Civic And Civil Service

America’s culture of service and hard work is crumbling. Our military and public service members are no longer respected, and American young people feel entitled to a world with one view point: theirs. Many who already serve their community or nation in some way rave of the positive change they have seen in their lives after giving time and energy to others. Most modern high schools strongly suggest their students get involved in the community and joining a service orientated organization. Based on evidence that service to others develops an individual’s personality, character and view point, civic and civil service work should be required to complete sections of schooling in the American education system, in an effort to change today’s

Adults’ personalities, characteristics, and physical wellbeing are still changeable, allowing them to be impacted by the positive consequences of civic and civil service. Author Sarah Michalos claims, “The helper develops social networks and strong community connections that act as defenses against stressors” (26). Adults are constantly being subjected to stressors of work, family life, bills, and deadlines, therefore civic and civil service positively impacts adults by reducing stressors and risk for disease, because an active heart is a healthy heart. I once had in high school math teacher, a Mr. Startt, who was aged well into his 80s. He was full of many stories and tales, but his philosophy was that the moment he gives up on life and stop working, he begins to die. So he never stopped working. Even if he did not get paid, he used his invaluable talents and resources to put himself to work. Consequently, Michalos says, “Volunteering, or helping others, results in a reduction of disease risk that the act of volunteering assists with maintaining good health” (26). Health plays a large part in what makes an individual unique. Much like my high school teacher, serving others does something to the body, resulting in overall good health and a drive to

Most think of these duties as a summons to jury duty or being required to obey local, state and federal laws. These are all examples of obligations citizens are required to fulfill. However, citizenship is should be more than that. According to William Galston, a journalist for the U.S News and World Report, “Citizenship … is a package of rights and [civic] responsibilities” (8). Citizens should not just settle to meet the standards. We should have pride in our people, in our community and our nation, pride in the duties and obligations we uphold as responsible citizens. Currently, we have a divide in the people of American, a gap between those who serve the community and those who do not. Galson covers this in his published article, “Our National Responsibilities”, saying “A small percentage of Americans do the fighting for the rest of us, creating a wedge between military professionals and average citizens” (8). Most people in the nation sympathize with the nation’s military, but they do not understand the many controversial situations our service members are put in. Likewise, Police, EMT and firefighters are also experiencing this social separation because they often are required to make the hard call on a difficult circumstances. Required civil and civic service is a solution to this issue. Service will give people new perspectives and