Children aren't forced into school actually, education is compulsory (as a result of the childrens charter - human rights), school isn't. Steal their labour? I don't think the government are planning to put chains round their ankles and dress them in striped uniforms. I don't see what is illegal or immoral about encouraging teenagers to give something back to their community and to do something for others.
21st century slaves don't have chains.
Saying "work for the state or you'll go to prison" sounds like forced labour to me.
If someone tried to force that onto me now, I would tell them to f*ck off. I will contribute to society in my own way, and I help with various things when I want to, not when someone tells me to.
mandatory volunteer work sounds totally contradictory and totally wrong. how many people are going to have to keep track of who has done volunteer work and how many hours of it.....
I did a volunteer internship, but i had the purpose of getting experience for future employment. I put a lot more than 50 hours into it though. That was my choice though.
My husband is my best friend.
In forgiving others, we are not exonerating them. They may not deserve exoneration. Rather, in forgiving others we are giving up our anger over the fact that what happened is not what "should" have happened or that our life is not the way it "should" have been.
for us it was either join the cadets or do community service.
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
I think voluntary work is a good thing, so raising awareness of it, encouraging young people to do it and making opportunities to do voluntary work available for them is a great idea.
Forced voluntary work is no longer voluntary, and therefore is, imo, not a great idea. Most young people will go through a phase, at least, of thinking school is really boring, not wanting to do it, and trying to avoid it, just because they are 'forced' to go, and I think that would probably just happen if this was put in place.
50's nothing, though. I volunteer at various projects and I've benefited as wel as the community.
It's a good thing, i feel.
It's good that you undertake things on a volunteer basis but when it is forced it's no longer voluntary is it? The very phrase is an oxymoron.
By all definitions compulsory unpaid labour is slave labour. Under normal circumstances when someone requires my labour I enter into a contract with them and they pay me a designated sum of money for the time that I have dedicated to them. In this instance i'd be forced into giving up my labour for free, in essence it is stolen from me against my wishes. Under current arrangements it is I who chooses when and where my time will be spent, I don't see why there should be a collective punishment against all youths because of the actions of a minority who like to cause trouble.
How is forcing kids into litter picking, working with the elderly, or other such tasks going to improve their outlook on society? I know full well if they'd sprung this on me when I was that age i'd have done a half baked job of it on purpose and deliberately made mistakes to make a point. When volunteering ones time is enforced by the state it ceases to be an act of charity or compassion it becomes forced labour for corner cutting penny pinching bureaucrats.
Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money.
They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Calling it voluntary work when it's compulsory is a bit silly, but there's no reason that community service can't be compulsory.
Why is everyone assuming it would only be teenagers though? There's plenty of community service work that little kids can do, and lots of schools have kids do things like planting things in a public place or such that can be considered community service anyway. Also, at least in the US, lots of middle/high schools have community service requirements (basically, you have to complete a certain number of hours of community service to graduate), and when I was in middle and high school we'd do a community service project as a class at least once a year, plus a few other things as a school.
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Unsure if it would work but i love the idea. I am currently volunteering for a charity for disabled children. I love the work so much and i love being able to help a charity that is in need of help.
Personal question, how would you feel about volunteering there if you were surrounded by people that hated every minute of it and were only there because it was manditory whether outright or just to graduate? I think it would ruin the true acts of volunteering for those who actually enjoy it.
Also, a question for those in support of these types of manditory programs (there are a few in the works in the States as well, a 2 year program) -
Why is everyone assuming it would only be teenagers though?
The law is designed to target people between the ages of 15-19, so basically secondary school and 6th form pupils that's why we said teenagers. It would be interwoven in with the ridiculous subjects known as general studies and citizenship.
Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money.
They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
This contradicts the whole point of voluntary service, surely?
Whilst I see the point of this move, I don't think it's going to be as beneficial as they hope it to be.
Those who volunteer to do stuff, do so out of the goodness of their hearts. They want to do it and will therefore put the effort it.
I remember at school having to tidy up some of the graves in the parish church. We just sat there chatting because we weren't interested in the task at hand. Yet when I offered to go help with the nursery children in the neighbouring primary school I really made the effort because I chose to do it.
Forcing people to do anything is pointless. If the aim is to get young people to value and put back to their community then this is not the way...they will only resent what they are being made to do.
You have to want to do it for it to have any impact socially or morally.
I didn't know this was a recent thing. At sixth form, as part of citizenship, we had to do at least two hours a week of some sort of community service.
I ran a drama group! It was awesome.
ETA: We could do anything from running drama/sports/maths groups for younger children to working in Oxfam to working in an old people's home. Everybody in sixth form did it, and I think most people enjoyed it - because they found their niche, and knew it would look good on their CV/uni application form.
They would have their whole teenage years to do it, and they could do whatever they wanted. Yes, it's forced but it's community service, not volunteer work.
Teenagers are always saying they can't get a job because they have no experience, but since they can't get a job they'll never be able to get experience. Voluntary work fills this gap nicely and if everyone did it then it might make people more employable and/or encourage people to work.
Also, I'd be all for a community service or national service programme. It would certainly help the fitness levels of the country.
In year 11 we had to do community links which is helping in the community for 3/4 hours every other thursday for a term and they've done that for ages. I worked in my old primary school and I personally didn't like it cos it was forced volutary work which was compulsory so you got in trouble if you didn't go.
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We did a community action/service project as part of a citizenship course my first year of high school. We picked our topic (the cafeterias in the three high schools and how they're run causing problems), collaborated with the other two schools to develop different solutions to said problems, and got to present them at a community meeting with the school board members. We all really enjoyed it, even the ones that refused to do it in the beginning.
I think that if a variety of options were presented (like Dreaming had) it would have more success, but you'll always have that handful of people who just don't want to do it. Yeah, it sucks to have that person around you but you learn to try to work with them to find a solution, find out what they'd like to do and adapt to it.
If programs requiring mandatory community service can work with hardened criminals, drug addicts, and the like I'm sure it could work with a group of teenagers. Not saying it would be easy, and that it wouldn't take a group of dedicated people who are going to put the time and effort into making it a success though....
Hm. I can understand why people are apprehensive of this. If I hadn't been exposed to a similar system I would be, too. But I really can't convince myself it's a bad thing to introduce all children to community service.
Where I am, high school students have to complete 40 hours of community service to graduate. Lots of people end up completing far more. 40 hours isn't much, nor is 50. It wasn't miserable. None of the students I volunteered with were miserable. It's really not a huge deal for anyone, it's just part of the requirements for graduation.
It's not ideal to have reluctant students doing volunteer work, but it still needs to be done. It also seems to encourage students to do volunteer work on their own volition later on in life.
The One Who makes a great point, too. Volunteer work is perfect for filling in a student's resume.
well, i have sown untidy furrows 'cross my soul,
but I am still a coward,
content to see my garden grow so sweet & full
of someone else's flowers.
I think if this option was presented to the kids I teach, they'd love it! It's a chance to experience a different environment, it would give some of them a real chance to shine, and as it has already been pointed out, would fill some experience gaps on their CV's. I'm actually impressed that this is a suggested scheme, we desperately need a new approach to the education system, it is massively flawed and really doesn't cater for today's students.
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Colin with the place i am volunteering at they wouldnt have people there that didnt want to be as these children require special care comapred to children of similar ages without disabilities.Yes i am a bit nuts to change nappies without getting paid while nearly everyone else i work with gets paid :p
Gordon Brown has vowed to make every young person do 50 hours of voluntary work by the time they reach the age of 19.
Voluntary work my arse. It's conscription.
I'd have found a way out of it. People won't do it. They will doss / skive and do the minimum they can get away with if they even bother turning up in the first place.
