Our local high school is thinking about requiring the students to commit so many hours to community service as a graduation requirement. While I think that the idea is commendable, our children already have such busy schedules that it is hard for them to have much time for just plain fun. Are many schools adding volunteering as a graduation requirement? -- Just Too Busy
Answer: An increasing number of high schools are making community service part of their graduation requirements. There are, of course, benefits to this requirement. It definitely lets students see the needs of a wide variety of people in their community, and the students can gain satisfaction from helping those in need. There are other benefits, too, such as improving social skills, learning new skills, expanding horizons, enhancing college applications and helping at job interviews. Incidentally, students who are involved in volunteering activities tend to have better graduation rates. On the other hand, making community service a requirement stops it from being true volunteering.
Parents have been quite supportive of community-service requirements. Their children are definitely not as supportive of this requirement, even though they overwhelmingly support volunteering. Today, more than 50 percent of all young people are actually devoting some of their time to volunteer activities. And those who do volunteer find themselves becoming hooked on volunteering.
If your children's school initiates this requirement, here are some suggestions for ways that they can make it an enjoyable and personally satisfying activity:
--Don't be hasty in choosing an activity. Investigate your options before making a commitment.
--Choose an activity that you would enjoy doing.
--Choose a community problem that concerns you.
--Consider if you want to create your own activity or work for a large or small organization.
--Decide whether you would like to work on a project alone or with family or friends.