Benefits Of Obligatory Community Service

793 Words4 Pages

Mahatma Gandhi once said “the best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others,” which isn’t always true because he didn’t disclose the negatives of community service. Students should not be required to do community service because mandated community service can make students who do it for their own free will seem less special during college admission processes, it can pull students away from their education and work, and the pressure from this requirement could make students not consider future service involvement.
Students should not be required to do mandatory community service because the pressure the requirement puts on students can disinterest them from future community service. A cognitive study done by Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan resulted in students’ “natural human response to lose enthusiasm” for the action being enforced (Pearce 3). Obligatory service can sometimes be thought of as an external force which can alter a student’s future outlook on volunteering. According to a study done by “The Economics of Education Review,” “required volunteering among older students led to a potential loss in long term volunteering” than elementary students (Sparks 9). The roots of community service come from the fact that it is voluntary making mandatory volunteering an oxymoron because they contradict. Only a few benefits would come out of required community service if it doesn’t help or encourage students’ service in the future. In addition to

Open Document