Mandatory Volunteerism

*Note: I wrote this paper for a writing course in college and thought it would do better if posted here as opposed to sitting in a file on my computer for all eternity.*

A young woman fresh out of high school sits under a lush tree as sun light beams through the branches. A handful of new friends sits with her in a circle with books open in their laps as they laugh and study. This is the scene on a typical college pamphlet, portraying an ideal picture that may not be accurate. What the picturesque propaganda fails to portray is the reality many students face. Students take on the yoke of college like a beast pressed into labor while a diploma dangles in front of them like a carrot. Many colleges require or have considered requiring students to perform a predetermined set of service hours to a community before being eligible to receive a diploma regardless of fulfilling academic requirements. College students should not be required to perform mandatory community service in order to receive their diploma because it can negatively impact the non-traditional student, disrupt charitable organizations effectiveness, potentially be in violation of the Constitution of the United States, and rob the Job Corp of the experiences required for a successful future.

Colleges across the states adjusted their courses based on technological advancements such as the world wide web. A significant change was the incorporation and use of the on-line class. Traditionally, students pursuing a degree were required to be physically present on campus to attend a class. On-line classes opened doors to non-traditional students making the dream of earning a degree a potential reality. Military members, single parents, full-time workers and the disabled could finally work towards the higher education they sought after. Requiring those students, who have limited time or resources, to commit themselves to community service is like Authur Malet slamming the door in Robin Williams’ face in the movie Hook. This could be one requirement the on-line student would not be able achieve. In 2004, The Los Angeles Times quoted, “It’s one thing for a kid with wealthy parents and free time to be ordered into community service. It’s another to force some 28-year-old, return-to-college waitress with a kid at home to devote any time at all to this feel-good, ivory tower concept.” Community service looks good on paper but to the non-traditional student this can be a hinderance and an additional road block to those attempting to earn a degree.

Churches, organizations such as Shriners, and various foundations are associated with charitable works. These groups fill a crucial role in communities by performing services such as picking trash on the side of the road, painting or building houses in low income neighborhoods, or running soup kitchens. Genuine kindness is associated with charity as is the desire and act of giving from the heart like giving a gift for Christmas. It is this giving from the heart that makes these organizations effective in their mission. Conversely, an organization with individuals forced into providing charitable services would be less effective with quality suffering. The interactions between those giving and those receiving may not be joy and kindness but contempt and vitriol. This mandated volunteerism could have long term negative effects for future volunteers. The American Psychological Society (APS) explains, “It can be argued that requirements to volunteer may reduce interest in volunteer activities by altering individuals’ perceptions of why they help. If mandated students begin to perceive that they help only when required or rewarded, then their intentions to freely engage in volunteer service in the future may be reduced…In keeping with this theory, Piliavin and Callero (1991) reported that blood donors who gave blood for the first time under coercion expressed lesser intentions to continue donating in the future than those who were not coerced” (Stukas et al. 59). It is like a child forced to wash his laundry daily at home but allows his laundry to grow into a mountainous heap in the college dorm room. Potential students and graduates would be turned-off from volunteering with any foundation or organization.

Mandatory Volunteerism is a phrase that was formed in the early 1990s as a means to motivate people to volunteer. It was at this time that analysis showed a drop in spontaneous volunteering giving birth to the term and practice of requiring students to volunteer their free time to a worthwhile cause so that they may graduate (Stukas et al. 59). Mandatory Volunteerism forced students in many high schools and colleges to work for others while their diplomas were held like hostages in a bank robbery until services were rendered. Mandatory Volunteerism can be defined as involuntary servitude and this is the condition of an individual who works for another individual against his or her will as a result of force, coercion, or imprisonment, regardless of whether the individual is paid for the labor (“Involuntary servitude”). Mandatory Volunteerism brings the image of a student forced into labor as a slave with the college as the slave master. Mandatory Volunteerism is in conflict with the Constitution of the United States as the Thirteenth Amendment states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their Jurisdiction” (art. 13, sec. 1). This makes the practice of Mandatory Volunteerism questionable and unconstitutional.

It is important to note the difference between Colleges and the Job Corps Center. The Job Corp presses its students into work in order that the student can meet an hourly quota needed for graduation in the fields of study the student is perusing. This helps the student gain in-field experience in their chosen profession, allowing them to be better equipped for the work force and improve their resumés. A place of higher education, such as a college, is not meant to compete with the trades crafting schools and only takes away the valuable experiences those that peruse a craft, hurting the working class in the long run.

Though not all college campuses enforce mandatory community service, it would be best for the on-line students, the charitable organizations, and faculty members to refrain from implementing this requirement upon their students. The use of this unnecessary program could instead drive potential students away and reduce the effectiveness of local charities. Refraining from this questionable practice would change the pamphlet picture into a young 28-year-old woman with her child on her hip walking into the registration office while maintain both her family and job as she creates a brighter future.

Works Cited

Constitution of the United States. 1787. Founding Documents. Amendment 13 section 1. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27.

“Involuntary Servitude”. The Free Dictionary, https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Involuntary+servitude. Accessed 15 Aug 2018.

Skelton, George. “Forcing Community Service by College Students Would Be Mistake.” Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug 2004, http://articles.latimes.com/2004/aug/05/local/me-cap5.

Stukas, Arthur A., et al. The Effects of ‘Mandatory Volunteerism’ on Intentions to Volunteer. Psychological Science, vol.10, no.1, Jan 1999, pp. 59, https://www.jstor.org /stable/40063378?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.