Should High School students in America require Community Service?

          Until my eleventh grade, I did my schooling in India. In the Indian school system, it is not mandatory to perform community service. When I was in the ninth grade, we celebrated Diwali ( a Hindu festival) with the elderly in the city's old age home. As a class, we spent the whole day in the old age home- singing songs with them, having meals together, playing board games, viewing pictures of smiling faces of their grandchildren, but most importantly- just listening to them. It dawned on me that day that all they wanted was for someone to lend a ear, to acknowledge their presence and make them feel needed. All they wanted was to spend the last few years of their lives in peace- and if a group of students can provide happiness by just being there for them and spending a single day of our lives with them- then I think our time was spent well.

          Yes, I am for the argument that high school students in America should require community service. The young people of the community have absolutely no inkling as to how much they owe the society and can bring back to it. Students are immensely valuable for all their capabilities of giving back back to the society.

          Certainly, I acknowledge the fact that there are those who, for some reason, cannot or do not want to provide their service to the community, and that the need to provide service must come from within a person, voluntarily, and therefore cannot be mandated by schools. My counter argument would be that, though I agree that some service will be fruitful and well received only if it's given from the heart, there are times when one's action is more important than one's thoughts behind it. It's simply amazing to see how many people in this world are in need of a little help, encouragement and support. We have to live with the fact that this world we live in is an extremely unbalanced one. But just because we are individual beings on this earth, we can do our small bit to make it a better place to live in. And believe it or not, if we chip in our tiny bit, all the bits will come together to make the perfect larger picture.

          The fact also remains that, if community service is made mandatory, not all students would do it just to get that credit in. There would be those who always wanted to do it, but just did'nt get the right opportunity. And in this way, they also get the credit for it. All said, one thing must be understood- no one in this whole world, especially a student, is too busy to give back to the community they grew up in.

          Another valuable argument is that, proving a stranger with some kind of service encourages students to come out of their comfort zones and form lasting bonds. This interaction with the outside world, would give them invaluable experience for their future, and they would be better prepared when they become adults, to face the world. In a nutshell, this is a symbiotic process which would bring mutual happiness.

          An alternative idea would be to make it mandatory, but provide the students with a wide range of options through which it is possible to provide community service- depending on each individual's personality.

          As an Indian, I have seen enough suffering to know how much community service can help. Those who have, must give. I believe that these high school students from America have something special to offer their community- and they must be given the opportunity to do so.