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

Many people think that voluntary community service should become an integral part in high school curricula. I am supportive of this idea; however, the service should take up only a reasonable amount of time.

On one hand, compulsory community service in a high school environment has its own drawbacks. One of these disadvantages is that community service may prove to be too distracting for students. They may spend more time participating in volunteering activities, rather than pursuing their academic careers. This imbalance may cause unforeseeable consequences. Because a student could spend the majority of their time doing volunteering work, he or she may be distracted from studying; therefore, he or she could not do as well in his or her studies as expected, and his or her score may take a nosedive.

On the other hand, adding community service as a compulsory component to high school programmes has its own advantages. First of all, students could gain valuable practical experience. Traditional schools only focus on academic subjects, and they do not spend much time on building their students’ soft skills. Therefore, while a student may excel academically, he or she could be severely lacking in real world knowledge. This may prove unattractive to prospective employers, and could lead to the student struggling in a working environment. In addition, not only will students gain more real life experience but they will also have better attitudes towards the world around them. Students may live in a bubble, where people’s lives are extremely similar. Therefore, when the students are forced to step out of their comfort zone by the means of community service, they get to open their eyes, and see how other people around them live. Thus, they will become more and more compassionate and sympathetic to those whose lives are different.

In conclusion, compulsory community service should be added to high school programmes. However, this kind of service has its own disadvantages, which can only be curbed by finding the appropriate amount of it to introduce into high schools.