Thoughts on school "community service hours"

[CuriousAlan]

A friend’s son’s Catholic High School requires a student in attendance to have a certain amount of “hours” of community service, claiming all are “called to serve” and referring to it as a official ecclesiastical “ministry”, where the student becomes an “ordained Christian Minister” to the community. Personally, and perhaps because I tend to look at things in a fairly traditionalist point of view, and I believe this has some seriously strange wording to it. No matter, I believe serving the community is good thing to do, but isn’t forcing work like this a bit much? According to my friend, at the end of each semester, if one does not obtain enough, he/she is placed on academic probation and it counts as a failed course, barring the student from sports and extracurricular activities.

Doesn’t that seem a bit unnecessary or harsh? The school justifies this by saying “Pope John Paul II challenged each of us to serve our families and Christian communities by working for social justice to achieve ultimate peace, helping one ultimately reach total salvation!” They treat it very dogmatic, and as far as I know, and according to Catholic Answers “Tradition and Scripture and says that it is only by God’s grace–completely unmerited by works–that one is saved.”

So is the school really helping the students to force them to meet 50 hours of service to the community, or else face harsh consequences? Thoughts, please, as this has been on my mind for quite sometime since my friend told me about his son’s incident with such service hours

 

[Saber_Mom]

The “ordained Christian Minister” bit is a little weird, but I don’t think the community service hours are. Our Catholic high school requires 30 (I think, I’ll have to look it up) hours a year. 50 a semester seems a little extreme though.

 

[HouseArrest]

I think a better idea is to encourage students to perform community service as opposed to requiring it.

 

[St_Francis]

I think the problem is that some parents won’t cooperate unless it is required.

 

[Allegra]

The high school students in the public school district where I work are also required to do service hours as part of their citizenship course that is required by the state.

 

[MJJean]

My kids go to a charter school. For those unfamiliar, it’s a public school owned by a business instead of being part of the local school district and is paid for with tax dollars. They require 60 hours community service per year. I like the requirement. We volunteer with our parish as needed, so we aren’t bothered by the requirement at all. Here a kid can do whatever they want from working at the animal shelter to working at a soup kitchen to helping at a senior center.

 

[tawny]

I know that children preparing for Comfirmation are required to perform a certain number of hours of community service. It is part of the faith formation of giving to the community. Works out very well. They help senior citizens with raking leaves, shoveling snow, help setting up for communion breakfasts etc. Also, helps the children feel like they are participating and being valuable members of the parish community. I even heard one kid say when his back hurt from raking leaves, but he said, I’ll kiss it up to God.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

Whether it is too harsh or not is irrelevant. This is a private school. If it is a rule of the school then, one would assume, the applicant knows this when they apply. If they don’t want to do what is required by the school, and/or suffer the consequences of their actions, they shouldn’t go to the school.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

A friend’s son’s Catholic High School requires a student in attendance to have a certain amount of “hours” of community service, claiming all are “called to serve” and referring to it as a official ecclesiastical “ministry”, where the student becomes an “ordained Christian Minister” to the community. Personally, and perhaps because I tend to look at things in a fairly traditionalist point of view, and I believe this has some seriously strange wording to it. No matter, I believe serving the community is good thing to do, but isn’t** forcing **work like this a bit much?

They’re only “forcing” you in the same sense that they force you to do any other coursework. Why is it a problem?

According to my friend, at the end of each semester, if one does not obtain enough, he/she is placed on academic probation and it counts as a failed course, barring the student from sports and extracurricular activities.

Doesn’t that seem a bit unnecessary or harsh?

No. Why would it? It’s part of the coursework. I’m not… I’ll be honest, I can’t quite figure out what your objection is, can you elaborate? You’re worried about school sports? The student can still do them if he/she completes the service. And isn’t service just as good for a student’s character as sports, if not moreso?

The school justifies this

I’m sorry, wait a second. “Justifies this”? You say it as if they’re talking about something problematic. Why do they need to justify something like that? If you want justification, how about the Beatitudes?

So is the school really helping the students to force them to meet 50 hours of service to the community, or else face harsh consequences?

I’m at the end here, and I still don’t understand your objections. It’s just a… strange sounding thing for a Christian to be so upset that their child is being put in a position to care for those in need.

Please elaborate on your concerns?

 

[wcknight]

Kids in grade school are required to perform service hours for confirmation. It is long pverdue. Our faith requires us to help others. What we do for the least of our brothers we do for Christ.

No we do not work out our own salvation… BUT proof that we are followers of Christ is that we do as He preaches,and that requires that we serve our fellow humans in need.

Every Christian should be helping others. Catholics who leave it up to others are shirking their responsibilities, and may be very surprised when Christ says He doesn’t know you !

 

[CuriousAlan]

They’re only “forcing” you in the same sense that they force you to do any other coursework. Why is it a problem?

No. Why would it? It’s part of the coursework. I’m not… I’ll be honest, I can’t quite figure out what your objection is, can you elaborate? You’re worried about school sports? The student can still do them if he/she completes the service. And isn’t service just as good for a student’s character as sports, if not moreso?

I’m sorry, wait a second. “Justifies this”? You say it as if they’re talking about something problematic. Why do they need to justify something like that? If you want justification, how about the Beatitudes?

I’m at the end here, and I still don’t understand your objections. It’s just a… strange sounding thing for a Christian to be so upset that their child is being put in a position to care for those in need.

Please elaborate on your concerns?

First, please do remember this is not my child, I am not married, as my friend’s son who is trying to fight the system… Secondly, as I said, I have no issue with community work, as I hold strongly that it is a good thing for a Catholic to assist the community as much as possible, but I do need to elaborate. I have no worry about school sports. I have never been a person for sports through the 25+ years of my life. As in extracurricular activities, I refer to the various clubs the school offers, which again I place little importance on in comparison to the topic at hand. I mentioned them simply because that is one punishment the school will force against a student who does not meet their hour requirement.

What irks me per se, is them counting it as a failed course. **According to my friend, paperwork was given to parents, and he felt that it treated the service more like a chore and something one will only do for a good grade or a nice gold chord in their senior year if they exceed 50 hours, not something one would do out of the kindness of their heart and be willing do to. **Other than the harsh repercussions one could face, potentially not being able to walk at graduation seems frankly a bit unnecessary. The school should
indeed, propagate community service work, but I feel not to the extent where they bar you from a considerable amount of activities.

Off the topic though, and what bothers me much more is how faithful the school is to the Church in terms of their liturgical practices. My friend went to an all school Mass for the parents of students, which the school oddly terms " Community Assembly Liturgy". Apparently the priest does not wear a chasuble, there is some liturgical dancing, altar servers randomly selected from the congregation at a moment’s notice, glass and earthenware vessels for the Eucharistic Offerings, and a priest that throws out insults to various non “modern day Catholics” as the priest put it…

 

[Allegra]

Off the topic though, and what bothers me much more is how faithful the school is to the Church in terms of their liturgical practices. My friend went to an all school Mass for the parents of students, which the school oddly terms " Community Assembly Liturgy". Apparently the priest does not wear a chasuble, there is some liturgical dancing, altar servers randomly selected from the congregation at a moment’s notice, glass and earthenware vessels for the Eucharistic Offerings, and a priest that throws out insults to various non “modern day Catholics” as the priest put it…

THese are what I’d concern myself with, not kids doing service projects.

 

[Mintaka]

Requiring hours of service in return for graduation is either illegal indentured servitude or a lousy excuse for a vocational school.

Naturally, it keeps kids from holding paid jobs and learning the value of money.

Naturally, it keeps kids from pursuing study or skills.

Naturally, it discourages volunteerism in adults, because they’d be interfering with the kids who have to make their service hours in order to graduate.

Why is child labor illegal, but “volunteering” children is not?

 

[Allegra]

“Naturally”, this is complete nonsense. There are 24 hours in every day. That’s plenty of time for a teenager to get their studying done, hold a part-time job, and do their duty as a Christian to help others in need. There are plenty of opportunities for both teens and adults who want to serve others to do so. There are many situations where it is inappropriate for a minor to volunteer but an adult may have the required skills and experience. As you’ve pointed out, it isn’t illegal for teens to work for pay, it is merely restricted to a certain number of hours in a week. 50 hours in a school year is hardly am excessive amount of time. Presumably, the students are allowed to choose the kind of volunteer work they are most interested and best suited to do.