Community service helps to develop certain values in children. Studies have shown that students who engaged in community service obtained a higher sense of responsibility than those who didn’t. Roshni Patel, a student at a nearby high school, recently stated, “After performing my service hours, I believe I must do more with my school than just attend classes and play sports. I feel like I am responsible for helping my community.” A recent survey showed that students who participated in community service were more likely to treat each other kindly and show sympathy towards their peers. “Many teenagers do not think of the situations that their peers may be in,” Jane White, a professor at Harvard University explains. “After partaking in community service, many students eyes are opened to the circumstances of those less fortunate than themselves.”
Students who take part in community service are given the opportunity to contribute to society. Recent reports have stated that high school students who participated in community service are more likely to be engaged in a community organization and to be more accomplished later on in life than those who did not participate.
One possible positive effect is community service could help the economy. Every day our community is vandalized by inconsiderate people. Whether it is tagging or littering, someone is being paid to clean this mess up. Students from UCR, for example, are going into neighborhoods and cleaning up. This is at no cost also, so now our economy is able to use the money in other areas such as helping schools and helping the mental health. Another example of students helping our economy is by volunteering even five hours of their time a day to kids that are in elementary school; this will increase opportunities for youth to learn about sports, shopping, and guidance. This type of reaching out to our youths will prevent the outcome of kids going to jail and living in the system, which will help the economy’s overcrowded jail system. These are just two examples of how community service will help our economy.
While completing my project, I experienced an abnormal feeling termed as sensitivity. I felt great about doing something that would not benefit me but others who truly needed it. Many people do not take the time out to give to the less fortunate. I realized that community service is not a choice, it’s a necessity!
Lastly, I became conscious of how fortunate and blessed I am. There are many people who don’t have the necessities of life. This experience opened my eyes and made me see that homelessness is a reality for some people. There are some people who don’t have food to eat or a family to depend on.
In conclusion, my community service taught me many new things. In our society, we think that the only needy people are lazy people, but this stereotype is not necessarily true. Many people can not help their situation because of natural disasters or the lack of jobs here in the United States. I feel that community service is essential to a more constructive and effective life for U. S. citizens, and I am a better person because of my community service