There is a mixed reaction to mandatory volunteerism by adults
and students. Some people feel that making someone volunteer
defies the spirit of volunteering. Other people position their
argument for mandatory (voluntold) volunteering by stating that
some youth have never been introduced to the rewards of
volunteering and this educational method does just that. The
following article is about mandatory volunteerism from a
student’s perspective.
Mandatory Volunteering: A Student’s
Perspective
By Vicki Xu
When faced with the CAS (creative/action/service) program at
the beginning of Grade 11, many students start with the same
thoughts: fifty hours? Impossible! They begin to scramble
around, scooping up whatever volunteer positions they can find,
complaining along the way. Are these mandatory service hours
necessary? Are they forcing high school students to do too much
extracurricular work?
The spirit of volunteering is to give up your time freely to
help others. It seems completely contradictory to force students
into something that is meant to be given out of the goodness of
their hearts.
However, mandatory volunteering is actually a wonderful part
of high school that all students benefit from, no matter how
much they may complain. It teaches them to take the initiative
to find a volunteer position and then to manage their schedules
to fit in time each week. It develops dedication to a task, as
well as responsibility. It coaches a friendly attitude and
better interactions with others.
Although many students may not realize it, volunteering is
the start of the development of life skills that will be needed
not only in the workplace but in life. It gets many students out
of their houses, off computers, away from televisions, and into
the real world where not only are they helping others and they
are learning new things.
Mandatory volunteering also helps fill in the spaces where
volunteering is needed. Without mandatory programs, places such
as the Odyssium, hospitals, local festivals, and charity events
would all be much emptier. Our society needs these volunteers,
and if awarding school credit ensures that a demand is met, it
is a worthy sacrifice.
I first began to volunteer at the beginning of my Grade 10
year. I thought volunteering earlier than required was a way to
fill up the CAS hours for the International Baccalaureate
program. At the University of Alberta Hospital library, I spent
four hours a week helping patients, delivering magazines, and
organizing books. After less than four months I was done the
fifty required hours that were supposed to be completed in two
years, yet I continued to volunteer. Even after I decided not to
attain my IB diploma, rendering my CAS hours useless, I still
continued to volunteer.
I discovered a great joy from helping patients; providing
them with someone to talk to, and lighting a smile on their
faces. Breaking the monotony of their lives was infinitely more
important than the two or three hours taken out of my homework
time. Without the mandatory CAS program, I would not have
realized the rewards of volunteering.
By giving students that little extra push to volunteer,
mandatory volunteering creates a world of good. It provides
students with needed life skills, fills the void in volunteering
programs, and allows students to discover the joys of
volunteering that most would not realize.
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