In today’s society, the act of completing a certain amount of community service hours, or performing some form of community service is very prominent. The article “In the Service of What” by Kahne and Westheimer, touches on that fact that at times students may not understand the point of completing this community service; they know it is required so they complete it not really taking into consideration the point of it. Not only are students helping others when they perform community service but “service activities should develop students’ abilities at ‘public speaking, recruiting other students, organizing meetings, analyzing problems, developing action plans and conducting evaluations’”. I think that the idea of community service is a great thing, it teaches students at a young age that giving back to the community is important, and it can also open their eyes to see things differently than they had before. The article touches upon a story about middle class students were playing a concert for a lower class elementary school and the students as well as the parents were concerned. The parents thought it would be dangerous and the students thought that the elementary school children would be “rude, tough, and noisy”. After the students played their concert they realized that they had a misperception of what the young children were going to be like, most of the students were very attentive and paid attention through the whole concert. This is a perfect example of stereotypes, just because the elementary school was in a bad area does not mean that all the children attending the school were going to misbehave. I think this relates to our work in the Providence Elementary Schools, when I first went into it I was apprehensive because most of the children come from different backgrounds then I am used to, so I was unsure as to how the children would act and how I would react to it. It turns out that I had a false conception as well, every student that I have worked with was more than friendly and willing to do all their work and really enjoyed the one on one time they receive.
          It’s important for children to start to appreciate volunteer work at a young age, “by engaging in meaningful service- whether tutoring children whom English is their second language, helping patients in a hospital, doing difficult chores for the elderly, or supervising younger children’s recreational activities, students will have opportunities to experience what David Hornbeck, former Maryland state superintendent, referred to as ‘the joy of reaching out to others’”.  Regardless of the type of “service” someone is performing, the most important aspect I think is understanding and talking about why you’re doing it, I don’t think that writing an essay about it is beneficial. It should be discussed and what was gained out of the experience and how it changed your opinion on a specific topic, person, or group of people. Most high schools require at least a few hours of community service in order to graduate. Here is a link from debate.org that discusses different people's opinions whether it should be required or not: http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-community-service-be-required-to-graduate-high-school