Formulating Your Position
Before you formulate your position, it might be helpful to take stock of the issues. In analyzing the texts on community service, the following issues emerge:
- Does requiring community service devalue it?
- Does requiring it discourage future participation?
- Does the positive experience that most volunteers have offset their initial reluctance to participate?
- How does the structure of the community service program affect its perceived value? Is it part of academic study? Are there choices?
- How would making community service mandatory affect the fact that many students volunteer for selfish reasons, namely, padding their resumes for college?
- What values about community and education underlie a service requirement?
- Does requiring volunteer work go beyond the jurisdiction of schools? If it’s not done during school hours, are the requirements violating students’ rights? After all, mandatory community service is a punishment for minor criminals.
- What influence does socioeconomic status play in such a requirement? For example, if students need to earn money in their free time, can required community service programs be designed to accommodate them?
- How does a school system determine how many hours of service to require?
These questions—and others you might have—illustrate the complexity of the issue and ensure that you do not develop an argument that is one-sided or polarized between yes and no. Instead, you are now prepared to write a documented essay that reflects the complexities surrounding the topic.
With these questions and issues in mind, you can begin to formulate a thesis, or claim, that captures your position on the topic. Consider the following working thesis statements:
- Community service can be extremely valuable in the development of both character and academics, but the negative effects of forcing students to participate by making it a graduation requirement more than offset the benefits.
- Though students may not recognize the value of community service until later in life, high schools should require community service to instill a sense of civic responsibility and encourage a lifelong habit of helping others.
- High schools should encourage students to participate in community service and reward those who do so without making participation mandatory for graduation.
- Required community service programs are beneficial to both the individuals who participate and the communities being served, as long as students have some choice in the type of service they engage in.
Although you might want to tailor one of these working thesis statements to use in your essay, each one suggests a clear focus while acknowledging the complexities of the issue.