The Abuse of Volunteering For Public Service - Essay Example

These include social amenities like health, fire services, and housing among others. The public service was mostly provided by public servants who were hired by the government to ensure that the services are rendered to the masses. Most public servants are qualified in their respective fields to provide efficient service. In recent times, the public has been encouraged to participate in public service. This is done so that the public could play a role in the betterment of the lives of the community.

The participation of the public will ensure that its members contribute directly to providing services that are required by a community. Initially, individual participation in volunteering for public service was purely based on altruism, a sense of obligation and patriotism that the community possessed. In recent times, however, the reasons for voluntary participation in public service have been questioned, since the motives are not based purely on duty. The motives of volunteers are mostly egocentric; these people want to attain benefits for themselves, so the original intention of helping the community as a whole is neglected.

This raises the question whether or not voluntary public service has lost its meaning? This is because nowadays it is hard to distinguish if the volunteering is done due to duty or due to the desire of the volunteer to benefit himself or herself as opposed to the public. Individuals have contributed to public service in various ways. This includes volunteering time and expertise or monetary assistance. The motives of these contributions are, however, questionable, since not all of them are done to benefit only the society.

The individuals may have an angle that is self-beneficial. This may be to gain political, educational, or career millage. Though there are individuals who volunteer only for noble reasons, this practice has been corrupted by selfish interests. The perception of public service has evolved over the years. This is because various motivations other than altruism are evident in the individuals volunteering for this. This is because individuals are volunteering for the services so that they can gain something in return.

This may be to attain an advantage academically or to have a better-looking resume among other self-serving interests. In academic institutions, the students are required in some instances to gain field experience (Lee 3). One of the ways these students can achieve this is through volunteering for public service. The students are assimilated into public sectors and are given duties of public servants. This is then reflected in their reports and appraised by their respective institutions. In this scenario, both the public and the students benefit from this arrangement.

This is because the students will devote hours of their time to serve the public while receiving the required field experience for their course. In their time as volunteers, the students will take part in activities that are beneficial to the welfare of the society. However, there is a downside to this in that some of the student will volunteer only to get the required hours from the exercise (Lee 4). This will result in the students not giving quality service to the public, since they will not be dedicated to the service.

The students will consider the volunteering only as a forced requirement rather than as a