Apply to College

• Some colleges require students to write community service essays as part of their application or to be eligible for certain scholarships.
• You may also choose to highlight your community service work in your personal statement.

#2: To Apply for Scholarships

• Some scholarships are specifically awarded to students with exceptional community service experiences, and many use community service essays to help choose scholarship recipients.
• Green Mountain College offers one of the most famous of these scholarships. Their "Make a Difference Scholarship" offers full tuition, room, and board to students who have demonstrated a significant, positive impact through their community service

Getting Started With Your Essay

In the following sections, I'll go over each step of how to plan and write your essay. I'll also include sample excerpts for you to look through so you can get a better idea of what readers are looking for when they review your essay.

Step 1: Know the Essay Requirements

Before your start writing a single word, you should be familiar with the essay prompt. Each college or scholarship will have different requirements for their essay, so make sure you read these carefully and understand them.

Specific things to pay attention to include:

• Length requirement
• Application deadline
• The main purpose or focus of the essay
• If the essay should follow a specific structure

Below are three real community service essay prompts. Read through them and notice how much they vary in terms of length, detail, and what information the writer should include.

From the Equitable Excellence Scholarship:

"Describe your outstanding achievement in depth and provide the specific planning, training, goals, and steps taken to make the accomplishment successful. Include details about your role and highlight leadership you provided. Your essay must be a minimum of 350 words but not more than 600 words."

From the Laura W. Bush Traveling Scholarship:

"Essay (up to 500 words, double spaced) explaining your interest in being considered for the award and how your proposed project reflects or is related to both UNESCO's mandate and U.S. interests in promoting peace by sharing advances in education, science, culture, and communications."

From the LULAC National Scholarship Fund:

"Please type or print an essay of 300 words (maximum) on how your academic studies will contribute to your personal & professional goals. In addition, please discuss any community service or extracurricular activities you have been involved in that relate to your goals."

Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas

Even after you understand what the essay should be about, it can still be difficult to begin writing. Answer the following questions to help brainstorm essay ideas. You may be able to incorporate your answers into your essay.

• What community service activity that you've participated in has meant the most to you?
• What is your favorite memory from performing community service?
• Why did you decide to begin community service?
• What made you decide to volunteer where you did?
• How has your community service changed you?
• How has your community service helped others?
• How has your community service affected your plans for the future?

You don't need to answer all the questions, but if you find you have a lot of ideas for one of two of them, those may be things you want to include in your essay.

Writing Your Essay

How you structure your essay will depend on the requirements of the scholarship or school you are applying to. You may give an overview of all the work you did as a volunteer, or highlight a particularly memorable experience. You may focus on your personal growth or how your community benefited.

Regardless of the specific structure requested, follow the guidelines below to make sure your community service essay is memorable and clearly shows the impact of your work.

Samples of mediocre and excellent essays are included below to give you a better idea of how you should draft your own essay.

Step 1: Hook Your Reader In

You want the person reading your essay to be interested, so your first sentence should hook them in and entice them to read more. A good way to do this is to start in the middle of the action. Your first sentence could describe you helping build a house, releasing a rescued animal back to the wild, watching a student you tutored read a book on their own, or something else that quickly gets the reader interested. This will help set your essay apart and make it more memorable.

Compare these two opening sentences:

"I have volunteered at the Wishbone Pet Shelter for three years."

"The moment I saw the starving, mud-splattered puppy brought into the shelter with its tail between its legs, I knew I'd do whatever I could to save it."

The first sentence is a very general, bland statement. The majority of community service essays probably begin a lot like it, but it gives the reader little information and does nothing to draw them in. On the other hand, the second sentence begins immediately with action and helps persuade the reader to keep reading so they can learn what happened to the dog.

Step 2: Discuss the Work You Did

Once you've hooked your reader in with your first sentence, tell them about your community service experiences. State where you work, when you began working, how much time you've spent there, and what your main duties include. This will help the reader quickly put the rest of the essay in context and understand the basics of your community service work.

Not including basic details about your community service could leave your reader confused.

Step 3: Include Specific Details

It's the details of your community service that make your experience unique and memorable, so go into the specifics of what you did.

For example, don't just say you volunteered at a nursing home; talk about reading Mrs. Johnson her favorite book, watching Mr. Scott win at bingo, and seeing the residents play games with their grandchildren at the family day you organized. Try to include specific activities, moments, and people in your essay. Having details like these let the readers really understand what work you did and how it differs from other volunteer experiences.

Compare these two passages:

"For my volunteer work, I tutored children at a local elementary school. I helped them improve their math skills and become more confident students."

"As a volunteer at York Elementary School, I worked one-on-one with second and third graders who struggled with their math skills, particularly addition, subtraction, and fractions. As part of my work, I would create practice problems and quizzes and try to connect math to the students' interests. One of my favorite memories was when Sara, a student I had been working with for several weeks, told me that she enjoyed the math problems I had created about a girl buying and selling horses so much that she asked to help me create math problems for other students."

The first passage only gives basic information about the work done by the volunteer; there is very little detail included, and no evidence is given to support her claims. How did she help students improve their math skills? How did she know they were becoming more confident?

The second passage is much more detailed. It recounts a specific story and explains more fully what kind of work the volunteer did, as well as a specific instance of a student becoming more confident with her math skills. Providing more detail in your essay helps support your claims as well as make your essay more memorable and unique.

Step 4: Show Your Personality

It would be very hard to get a scholarship or place at a school if none of your readers felt like they knew much about you after finishing your essay, so make sure that your essay shows your personality. The way to do this is to state your personal strengths, then provide examples to support your claims. Take some time to think about which parts of your personality you would like your essay to highlight, then write about specific examples to show this.

• If you want to show that you're a motivated leader, describe a time when you organized an event or supervised other volunteers.
• If you want to show your teamwork skills, write about a time you helped a group of people work together better.
• If you want to show that you're a compassionate animal lover, write about taking care of neglected shelter animals and helping each of them find homes.

Step 5: State What You Accomplished

After you have described your community service and given specific examples of your work, you want to begin to wrap your essay up by stating your accomplishments. What was the impact of your community service? Did you build a house for a family to move into? Help students improve their reading skills? Clean up a local park? Make sure the impact of your work is clear; don't be worried about bragging here.

If you can include specific numbers, that will also strengthen your essay. Saying "I delivered meals to 24 home-bound senior citizens" is a stronger example than just saying "I delivered meals to lots of senior citizens."

Also be sure to explain why your work matters. Why is what you did important? Did it provide more parks for kids to play in? Help students get better grades? Give people medical care who would otherwise not have gotten it? This is an important part of your essay, so make sure to go into enough detail that your readers will know exactly what you accomplished and how it helped your community.

"My biggest accomplishment during my community service was helping to organize a family event at the retirement home. The children and grandchildren of many residents attended, and they all enjoyed playing games and watching movies together."

"The community service accomplishment that I'm most proud of is the work I did to help organize the First Annual Family Fun Day at the retirement home. My job was to design and organize fun activities that senior citizens and their younger relatives could enjoy. The event lasted eight hours and included ten different games, two performances, and a movie screening with popcorn. Almost 200 residents and family members attended throughout the day. This event was important because it provided an opportunity for senior citizens to connect with their family members in a way they aren't often able to. It also made the retirement home seem more fun and enjoyable to children, and we have seen an increase in the number of kids coming to visit their grandparents since the event."

The second passage is stronger for a variety of reasons. First, it goes into much more detail about the work the volunteer did. The first passage only states that she helped "organize a family event." That really doesn't tell readers much about her work or what her responsibilities were. The second passage is much clearer; her job was to "design and organize fun activities."

The second passage also explains the event in more depth. A family day can be many things; remember that your readers are likely not familiar with what you're talking about, so details help them get a clearer picture.

Lastly, the second passage makes the importance of the event clear: it helped residents connect with younger family members, and it helped retirement homes seem less intimidating to children, so now some residents see their grand kids more often.

Step 6: Discuss What You Learned

One of the final things to include in your essay should be the impact that your community service had on you. You can discuss skills you learned, such as carpentry, public speaking, animal care, or another skill.

You can also talk about how you changed personally. Are you more patient now? More understanding of others? Do you have a better idea of the type of career you want? Go into depth about this, but be honest. Don't say your community service changed your life if it didn't because trite statements won't impress readers.

In order to support your statements, provide more examples. If you say you're more patient now, how do you know this? Do you get less frustrated while playing with your younger siblings? Are you more willing to help group partners who are struggling with their part of the work? You've probably noticed by now that including specific examples and details is one of the best ways to create a strong and believable essay .

"As a result of my community service, I learned a lot about building houses and became a more mature person."

"As a result of my community service, I gained hands-on experience in construction. I learned how to read blueprints, use a hammer and nails, and begin constructing the foundation of a two-bedroom house. Working on the house could be challenging at times, but it taught me to appreciate the value of hard work and be more willing to pitch in when I see someone needs help. My dad has just started building a shed in our backyard, and I offered to help him with it because I know from my community service how much work it is. I also appreciate my own house more, and I know how lucky I am to have a roof over my head."

The second passage is more impressive and memorable because it describes the skills the writer learned in more detail and recounts a specific story that supports her claim that her community service changed her and made her more helpful.

Step 7: Finish Strong

Just as you started your essay in a way that would grab readers' attention, you want to finish your essay on a strong note as well. A good way to end your essay is to state again the impact your work had on you, your community, or both. Reiterate how you changed as a result of your community service, why you found the work important, or how it helped others.

Compare these two concluding statements:

"In conclusion, I learned a lot from my community service at my local museum, and I hope to keep volunteering and learning more about history."

"To conclude, volunteering at my city's American History Museum has been a great experience. By leading tours and participating in special events, I became better at public speaking and am now more comfortable starting conversations with people. In return, I was able to get more community members interested in history and our local museum. My interest in history has deepened, and I look forward to studying the subject in college and hopefully continuing my volunteer work at my university's own museum."

The second passage takes each point made in the first passage and expands upon it. In a few sentences, the second passage is able to clearly convey what work the volunteer did, how she changed, and how her volunteer work benefited her community.

The author of the second passage also ends her essay discussing her future and how she'd like to continue her community service, which is a good way to wrap things up because it shows your readers that you are committed to community service for the long-term.

What's Next?

Are you applying to a community service scholarship or thinking about it? We have a complete list of all the community service scholarships available to help get your search started!

Do you need a community service letter as well? We have a step-by-step guide that will tell you how to get a great reference letter from your community service supervisor.

Thinking about doing community service abroad? Before you sign up, read our guide on some of the hazards of international volunteer trips and how to know if it's the right choice for you.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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Mandatory community service may negatively affect CHS students

Even at midnight on a Thursday night, many students are still awake tediously painting posters or cutting out box tops. While finishing an essay or studying for an exam can keep students occupied, a new task is consuming students’ time. They are now working to fulfill the requirement for community service hours mandated by the Las Virgenes Unified School District for the 2012-2013 school year.  Students will now be obligated to fulfill 15 hours of hands-on community service per year in order to graduate.  Community service hours are impressive additions to college applications and can provide a student with a great sense of accomplishment; however, the mandatory hours will have many negative consequences.  In addition to demanding course loads, students with after-school jobs have even less time than others to complete these hours.  Because community service is now mandatory, students who have spent time and put forth so much effort in helping their community may not be recognized at graduation. Community service should be done out of selflessness and passion for the cause, not because it is required.

“Josh Stevenson, the Assistant Principal of Alice C. Stelle Middle School, visited schools in other districts that were participating in mandatory service learning, and he was very impressed with how it was benefiting the schools and the communities,” said college and career center advisor Robin Lutsky.

“I take three Advanced Placement courses, so some nights I have up to five hours of homework, and many times I will catch up on the weekend by doing a whole day of school work,” said senior Niamh Grunfeld.  “On top of that I also work at Stonefire Grill about 12 hours a week, so community service is going to be very tough to fit into my schedule.”

Aside from the time constraint students with jobs face, these students are already serving the community by working at a given local business.

The new requirement will also negatively affect students without jobs.  Many of CHS students have been investing great amounts of time and effort in community service for years.  These altruistic students should undoubtedly be rewarded with a community service award during senior graduation. Without this acknowledgment, hard-working students are deprived of their much-deserved recognition, and there is no longer an incentive for other students to do community service out of their own desire.

Volunteering should be an act that comes from the heart, not because it is a graduation requirement.  When regulations are enforced, motivation is likely to decrease.  This will result in students attending fundraisers and events simply to earn hours rather than to help a worthy cause.

“As president of the Help a Soldier Club, I am worried about what mandatory community service will bring,” said sophomore Emily Eckstein.  “I think it will attract volunteers that do not really care about the cause and who will do low-quality work just to earn hours.”

While LVUSD surely had good intentions, forcing students to perform community service is not the solution to increase the amount of community-oriented volunteers.

Photo above by Lauren Sloan – Photo Editor

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• Insights & Analysis
• Nonprofit Jobs

Mandatory Volunteerism

Mandatory volunteerism is a mandate on an individual to volunteer, sometimes called “community engagement” or “community service,” with a nonprofit for a specific number of hours per week in order to be eligible for certain government-provided benefits. Legislation has been introduced at the state level over the past few years that would impose a “volunteerism” requirement for individuals before they could receive such existing benefits as unemployment insurance, Medicaid services, SNAP (food stamps) assistance, and welfare benefits.

Why It Matters

Mandatory volunteerism is harmful because the policy imposes increased costs, burdens, and liabilities on nonprofits by an influx of coerced individuals. Few if any of the mandatory volunteerism bill sponsors ever ask whether nonprofits in their communities can handle an onslaught of hundreds or thousands of individuals showing up on nonprofit doorsteps for the purpose of  doing time  rather than  doing good.

Where We Stand

"The Council of Nonprofits supports programs that promote volunteering activities that mutually benefit individuals and the people served through nonprofits, but opposes proposals to condition receipt of government-provided benefits on requirements that individuals volunteer at nonprofit organizations, a policy known as 'mandatory volunteerism,' that impose increased costs, burdens, and liabilities on nonprofits by an influx of coerced individuals."

-  Public Policy Agenda

In 2018, the Trump Administration issued guidance in January 2018 expressing a willingness to allow states to  impose work and volunteering requirements  as a condition of eligibility for state Medicaid programs. President Trump signed an  Executive Order  in April 2018 directing federal agencies to enforce or add work requirements for public assistance programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps.

Prior to and following the guidance and Executive Order, state legislators introduced bills that would impose or include mandatory volunteerism in lieu of the work requirement.  Kentucky  was the first state to receive federal approval of its proposal to implement a work requirement as a condition of Medicaid eligibility. An additional  20 states considered or sought approval  for work requirements under Medicaid waivers.

President Biden subsequently withdrew the approved work requirement waivers in 2021, concluding that these provisions do not promote the objectives of the Medicaid program. Few states implemented the policy due to litigation and withdraws.

More About Mandatory Volunteerism

• Don’t Take Away the Commitment to Giving Back , David L. Thompson, National Council of Nonprofits blog, Feb. 5, 2018.
• Medicaid Work Requirements Challenged in Court ,  Nonprofit Advocacy Matters , Feb.5, 2018.
• States Consider Medicaid Work Requirement ,  Nonprofit Advocacy Matters , Jan.22, 2018. ​

Additional Resources

• An Overview of Medicaid Work Requirements: What Happened Under the Trump and Biden Administrations? , Kaiser Family Foundation, May 3, 2022.
• Work Requirements May Be Just the Beginning of Medicaid Changes Under Trump ,  Governing , Jan. 11, 2018.

10 Reasons Why Volunteering Should Only Ever Be Voluntary

By: Author Valerie Forgeard

Posted on Published: December 30, 2021  - Last updated: January 2, 2024

Categories Society , Community

Forcing a student to volunteer could be frustrating for everyone, including the school or college.

It may be suitable for the organization but not for the individual, or vice versa.

We need to understand that young adults are different and that forcing them into volunteer activities or a community service program can be harmful to both the student and the nonprofit organization.

10 Negative Effects of Mandatory Community Service

The idea of mandatory volunteerism for students has gained traction in several countries as a way to teach students the value of philanthropy, civic engagement, and work experience. However, some critics have argued that such requirements can have negative consequences on teens, such as loss of academic focus and even burnout among students.

Seen as a Punishment

Mandatory service may be viewed by high school or college students as a punishment rather than a learning opportunity.

The idea is that volunteer experience will give students the opportunity to understand the needs of people and organizations in their community. In this way, students learn valuable skills and develop social awareness and a sense of responsibility.

Some students would much rather spend their free time doing something else than working for free for nonprofit organizations that may not interest them.

Some teens find it unfair that they’ve to do service hours for free, while others have no such obligation. Others may not be interested in the types of organizations represented in the community or feel they can’t make much of a difference anyway.

They see it as a waste of time and energy when they could be using those service hours more wisely for another extracurricular activity.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that some students don’t have a choice of where they’re assigned or which organization they want to work for. This lack of choice reinforces the feeling among some students that their community service work is a waste of time.

Teenagers resent being forced to do something they feel is pointless.

The problem with mandatory community service is that it’s often not perceived as meaningful.

Feelings of “I don’t need this” and “This is a waste of time” arise when teenagers’ sense of autonomy is threatened.

A community service project may be considered an added burden to an already tricky final exam or an unreasonable expectation of a school they believe should be about education and persuasive essays, not volunteerism.

Some teenagers also feel that they’ve nothing to contribute to the local community and that their presence wouldn’t be appreciated. Therefore, it’s important to acknowledge these feelings and show them how their contribution can make a difference.

Regardless of how students feel about community service per se, most young adults who volunteer with my organization agree that it’s important to improve the lives of others and that they’d like to do so rather than “have” to.

Values Are Undermined

Teaching the value of charity is more effective when it comes from within rather than being imposed from without.

When students are forced to do mandatory volunteer hours, they may not be motivated to do it because of their beliefs. Instead, they’re told what to do and how to think about the issue.

The values and ethics of the nonprofit organization are challenged because teens don’t have the opportunity to understand why it’s an essential requirement for them, as community members, to advocate for a particular issue.

This school-based requirement can make students feel alienated from their role and even less willing to participate.

Poor Performance

Forcing a high school student or a college student to participate in volunteerism may result in poor morale. This will lead to lower productivity than if they were doing these things of their own accord, and it won’t make your company look good (especially if the news reports about low morale in your nonprofit organization).

Compromising Health and Safety

One of the biggest fears when it comes to mandatory community service is that people might take it less seriously. That’s because they didn’t choose to do it. They’re not there for the right reasons.

What’s the consequence of that? Health and safety might be at risk.

It’s very possible that the students will be assigned to a group with students who’ve no experience in the field and aren’t trained, which means that supervision isn’t as good as it should be. No one but themselves is directly responsible for their safety. So if they don’t know what they don’t pay attention to during training, they can put themselves and others in danger.

Student volunteers who feel they’re being forced into community service are probably less likely to participate than those who’re actually there because they want to.

This can lead to less supervision and ultimately more risk for everyone involved.

For example, if students don’t complete their training properly, they increase the risk of injuring themselves or others:

• A college or high school student might’ve to spend a few community service hours cleaning a park so they can get 2 or 3 points on their report card. This defeats the whole idea because the high school or college student feels obligated to do it and not because he/she wants to help someone.
• Another example is that a high school or college student isn’t professional when it comes to working in certain industries or with certain people (disabled or elderly). he/she may not be able to help someone properly, putting his/her health and safety at risk.

When you’re forced to do something, your mind automatically shuts down so it can’t absorb anything new.

Effective training isn’t possible if the school tries to force it on you, because your mind can only learn something if it’s interesting or you are passionate about it.

That’s why a high school or college student forced to do mandatory volunteering usually ends up ineffective and stressed. This leads to many problems such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, etc.

Ineffectiveness in School

Mandatory volunteering or rather the pressure of having to do “good deeds” not only has a negative impact on students but also on the efficiency of their graduation.

When teenagers are forced to do something they don’t want to do, they’re likely to experience stress and burnout. When that happens, it can make it even harder for them to focus on their graduation requirement.

If the school makes volunteering mandatory and the students don’t like it, the school may also lose credibility in terms of its effectiveness.

Generation Gap

Volunteer work has always been an integral part of our society, helping to build bridges between different generations and walks of life and making them more tolerant of each other. However, many young people find community service boring and dull.

If you force young adults to do community service, you’ll not get good results, because most of them will just sit in their chairs and think about how long they’ve to do this “boring stuff”.

Mandatory community service will also widen the gap between generations.

Lack of Motivation for Collective Action

Someone who doesn’t want to be there or feels obligated is less likely to get involved and participate during his/her community service hours.

As a result, other volunteers (who’re doing it for the right reasons) will lose motivation and be less likely to participate with a positive attitude.

A student may also behave carelessly because volunteering isn’t voluntary, further demotivating volunteers and ultimately making everyone involved in the project feel unmotivated.

Harm to the Organization

As tempting as it may sound to make community service mandatory, it doesn’t help charities much.

First, if volunteer teams aren’t motivated, more mistakes will be made that can impact the vulnerable communities the organizations are trying to help.

Second, more mistakes put the organization’s reputation on the line.

And third, volunteers who’re forced to do community service don’t have a choice of where they do their volunteering. As a result, the social aspect is lost and the work becomes a chore for the students.

They’ve no control over the group they’re helping and may not feel connected to the cause they’re volunteering for. It also means more work for nonprofits because they need more staff.

Nonprofits that rely on volunteers need more volunteers to function. If there are too many volunteers, nonprofits cannot manage them all and may be forced to hire paid staff with leadership skills to manage the student volunteers.

A School or College Should Encourage Its Students to Volunteer

Community service learning remains important for students’ futures, but it shouldn’t be mandatory. Instead, schools should educate about why civic engagement is important and why it’s important to consider volunteering opportunities.

I also think that a lesson on community service requirements can be useful for both students and nonprofits to help students better understand that a volunteer opportunity is a privilege and an opportunity to gain work experience and sometimes leadership skills.

Participating in a community service project shouldn’t be a burden.

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Why summer jobs are important.

High school students who engage in community service projects can benefit from the experience in many ways. They develop a good work ethic, engage in conversation with people of different ages and diverse lifestyles, and learn new skills. However, there are pitfalls. It is wise for parents and teachers to help guide students to community service projects that are safe and supervised.

Benefits of Community Service

Students who engage in community service have many opportunities for personal growth. Whether they help in a soup kitchen or volunteer at the library or humane society, they get exposure to people and experiences that broaden awareness and understanding of the world around them. Most kids learn new skills in these situations and work with people of diverse backgrounds and lifestyles. This is often the first time some of them have worked for a boss, and it is helpful in learning how to follow orders on the job.

Pitfalls of Community Service

Teenagers are often busy. They can easily become overwhelmed with homework, part-time jobs, sporting events and home and church obligations. It is important that any volunteer work doesn't interfere with school work, study time or sleep. Teens also need safety in the volunteer job. No teen should have to work with someone who makes him feel uncomfortable or unsafe. A teacher or parent should ensure proper supervision. Teens deserve respect and it is important that no volunteer coordinator takes advantage of them by expecting them to work for extended hours without breaks. Also, if left unsupervised, some teenagers engage in inappropriate behavior.

Evaluating Potential Volunteer Opportunities

When considering a community service opportunity it is important to ask a few questions. Do not assume anything, always ask questions. Examples of questions include:

Will there be responsible adults present to supervise the students? Is the work environment safe? Is the work appropriate for the students? Will the student be exposed to germs? What kind of skills are necessary to perform the work? How many hours of community service are students expected to complete? How are completed community service hours reported to the school?

Communicate With The Volunteer Coordinator

A responsible parent or other adult should have contact with the adult supervising the teens on the community service project. The parent should discuss any concerns about the experience. Open communication between adults ensures that the kids have adequate supervision. Students should always feel like they have someone to talk to if they have questions or concerns.

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Jody Hagensen began her writing career in 2010. Her work has appeared on Made Man and various other online publications. She specializes in home schooling and natural childbirth. Hagensen is certified as a Doula and Natural Childbirth Educator from the American Academy of Husband Coached Childbirth.

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The Importance of Community Service in a Teen’s Life

Posted on Feb 17 2021 by Aaron Heldt

Teenagers today lead very busy lives between school, extracurricular activities, and part-time jobs. It is amazing that they can find time for anything else! Many students work hard to find time to volunteer at different nonprofit organizations, too. These include animal shelters, health care centers, soup kitchens, Habitat for Humanity, and other community centers. Studies are finding that community service opportunities offer many different benefits to students, as well as to the communities they serve.

What are the Benefits of Community Service?

Performing community service has been shown to offer a number of benefits for young people before, during, and even after their high school years. The benefits of volunteering can have a holistic effect on students’ lives—professionally, educationally, and personally.    

Professionally

The community service projects that students perform during their teen years could benefit them when they begin their job search. Volunteering teaches valuable skills they wouldn’t be able to learn in a classroom. Examples of these skills include better communication, teamwork, creativity, problem-solving, and time management. Employers tend to look for candidates who have obtained skills in these areas. One study conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service found that having volunteer experience on a resume boosts chances of finding a job by 27%. Students who complete high school or college normally find that they have not yet gained a great deal of work experience. What they do not realize is that volunteer experience is just as valuable. These learned volunteer skills easily transfer over to a job. As a result, students who list community service activities on their resume can have an advantage over those who do not. Students also create important connections that guide them to different career openings later in life. Contacts made through volunteering often lead to letters of recommendation, references, and help with finding job opportunities. At the very least, students can practice their networking skills. This will be a huge benefit to them throughout their lives.

Educationally

On top of the career benefits, there are many educational benefits to serving. One study analyzed data from the National Education Longitudinal Study and found that students who volunteered did better in reading, history, science, and math and were more likely to complete high school. This is because students are able to see how their schoolwork applies to the real world, keeping them interested in what they are learning. Volunteer experiences can also give students an advantage on college admissions and scholarships. Admission into colleges and universities has become more competitive over the years. Service-learning projects listed on college applications offer students an advantage over others. Many students begin serving in high school, but students who serve even earlier have an even greater advantage. Their length of experience usually leads them to hold higher positions within the organization they are serving. This proves impressive to colleges looking for responsible, hard-working students to admit. Likewise, students are able to earn scholarships through community service programs. This is a great way for students to set themselves apart and impress scholarship providers by showing their interest in helping the community. Regardless of whether a scholarship is labeled as a specific “community service” scholarship or not, students have a better chance of winning when they list volunteer experience.

Community service even benefits students at a personal level. Through their service, students are given the opportunity to work with a variety of diverse people. This helps them develop a sense of social awareness. They learn patience and empathy while getting to see first-hand how they can have a positive impact on their local community. Volunteer work has also shown to offer mental and physical health benefits for young people. Whether working with a group of people or with pets at an animal shelter, it can reduce stress and anxiety while improving one's well-being. Researchers have discovered humans are hard-wired to give to others. This means the more students give, the happier they feel. Students can increase their self-confidence through the feeling of achievement they get from donating their time. Staying physically active while volunteering has shown to lessen symptoms of chronic pain, reduce the risk of heart disease, and lower a person’s mortality rate. Additionally, volunteering is a great way for students to make new friends who have similar interests. Meeting regularly with others boosts a teens’ social skills and give them confidence. Volunteering can strengthen a teen’s relationships with family members, when everyone serves together.

How Does Community Service Affect A Community?

Volunteerism has the power to create a mutually beneficial relationship between students and organizations in the community. Organizations are provided with cost-free service by their volunteers. This helps keep their operations running while saving money. At the same time, students are able to feel a unique sense of fun and fulfillment as they contribute to a meaningful cause.

Where Do I Start?

There are plenty of places for teens to find volunteer opportunities . To find a good fit, teens should first ask themselves a couple of important questions: 

• “Who would I like to work with?” - Some students may feel more comfortable working with children, while others would rather work with adults. Students should also consider if they would be comfortable working with animals or even possibly remotely from home. This first step can help significantly narrow down a pool of volunteer opportunities for a student. 
• “How much time do I have to commit to serving?” - Take a serious look at how much time a student is available to give to an organization. It is better for a student to be honest with how much time they are able to give to an organization, rather than try to do too much. Research has also shown that 2-3 hours of community service per week (roughly 100 hours each year) can deliver the most benefits for both volunteer and organization. Organizations never want their volunteers to feel overworked or stressed. Ultimately, volunteering should feel like a fun hobby rather than a chore. 
• “What skills can I bring to a volunteer job?” - Students should take the time to evaluate the skills they already possess that would benefit potential organizations they would serve. These skills range from hard skills, such as writing or math abilities, to soft skills, like communication and patience. No skill is too small or insignificant. Organizations need all kinds of people. Having an idea of what special skills they possess helps a student find the right fit. 
• “What am I interested in?” - Students should take into account the things that interest them or new skills they would like to learn when picking a place to volunteer. For example, a student who does not enjoy history or science would probably not enjoy serving at a museum or national park. A student who cares about animals and the outdoors might look into community service at a local animal shelter. If a student is interested in the volunteer work they are doing, it is likely to be a more enjoyable experience for them. 
• “What are my goals for volunteering?” - Students need to consider what they would like to take away from their community service experience. For example, are they looking to meet a new group of people, try a new type of work, or learn a new skill? 

An organization that lines up with a student’s interests and goals, as well as the time they can give and skill set, is an ideal match. While this may seem like a daunting task to find, there are many resources available to help students. Sites like VolunteerMatch are great resources to help students find opportunities in their area. Students can speak with a guidance counselor or school administrator for suggestions of organizations where they can increase their community involvement.  

The Bridge Teen Center offers opportunities for middle school and high school students to serve at The Bridge Thrift Store through its innovative “Thriftastic” Job Readiness program . This program asks students to commit 2-3 hours each week serving in the thrift store. Students are led through a training booklet that will increase their personal development while gaining valuable job skills they will use throughout their lives. This program can even open up employment opportunities for students with The Bridge Thrift Store. Currently, four former Thriftastic students are now serving as part-time staff members, due to their heart for volunteering. 

While student positions are limited, the Thriftastic program is open to teens in 7th through 12th grade with an approved Bridge Teen Center membership application on file. Students can also schedule service hours at the thrift shore separate from the Thriftastic Program. Membership is FREE to all eligible students.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Community Service — Why Schools Should Require Community Service

Why Schools Should Require Community Service

• Categories: Community Service

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Words: 842 |

Published: Jul 17, 2018

Words: 842 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Works Cited

• “Benefits of Community Service.” Community Engagement at WCSU, WCSU, www.wcsu.edu/community-engagement/benefits-of-volunteering.asp.Brown, Steven Donald.
• “The Impact of High School Mandatory Community Service Programson Subsequent Volunteering and Civic Engagement.” Researchgate, Jan. 2007. www.researchgate.net/publication/253520018_The_Impact_of_High_School_Mandatory_Community_Service_Programs_on_Subsequent_Volunteering_and_Civic_Engagement.Camara, Pauline F.
• “The Effects Of Community Service On The Academic Performance Of Students At A Massachusetts Middle School.” repository.library.northeastern.edu/files/neu:1166/fulltext.pdf.
• “Youth Helping America: The Role of Social Institutions in Teen Volunteering.” National Service, www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/05_1130_LSA_YHA_SI_factsheet.pdf.

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Ielts essay # 218 - unpaid community service should be a compulsory part of high school, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, some people believe that unpaid community service should be a compulsory part of high school programmes (for example working for a charity, improving the neighbourhood or teaching sports to younger children)., to what extent do you agree or disagree.

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Why shouldn’t voting be mandatory?

Subscribe to governance weekly, amber herrle and ah amber herrle research analyst - governance studies e.j. dionne, jr. e.j. dionne, jr. w. averell harriman chair and senior fellow - governance studies @ejdionne.

July 24, 2020

The United States should require all of its citizens to vote. Doing so will push back against voter suppression and tear down barriers to participation because the best way to protect the right to vote is to underscore that it is also a civic duty .

This is the message of a report issued this week by the Universal Voting Working Group, a joint initiative by the Brookings Institution and the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Its opening words:

“Imagine an American democracy remade by its citizens in the very image of its promise, a society where the election system is designed to allow citizens to perform their most basic civic duty with ease. Imagine that all could vote without obstruction or suppression. Imagine Americans who now solemnly accept their responsibilities to sit on juries and to defend our country in a time of war taking their obligations to the work of self-government just as seriously.”

We argue that the United States should require citizens to participate in elections as Australia and two dozen other nations do. As it is with jury service, so it is with voting: Asserting a civic duty is the best way to guarantee the right this duty entails. Our report, “ Lift Every Voice: The Urgency of Universal Civic Duty Voting ,” aims to build on the achievements of the civil rights, voting rights and democracy movements by continuing to push for a series of reforms to ease access to the ballot box and make voting simpler and easier.

Our working group was under no illusions that mandatory participation in elections would be adopted quickly or easily in the United States. Between now and November 2020, there is much that needs to be done simply to ensure that voters will be able to cast ballots safely. For the medium term, we urge that the first steps toward universal civic duty voting might begin with local or state experiments of the sort that have, in our nation’s past, pushed good ideas to the national stage.

But we also hope to shake up the nation’s voting debate to lay out an expansive vision of what our democracy could and should look like, and to show that this idea, which has only rarely entered the American debate, is exceedingly practical. Australia has had mandatory participation on the books for nearly a century, and it has worked.

Over the course of 18 months, our working group studied systems of universal voting, met with civil rights, voting rights and democracy advocates, immigrant rights groups, state legislative organizations, election officials at all levels, and many others to refine  our ideas and create a detailed policy proposal.

Our intervention reflects a sense of alarm and moral urgency, but also a spirit of hope and patriotism. That we consider 50% turnout in midterm elections a historical achievement (as was the case in 2018) should be a warning. The disparities in turnout between different groups, detailed in our report, are equally worrying. Boosting turnout, we insist, is a matter of justice and representation. This mandate also takes seriously the Declaration of Independence’s insistence that political legitimacy depends on the “consent of the governed.” Our turnout levels, at 60 percent on the high end in presidential elections and 40 percent in the typical case in midterm elections, means that elected leaders earn their legitimacy from a small group of individuals even in landslide elections. This suggests that many voters are withholding their consent from our government, passively in some cases and actively by the most alienated voters.

Civic duty voting shifts elections from an “opt-in” to an “opt-out” system. It does not force voters to elect any one candidate and therefore, we believe, it survives constitutional muster. In addition to allowing for a wide variety of exceptions to the voting mandate, the policy laid out in the report also encourages None of the Above options to be added to the ballot. Any civic duty voting policy should allow for religious and conscientious objection to voting.

Casting a ballot in countries with civic duty voting is often easier than it is in the United States. Registering to vote is a straightforward and accessible process, if not automatic; requesting a ballot or finding your polling place typically does not require calls to your local supervisor of elections or constantly checking online resources to ensure that your polling location has not changed; and voting in person does not mean standing in line for hours.

Many opponents of compulsory participation worry about imposing penalties on non-voters. We are careful to insist that fines for non-voting not be more than $20, that neither civil nor criminal penalties would be imposed for not paying the fine, that the amount would not compound over time, and that it would be set aside for those willing to meet a modest community service requirement. Included in the proposal is a conscientious objector provision for those who have religious or moral qualms about voting, and provide a wide range of legitimate reasons voters could give to escape any penalties. In Australia, only 13 percent of non-voters ever have to pay the penalty. Our emphasis is not on imposing sanctions but on sending a strong message that voting is a legitimate expectation of citizenship in a nation dedicated to democratic self-rule.

At a time when our nation is in the midst of a new struggle to end entrenched racial injustice, we see universal voting as a way to amplify long-suppressed voices. The John Lewis, whose loss we mourn and whose life we celebrate, risked his life again and again on behalf of voting rights and full participation. “Voting access is the key to equality in our democracy, Lewis declared. “The size of your wallet, the number on your Zip Code shouldn’t matter. The action of government affects every American so every citizen should have an equal voice.”

Our proposal is rooted in the obligation of all citizens to our democracy and represents an effort to make our system more equal and more participatory. We hope it can serve as a spur for a new and more vibrant democracy.

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