What If Your Kid Isn’t Into Volunteering or Community Service?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My biggest issue with the service hours requirement is that it has to be an "approved" organization that can sign off on the hours. So shoveling for elderly neighbors, or cleaning up the local park, or assisting an elderly relative with their daily life don't "count".

It very much counts even if you can't claim the hours for some tally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in another state and our public school did not require service hours.

FCPS does not require service hours.

Required service hours are a private school thing.

MCPS requires 75 approved service hours to graduate. Only approved organizations are eligible to give MCPS students those hours, you are not allowed to work for your family. Thankfully, they make it relatively easy for the kids, and hand out a few hours here and there for service done in school. Kids who transfer late in high school from other places and who don't have enough hours to graduate are prioritized for those in-school hours.

Thank goodness Virginia doesn't require this.

How is this equitable to poor kids who don't have transportation, must have jobs to support their families or who have to help watch younger siblings?

75 hours is a lot of extra time.

It's a requirement in Baltimore City--so, lots of genuinely poor students--and it's fine. The schools and city make sure there are opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My view as a parent is that you should suck it up and be useful to society even if you don’t feel like it. I never feel like spending time in a warehouse. I have a genuine interest in sleeping in on the weekends. But I sign myself up to package goods or sort donations anyway.

I am useful to society by obeying the law, having a job, paying taxes, raising my kids properly, etc. The idea that I have any other obligation to go do things I don't want to do "to be useful to society" is preposterous.

I think if you gave volunteering a try you would find it rewarding. Many people do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My view as a parent is that you should suck it up and be useful to society even if you don’t feel like it. I never feel like spending time in a warehouse. I have a genuine interest in sleeping in on the weekends. But I sign myself up to package goods or sort donations anyway.

I am useful to society by obeying the law, having a job, paying taxes, raising my kids properly, etc. The idea that I have any other obligation to go do things I don't want to do "to be useful to society" is preposterous.

Personally, I am so glad that the people in my (and my kids') orbit do not share your worldview.

Are you sure this is a true statement? Again, more than 80% of all adults don't do any community service.

This 20% includes parents who coach their kid's sports team...and most don't do that for charitable reasons quite honestly. Remove that, and you probably are well under 10% of all adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid didn’t volunteer or do any community service activities or have impact. The interest has be genuine, authentic. So that box didn’t get checked. That doesn’t mean that they won’t contribute on campus. Kids grow and change and can contribute to their campus/local communities in a lot of other ways. Anyone else whose kid didn’t volunteer?

You know this is a box on the application. If you want it to be checked and your kid isn't interested, then as the parent you need to model the action you need. CS does not have to be a kid only activity. Make it a family activity. Everyone in the family is volunteering at the food bank on Sat morning 1x/month. Everyone in the family is volunteering at the pet adoption 1x/month. Everyone in the family is doing a shift at the local polling place on Election Day. If your kid isn't interested, that's fine. But they also need to see that it's something the family values. If it's not something your family values, that's also fine, but then don't be surprised that they are not willing to volunteer on this own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My view as a parent is that you should suck it up and be useful to society even if you don’t feel like it. I never feel like spending time in a warehouse. I have a genuine interest in sleeping in on the weekends. But I sign myself up to package goods or sort donations anyway.

I am useful to society by obeying the law, having a job, paying taxes, raising my kids properly, etc. The idea that I have any other obligation to go do things I don't want to do "to be useful to society" is preposterous.

Personally, I am so glad that the people in my (and my kids') orbit do not share your worldview.

Are you sure this is a true statement? Again, more than 80% of all adults don't do any community service.

This 20% includes parents who coach their kid's sports team...and most don't do that for charitable reasons quite honestly. Remove that, and you probably are well under 10% of all adults.

10% is one and 10. Be one of the one in 10 instead of being a freeloader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My view as a parent is that you should suck it up and be useful to society even if you don’t feel like it. I never feel like spending time in a warehouse. I have a genuine interest in sleeping in on the weekends. But I sign myself up to package goods or sort donations anyway.

I am useful to society by obeying the law, having a job, paying taxes, raising my kids properly, etc. The idea that I have any other obligation to go do things I don't want to do "to be useful to society" is preposterous.

Personally, I am so glad that the people in my (and my kids') orbit do not share your worldview.

Are you sure this is a true statement? Again, more than 80% of all adults don't do any community service.

This 20% includes parents who coach their kid's sports team...and most don't do that for charitable reasons quite honestly. Remove that, and you probably are well under 10% of all adults.

10% is one and 10. Be one of the one in 10 instead of being a freeloader.

And if you can't be or won't be, you are like most people. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with colleges trying to find the one in 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My view as a parent is that you should suck it up and be useful to society even if you don’t feel like it. I never feel like spending time in a warehouse. I have a genuine interest in sleeping in on the weekends. But I sign myself up to package goods or sort donations anyway.

I am useful to society by obeying the law, having a job, paying taxes, raising my kids properly, etc. The idea that I have any other obligation to go do things I don't want to do "to be useful to society" is preposterous.

Personally, I am so glad that the people in my (and my kids') orbit do not share your worldview.

Are you sure this is a true statement? Again, more than 80% of all adults don't do any community service.

This 20% includes parents who coach their kid's sports team...and most don't do that for charitable reasons quite honestly. Remove that, and you probably are well under 10% of all adults.

10% is one and 10. Be one of the one in 10 instead of being a freeloader.

And if you can't be or won't be, you are like most people. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with colleges trying to find the one in 10.

There is also absolutely nothing wrong with colleges not caring if you are the one in 10...which is what many of us are communicating, even for the very top schools. They want you to be productive in whatever you pursue, which may not include much of any CS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My view as a parent is that you should suck it up and be useful to society even if you don’t feel like it. I never feel like spending time in a warehouse. I have a genuine interest in sleeping in on the weekends. But I sign myself up to package goods or sort donations anyway.

I am useful to society by obeying the law, having a job, paying taxes, raising my kids properly, etc. The idea that I have any other obligation to go do things I don't want to do "to be useful to society" is preposterous.

Personally, I am so glad that the people in my (and my kids') orbit do not share your worldview.

Are you sure this is a true statement? Again, more than 80% of all adults don't do any community service.

This 20% includes parents who coach their kid's sports team...and most don't do that for charitable reasons quite honestly. Remove that, and you probably are well under 10% of all adults.

10% is one and 10. Be one of the one in 10 instead of being a freeloader.

And if you can't be or won't be, you are like most people. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with colleges trying to find the one in 10.

There is also absolutely nothing wrong with colleges not caring if you are the one in 10...which is what many of us are communicating, even for the very top schools. They want you to be productive in whatever you pursue, which may not include much of any CS.

Completely agree. Some institutions may place a value on showing responsibility to a community and some place of value on other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in another state and our public school did not require service hours.

FCPS does not require service hours.

Required service hours are a private school thing.

MCPS requires 75 approved service hours to graduate. Only approved organizations are eligible to give MCPS students those hours, you are not allowed to work for your family. Thankfully, they make it relatively easy for the kids, and hand out a few hours here and there for service done in school. Kids who transfer late in high school from other places and who don't have enough hours to graduate are prioritized for those in-school hours.

Thank goodness Virginia doesn't require this.

How is this equitable to poor kids who don't have transportation, must have jobs to support their families or who have to help watch younger siblings?

75 hours is a lot of extra time.

It's a requirement in Baltimore City--so, lots of genuinely poor students--and it's fine. The schools and city make sure there are opportunities.

I think there are waivers but there’s some poor kids that don’t have a lot of extra school responsibilities and some that do. My father was shocked by the requirement — he grew up in a poor family and his parents ran a small business and he ran a small farm on the side of that selling items in the neighborhood to save money for college. Starting from age 6 he worked hours before school, then worked after school until bed and then did it on the weekends. There are still kids like that but I think they can get waivers.

Anyway it’s all a different question than the college question. The 75 hours across 7 years that is likely for a lot of different organizations (and includes a lot of the school sponsored hours) isn’t really what colleges are looking for for community service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My view as a parent is that you should suck it up and be useful to society even if you don’t feel like it. I never feel like spending time in a warehouse. I have a genuine interest in sleeping in on the weekends. But I sign myself up to package goods or sort donations anyway.

I am useful to society by obeying the law, having a job, paying taxes, raising my kids properly, etc. The idea that I have any other obligation to go do things I don't want to do "to be useful to society" is preposterous.

Personally, I am so glad that the people in my (and my kids') orbit do not share your worldview.

Are you sure this is a true statement? Again, more than 80% of all adults don't do any community service.

This 20% includes parents who coach their kid's sports team...and most don't do that for charitable reasons quite honestly. Remove that, and you probably are well under 10% of all adults.

Considering we've volunteered together over the years, yes, I'm sure.

[Anonymous]

My kid did little to no service work in hs, and their private doesn't require it. However, my kid is a strong, thoughtful student and an exceptionally kind, collaborative community member and a 'class role model for thoughtful dialogue' - as expressed by teacher feedback each quarter. Maybe that's the way they contribute? Yes, sometimes i wish they did more formal volunteer work, but thats my bias. Yet, i have come to learn that character and goodness isn't measured by volunteer hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am against requiring volunteer hours for graduation. If it’s required, it doesn’t meet the definition of being voluntary.

Service. Without Pay. Required or not it is legally volunteer work.

I want my kids to actually volunteer of their own free will, not when it’s mandatory to meet a school requirement. Compelling service hours doesn’t inspire the desire to volunteer. In fact, it probably makes kids less likely to volunteer after they graduate.

This is demonstrably untrue. As I posted upthread, my kids continued volunteering after they completed their required hours. The required hours got them started, and they liked it, so they continued. Some kids just do the bare minimum service to complete the requirement—which is still a net positive—while others enjoy the service and keep doing it.

+1. This is my kid too. He is now so passionate about the community service he did initially because it was required that he is continuing to volunteer there after graduation and will find a similar place to volunteer in college. Plus, it has taught him so many other important life skills that will serve him well in any career path.

[Anonymous]

No. One of my kids is in NHS and does it for that and also did summer stuff that didn’t count for nhs like campaign volunteering. My other kid goes to catholic school and it’s required in specific areas like inclusion, health, hunger, homelessness. It’s been very eye opening for my ds in particular. I’m so glad he did it bc he learned from it and I think became a better person

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid didn’t volunteer or do any community service activities or have impact. The interest has be genuine, authentic. So that box didn’t get checked. That doesn’t mean that they won’t contribute on campus. Kids grow and change and can contribute to their campus/local communities in a lot of other ways. Anyone else whose kid didn’t volunteer?

You know this is a box on the application. If you want it to be checked and your kid isn't interested, then as the parent you need to model the action you need. CS does not have to be a kid only activity. Make it a family activity. Everyone in the family is volunteering at the food bank on Sat morning 1x/month. Everyone in the family is volunteering at the pet adoption 1x/month. Everyone in the family is doing a shift at the local polling place on Election Day. If your kid isn't interested, that's fine. But they also need to see that it's something the family values. If it's not something your family values, that's also fine, but then don't be surprised that they are not willing to volunteer on this own.

This is what parents do. They model the "volunteering" and child gets the credit. Often the child does not even know!