Pros And Cons Of Mandatory Community Work

The issue of whether community work should be made compulsory in schools has been mooted for a long time with opposing parties having convincing reasons. After weighing their arguments, I personally feel that mandatory community work has more pros than cons and will therefore bring more benefits to students when they grow up. Through community work, students learn how to work better in teams, develop leadership skills and gain experience that will stand them in good stead when they leave college or university and join the work force. Studies have shown that students who have done regular community work during their school days stand a better chance of being employed when applying for a job than those who have not. Prospective employers …show more content…
However, the number of students who really enjoy such work is a big question mark. I know of several students who complain of “wasting” too much of their precious time on compulsory community work. They told me that if it were not compulsory, they would not do it. In fact, some of them even used the word “hate”. Therefore, if community work was left optional, I believe a large percentage of students would not volunteer for such work. Human beings are by nature lazy. In most cases, they need compulsion to do things which they do not really enjoy. Therefore, schools and colleges have valid reasons to make community work compulsory. Overloaded with homework and various activities that my school requires, I myself would not have considered doing community work if it had not been made compulsory. But a few sessions of community work totally changed my attitude and interest towards serving less privileged members of the …show more content…
We have interactions with children there who have learning disabilities, many of whom suffering from autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), etc. My experience there is really eye-opening and inspiring. I have grown to enjoy it more and more. Upon interacting with them, I have changed my initial impression of students with special needs. When we are interacting with them, they are all willing to learn from us, and are full of excitement and exuberance, which in turn, motivates us to teach and play with them. The children there are unexpectedly attentive and willing to follow every instruction we have given. Many of them are even more keen to learn and experience new things as compared to mainstream students. Throughout the sessions, planning activities for the children there allowed me to think and apply my knowledge about them, at the same time, I was mindful of their conditions and capabilities. I have come to the realization that what they actually need is empathy but not sympathy. For those who might argue that students are busy enough, they must keep in mind that they should never be so self-centered, totally involved with their own activities, so much so that they neglect their community. Also, I believe that if community service is started at a young age, it will become a habit to help others, rather than a burden to