The Importance Of Civic Engagement In Schools

Anytime we perform a service for a community, we hope that it provides the best outcomes for people and that the community actually wants our “help.” Volunteers need to follow the ideals of the community perspective: mutuality, reciprocity, humility, respect, and sustainability in order to understand the community’s needs and prevent unnecessary harm. If communication is clear and consistent, then the community should prosper from the service being done. If the service is international, students should research some of the current issues in that country since they are not as familiar with the cultural aspects. For example, if the community needs a well and asks for it, then that is what the volunteers should provide not a schoolhouse. Volunteers can do great things for the community such as working with children in …show more content…
Civic engagement allows the community to have new opportunities to flourish if done correctly. As long as the task is wanted and will not cause more harm, then volunteers should go ahead with it.
When students are participating in a civic engagement program, they do not always have the necessary skills or knowledge to best meet the community’s needs. For example, Danielle Papi gives an example of her civic engagement opportunity to build a school in rural Africa. However, they never asked if the community needed a school or had the resources to maintain the school. Papi realized that schools do not teach kids, teachers do. No teachers were trained or provided, so the schoolhouse never fulfilled its purpose. Additionally, another example of the negative impacts of civic engagement on a community is the Play Pumps International project. Play pumps were installed all over different