Whether the Federal Government Should Require Service of All Citizens between the Ages of 18 and 35 - Research Paper Example

The question that this proposal seeks to answer is whether the US government should adopt these demands, and whether this move is advantageous or not. The majority of this proposal’s audience will be members of the congress, who feel this will be a great move for the country. The effects of mandatory youth service will be presented in this essay by looking at both the positive and negative perspectives (The World Bank and ICP, 2007). Moreover, this research proposal will be done through interviews, questionnaires and observations.
Discussion
On carrying out this research it was found out that some of the people are not in support of the mandatory service to be provided by youths. According to Watson (2009), this was basically because they felt that it will put individual freedom at the limit which is not a good thing. These people argued that mandatory service will interfere with individuals’ career plans as some youth have fixed plans after school. Since people do not have similar plans, others feel that they can attain more on their own such as setting up personal businesses, rather than entering the mandatory service program. The International Association for National Youth Service (IANYS) (2009) argues that others may be in need of money to support their families hence they view the mandatory service program as a waste of time.
On the other hand, other people in support of the national youth service have another view on the issue. Watson (2009) asserts that they feel that the program is a good idea though it should not be mandatory, thus the youths should be given the freedom whether to join the programme or not. However, those in full support of the program argue that the mandatory service programme has many advantages. First, it can be used as a literacy-improving tool hence, resulting in a breed of better young citizens. In addition, they view it as an important way of reducing crimes committed by youths, since they will not be idle anymore. Furthermore, they highlight other important benefits of the programme such as youth empowerment through the acquisition of new skills. Also, the youths can important decisions during their service that will lead them to their correct careers (Progressive Policy Institute, 2005).
Conclusion
To sum it up, the question of whether the federal government should require mandatory youth service will better be addressed by considering both sides. Having studied the general views of the people it can be said that both sides have valuable points of their positions. Nevertheless, a little bit neutral position will work best for the people as they will feel that their issues have been addressed. The federal government should implement this bill, but only on the basis that it should not be made mandatory. By so doing its success will be more than guaranteed because it will most likely face less resistance.