should community service be mandatory for students to graduate

Community service has been a topic of discussion throughout colleges and universities all over the country. There have been hundreds of debates and arguments on whether or not community service should be mandatory, but what does “mandatory” entail? Some schools have already started the process by placing a minimum amount of community service hours required for a student to graduate. Other universities have even offered some sort of notable merit upon graduation for students who volunteer. With students already being obligated to other outside school activities such as athletics and personal home life is it acceptable to add more on to the load?

Community service is beneficial in a number of ways. The first reason community service should be mandatory is because for years service learning has been closely correlated with scholastic achievement. The majority of students who engage in community service activities tend to perform slightly better in school than those who do not do any sort of service education. Community service gives students the possibility to take what they do outside the classroom and implement it with the learning they do inside the classroom. Doing service work is a prominent route for students to check what they’ve learned and even add new knowledge. Some would argue that community service is not correlate with scholastic achievement because it adds additional work and stress on a student. Advocates of no mandatory community service believes that an average student already juggle a huge work load. The majority of students have other obligations such as, athletics, part-time jobs, and most importantly, school work. Adding community service to that would be detrimental to student’s success. They believe the stud...

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...between those whose character is “real” and those who are just “faking it to make it”.

Whether are not community service is mandatory to graduate or not there will always be those individuals who are willing to participate regardless. But making community mandatory is a way to get students who particularly would never be interested in volunteering get out and get involved in their communities. Despite the fact a person wanted to volunteer or not there is no denying the gratification a person gets from helping others. No one can deny the true value of community service and what it means to those that benefit. Making community service mandatory could possibly get students to get out there and make a difference and perhaps these will be the first steps for a lifetime involvement in their communities and in the constant pursuit of growth and betterment in their lives.