In The Service Of What?

QUOTES:

"Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students"

-I believe what this quote is about is that all students should be participating in community service. Not only is it good for them, it helps open their eyes and have a different outlook on life. They can learn a lot from doing some community service whether it is volunteering at a nursing home, or helping out with some cleaning at a local shelter. Either way they are seeing how another person lives. They may need some extra help with things and they can be more educated by learning how to serve. 

"The class discussed the growing economic disparity between rich and poor, the impact of homelessness on children, and the difficult balance between individual rights and collective responsibility"

-This quote is really powerful. Not all children can see how other people are living. They may be living in a home where their parents make a bit more money than other families they may be eating more than three times a day, and they may have some more material items than other children. The child may not be able to get it past them that there are children who do not have any of that at all. They may not have a home, food, or toys to play with. It is good that this class is having a discussion on how important this topic is because they may be able to do some community service and help them out. 

"The moral domain, service learning activities tend toward two types of relationships. Relationships that emphasize charity we will call "giving". Those that aim primarily to deepen relationships and to forge new connections we will call "caring"."

-This quote really made me think about life. I realize that there are people out there who will give to charities as community service just because they feel bad and want people to acknowledge them for what they do. They want to be the center of attention when in reality there are families that need more attention than the person that is doing the "giving". Then there are families that not only give, but they care. They will go out of their way and do whatever they can for families in need. Around Christmas time my church sets out a Christmas tree with paper ornaments and at the end of mass you can go down to the tree pick off an ornament with a present you need to buy for a child in need on it. I do this every year but reading this piece made me realize that I do really care about these people and want to be able to do everything I can to help them because I wouldn't want to end up in this situation. I think it is good to teach children in school how this can effect them and how they can help.