Reply to SSL Requirement - Forced Volunteerism

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[quote=Anonymous]SSL hours aren't called community service hours any more for a reason. It's because they're about getting kids out in the community, and having them develop skills like looking for an opportunity, following through on a commitment, working as part of a team.  They require kids to work for approved community service organizations as a way to make sure that kids are going to safe places, and because of laws that make it complicated for people to work for for profit organizations without pay.

MCPS makes getting SSL hours ridiculously easy.  You can start the summer after 5th grade, and there are so many options.  My kid got enough hours to fulfill the requirement for helping with some project involving acorns on the sixth grade camping trip, building sets for the middle school play, and making the morning announcements, things that didn't require any special transportation besides riding the late bus home.  He's also found lots of opportunities within easy walking distance to our home -- helping set up chairs and pass out lunches at a teacher inservice day, working at an elementary school carnival (perfect for the babysitting kid because you can bring them along), working at the polls on election day, manning the moonbounce at home coming at the high school.  Once he even got SSL hours for "documenting the personal history of an elderly resident" which is another way of saying he "talked to his own grandma and then told his class about it".

Finally, the argument that adults don't have to do this is unfair.  Many jobs expect that their employees support the organization's charitable priorities.  Companies give release time for people to go read to elementary schoolers at lunch, even though those same people are exempt and will likely end up staying late to make up the work.  Bosses expect employees to help out with their pet charities, and definitely reward the people who do.  Many graduate level education programs also require internships that are often unpaid.  If you're studying speech and language at UMD you'll be required to work, for free, in their LEAP preschool.  Want to be a physician's assistant?  First you're expected to get medical experience, something that is often done via joining a local ambulance squad.  [/quote]

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