<p>The prompt is:
"In some high schools, students are required to complete a certain number of community service hours prior to graduation. Some people think students will benefit from this experience. Others think schools should not require community service because students will resent the requirement, and as a result, will not benefit from the experience. In your opinion, should high schools require students to complete a certain number of hours of community service?"</p>
<p>My essay:</p>
<pre><code> "Leading an animal to fire will not teach it to appreciate warmth. Rather, the animal will be averse to the idea of fire and will freeze to death," said psychologist Peter Roget when asked about whether children should be forced into things. While Roget was speaking of children, his words can be applied to older individuals, particularly high schoolers. Many high schools mandate that students must complete a fixed number of community service hours to matriculate. This requirement is largely detrimental, and it has no place in a school system that calls itself a modern one. A community service requirement leads to grade drops, rebellion, and exposes students to unparalleled dangers.
A year ago, there was a high school senior in my school who was the "ideal Ivy League prospect." He had a 4.0 GPA, numerous awards, and excellent co-curricular activities; he lacked community service, however. The school demanded that, to graduate, he needed twenty hours of community service. He frantically attempted to scrounge together as many hours as he could, and he eventually succeeded; however, his GPA suffered a massive blow. He was denied admissions from many selective colleges due to this, and he now attends a community college. A community service requirement brought a budding genius to his knees.
The goal of community service is to "enrich individuals and give them perspective," but is exposing students to massive personal risk really the best way to do this? In New York City, a young high school sophomore was abducted and raped while doing a mandatory school service project in Jackson heights. Would this girl have been in Jackson Heights at the same time as the kidnapper if she wasn't doing school mandated service? Probably not. Community service can be beneficial in a few cases, yes, but it exposes individuals, particularly students, to extreme dangers. The risks far outweigh the benefits.
It is not the place of a high school to put students in extreme situations that result in academic failure or personal harm. As a Supreme Court ruling during the Vietnam War states, "Students do not abandon their rights at the schoolhouse gate." The Constitution grants everyone a right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Requiring community service for high school graduation not only violates the basic rights of all humans, but it also spits in the face of American and its ideals.
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<p>What do you guys think? Tips/suggestions? Reading it now, I can see some painfully obvious mistakes and things I could've done better, but I wrote this in only 30 minutes :P</p>