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Some people believe that unpaid community service should be a compulsory part of high school programmes (for example, working for a charity, improving the neighborhood or teaching sports to children). To what extent for you agree or disagree?

Secondary education is a milestone in children’s lives, in which they are educated to fully prepare for the next crucial stage - getting a job or going to university. Besides subjects like math and language, extracurricular activities are also fundamental for the development of these adolescents, and many advocate that schools should add community volunteer work as a mandatory extracurricular. I completely disagree with the idea as these services are better to be offered as an option rather than a requirement.\

Volunteering as an elective activity in high school programmes benefits children in many ways. When children help people who are not as privileged as them, such as the homeless or disabled people, they can learn to appreciate their parents and the community, look at the world in a more positive light and build a mindset of giving rather than only receiving. Volunteer work like handing out food and clothes for the homeless and cleaning up trash around local areas are physically demanding, so doing these can greatly improve children's physical health. As they meet and work out unfamiliar tasks with people of different races and backgrounds in a team, children can also develop several social and intellectual skills - teamwork, leadership and problem-solving skills.

Forcing students to do unpaid community work can cause adverse ramifications. Since other subjects already occupy most of their time, children want to relieve the stress and exhaustion by spending time for relaxation and family rather than working for free. As a result, they might see these work as a punishment and even habour resentment towards helping others. Furthermore, as they feel obligated, they may work half-heartedly, which lead to the people in need cannot receive the necessary help. Thus, it is counterproductive to force children volunteering.

In conclusion, by doing community volunteer services, secondary students can develop intellectually, emotionally and physically, as well as achieve useful social skills for their future. But these benefits can be possibly obtained when they choose to do it, otherwise, it actually discourages them to do good deeds.