Community Service - Essay Example

Community Service Community service originated in Nottingham in the 1970s, and it involves carrying out a social service for the well-being and benefit of an entire community. Despite the fact that its original purpose was to substitute harsh punishment on criminal offenders, it has also come to be undertaken on a voluntary basis, that is, out of one’s accord. When done on a voluntary basis, it is mostly done to assist the disadvantaged and vulnerable people in the community. The foundation of community service lies on the virtue of charity and importance of having a work ethic. Schools that encourage their students to partake in community service aim at inculcating a sense of responsibility towards their neighbors and the environment in general. When magistrates compel first time law breakers to undertake community service, they aim at promoting discipline and advocating for reform that will restrain the law-breaker from repeating the offence (Godhbole). Community service is aimed at the development of the community where a volunteer or philanthropist, or a group of people may get into projects such as to teach children from less fortunate backgrounds, help build homes, clean and attend to the elderly in homes, clean the streets, plant trees, fix public utilities or assist in animal shelters. Institutes of education tend to direct young people to community service so that they can develop a sense of purpose for their lives as they progress to other levels and overall to groom their personalities. Philanthropists, who are people that are involved in making the society better through various works of donations, usually create foundations that focus on the problems which often affect the society, such as education or environment (Daniel). One of the biggest advantages of community service is that it creates within a community the ability to do things together that would seem overwhelming to an individual. For example, if a person notices there is a piece of land that is neglected and that this land would look better with trees and flowers, these persons can decide to come together with their friends and start a beautification activity. The activities of such persons may inspire others within the community to decide to join together to make similar projects. As a result, this may ignite a chain reaction where many people may end up working together to turn a single activity started by others, into a project that covers the entire community. Community service projects has the effect of bringing people together and this turns into a spirit of togetherness and caring for one another, and the environment in which they live (Arrington). My own personal experience working in community service took place when I volunteered to work in a Buddhist temple for several months. The activities that I took part in included serving lunch, cleaning the temple and statues, and directing people to the different prayer sessions. It was an experience that was fulfilling for me as it taught me the importance of spirituality. I got the opportunity to interact with the priests who gave me an opportunity to help people from different occupations and many backgrounds. The way the priests lead such simple lives inspired me and interacting with ordinary people emulating their lives made it seem achievable. I developed a sense of discipline from following the schedule of the activities at the temple as they were adhered to strictly. In addition, the community service gave me a chance to expose myself to people of different backgrounds, cultures and ages. The experience of community work in the Buddhist temple exposed me to a process of learning that was beyond the formal idea of learning. The practice accorded me the opportunity to explore areas of knowledge that I had not encountered in the formal learning processes. The understanding and practice of community service usually involves an awareness of the real things that make up the social order in the world of those who participate in it. The activities that are done during community service make up an important experience of learning that helps to put a link between the people participating to systems of informal knowledge that enhance his or her awareness of the community. At a higher level, I consider the experience of community service as an essential learning process that promotes the moral beliefs of the society in which it is done. It is a bad thing, however, to force community service upon high school students because it makes them to keep away against it and lose enthusiasm. That kind of keeping away may make them develop a negative attitude towards the entire program. Doing this might cause them not to ever want to take part in any form of community service in the future. Having a negative attitude implies that the student may not reap any personal or social benefits from the exercise. Therefore, when schools introduce community service as a mandatory exercise, they must also give the student an opportunity develop a love for it. An example of this is when the school may allow the student to make a decision about when to undertake the exercise and the kind of community service work in which they will volunteer (Pearce). A big number of people do not believe in community service as a form of reforming those who break the law. However, they still advocate for it because it is cheaper than having to send people to prison. As an alternative to imprisonment, community service is commonly termed as community based corrections and it is imposed on ‘small-time’ offenders who may have been imprisoned for only a part of their sentence. Once they are released they are expected to follow the rules of the designated community based correction. They are usually carried out in halfway houses where a former convict is assigned a supervisor, who is known as a parole officer. This person is the one who monitors his or her behavior and helps with the transition from prison to society. For first-time offenders, they are assigned a probation officer whose work is to ensure they carry out the community service smoothly and with discipline and later report to the magistrate (Ramos). Largely, community service should be encouraged especially among young people in order to build a sense of attention to detail and work ethic, which are useful in shaping their personality. Among members of the community, taking part in community service promotes a spirit of sociability and concern for all. On the other hand, for those who break the law, the exercise should attend to their personalities where their background should be considered so that they can gain from it and reform. For the country as a whole, it brings people together to help raise those that have been struck by a disaster thereby promoting a spirit of patriotism. I am of the view that community service is a thing which is developed out of the connection of an individual to the society. Individual are the basic units of the society and because of this, they are required by their membership to the society to undertake certain activities the aim at improving the general development and welfare of the society. The pursuit of the spirit of community service is usually based on the equal relationship between the individual and the society. The promoting of the responsibility of the individual must be considered to be a matter that binds the individual to certain practices that seek to resolve the pressing challenges of the society. Such challenges may include issues related to health, the promoting of the rights of the people who are at a disadvantage in the society, and the participation in development activities in the society. In this regard, it becomes necessary to consider the fact that some of the issues that connect with community service contribute towards the building up of the virtues of global citizenship in the individual. Finally, promoting of the practice of community service helps in the development of selflessness and a sense of progress in the society, and personally, I hold the view that embracing the virtues of community service remains an important factor that helps to foster the spirit of collaboration in individuals and groups. The aspect of collaboration occurs where consultations are involved in the pursuit of some identified task of communal importance (Corporation for National and Community Service). In actual fact, the participants in community work must develop good interpersonal skills that can be of use in future personal or corporate endeavors. Communication remains a key determinant of success in professional and social discourses. Working together with the members of the community at the level of their needs requires the development of insights of social duty through the aspect of communication. As such, community service eliminates the possibilities of disconnection between services and needs. In conclusion, people who accept the virtues of community service are more likely to develop into able leaders as compared to those who fail to appreciate the value of the service (University of Michigan). In general, the practice of community service helps develop participatory leadership qualities that promote the qualities of inclusiveness and consultation in the participants. Leadership is usually considered as a service rather than a privilege when considered within the framework of community service. It becomes important to realize that undertaking community service constitutes a practical demonstration of team spirit as understood within the perspective of social responsibility. As such, individuals who engage and appreciate community service are more likely to engage in good corporate social responsibility practices when they get the opportunity to serve within the corporate sector. Works Cited Godhbole, Medha. “Importance of Community Service”. Buzzle.com. 2010. Web. 13 February 2013 Daniel, Mechal. “Role of Community Service In Our Society”. Sooper Articles. 2010. Web. 13 February 2013 Arrington, Whitney. “Importance of Community Service”. The Storm. 2012. Web. Web. 13 February 2013 Pearce, Cindi. “Pros and Cons of Mandatory Community Service Projects Before Graduation From High School”. eHow. n.d. Web. Web. 13 February 2013 Ramos, Mario. “The Disadvantages of Community-based Corrections”. eHow. Web. 13 February 2013 http://www.ehow.com/info_8561384_disadvantages-communitybased-corrections.html University of Michigan. Benefits of Student Participation in Community Service. Sitemaker.umich.edu. 2002. Web 21 Feb, http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.black/benefits_of_participation_in_service Corporation for National and Community Service. Benefits of Volunteering. NationalService.gov. 21 Feb, 2013. Web. 21 Feb, 2013. http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/volunteering/benefits.asp Read More