Mandatory Volunteerism?

by Kerry Thomas

June 8, 2007

To the Editor of the Vilas County News Review;

Am I the only one who sees the contradiction in the words mandatory and volunteerism?

If the Northland Pines School District wants to encourage volunteerism and community service (they call it a Service Learning requirement) in the students of the district, then encourage it.  Reward those who do volunteer work, perhaps with additional credits or substitution of community service work for a social studies classroom requirement.

When you mandate an activity, it becomes just another mandatory requirement.  It abrogates any sense of self-worth or feeling of satisfaction one gets when helping others, which, it seems, is the underlying purpose behind this proposed requirement.  Mandating such service strips away all sense of giving of one's self for it's own reward.

If you want to encourage community involvement, then recognize and reward it when it's shown.  But don't punish those who choose not to practice in such generosity of self.

The Vilas County News Review’s editorial writers speak of “keeping alive the spirit of volunteerism that blossomed after World War II.” It was based on a strong sense of community. It also came from within, not from a mandate.

The World War II generation saw first hand the differences between freedom and tyranny. They fought to preserve our freedom. They fought against tyrannical oppression, against governments that sought to impose strict mandates governing social behaviors among their people.

Freedom also means the freedom to choose not to participate in something. Freedom doesn’t mandate.

And, yes, it is a liberal/conservative point, when you come right down to it.  Forced volunteerism is just another feel-good policy that hopes to instill a certain value in children, in the hope that it will teach the kids a lesson.  It's a well-intentioned policy that has no way to measure the results or the consequences of success or failure. 

Just because a school district has the authority to mandate certain graduation requirements doesn’t mean it should do so. Would you be willing to mandate a work requirement in the graduation requirements?  Should a child complete 40 hours of work at some job in order to graduate?

Justifying this proposal by saying there are many tasks that need to be performed in the community comes dangerously close to endorsing involuntary servitude. (See U.S. Constitution – Amendment XIII)

Am I the only one who can see the irony in a school district that seeks to mandate community service as a graduation requirement as a means of instilling a sense of achievement and self worth among it’s students while at the same time the court system imposes community service as a punishment for those who break the law? You can bet this irony will not be lost on the students.

“But some colleges have a service learning requirement for admission.” So the students who choose those colleges bear the burden of fulfilling those requirements for admission. Not all students will choose to go to college. Should the students not going to college be forced to complete college entrance requirements in order to graduate from high school?

And just because other schools have chosen to mandate volunteerism in their curricula doesn’t make it right. This bureaucratic mentality of keeping up with the Joneses usually isn’t a good idea, especially for taxpayers. You don’t allow your kids to get away with something just by telling you “Everyone does it.” When something’s wrong, it’s wrong, even if everyone’s doing it.

Why not also require 40 hours of attendance at religious services? Oops, wait, no, I forgot. Schools are subject to that whole separation-of-church-and-state thing (even though, contrary to popular belief, it’s not in the Constitution). A school is allowed to teach about religion, but not actually teach a religion. So why not do the same with a class in community service and volunteering, a class that would show the value of volunteering without mandating it?

I’m reminded of the Clinton program called AmeriCorps. Clinton was a big fan of John Kennedy’s Peace Corps. Clinton was always obsessed with his own legacy, and wanted his name attached to a similar big government program of public service. So he sold Congress the idea that the American taxpayers should pay people for their volunteer services.

Think about that statement. Paying people for volunteer service. Almost sounds like a job. It, too, was sold to the taxpayers with an education component in the mix, to help people pay for college.

What ever happened to the idea of volunteer service for it’s own rewards?

There are many ways children learn about society's values. But it's not the job of a school to instill those values.  It's the job of parents to do so.

It’s your job as your child’s parent, just as it was your parents' job, to instill your values in your children.  It’s not the job of the school district.  There is a profound difference between what parents teach to their children and what schools teach.  There is a difference between Dad's law and society's law.

Encourage community service but don't mandate it.