According to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America,
"Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." |
My 18-year-old daughter, who had decent grades, began to grow depressed this past December. Her anxiety increased as time went on until she finally asked me to withdraw her from High School.
Not only was I shocked to find that an 18-year-old needs a parent to withdraw, but the reason why she gave up, which was frankly disturbing.
Our family barely makes it, financially - and my daughter contributes to our household by helping to pay the bills. She works seven days a week at two different jobs to do this, and kept her grades up while doing this.
However, she has not completed the mandatory volunteer hours for graduation, and I was told there is no way around this for her. She can not receive credit for the good she's done her family in keeping us from having the lights turned off or the house being foreclosed on... no, her community service had to be "on the approved list".
With very little time to herself, even to shop for her needs or do the things she wanted to do, my daughter fell into despair over this mandate to perform community service. A girl who is not prone to depression or anxiety suddenly found herself plagued with both.
An excerpt from this page at the Palm Beach County Post suggests that we just happen to live in the wrong (Broward) County:
"Johnson waived the rule, he said, for fear that a parent whose child did not graduate might sue and win on the grounds that local graduation barriers are tougher than the state's. Florida law specifically allows districts to set a higher bar for graduation. And neighboring Broward County, where students must earn twice as many service hours, has never been sued because of the rule. "There have been parents who have said, 'Yes, it's unfair,' but nobody has gone further than that because kids can get" the hours, said Mike Roland, student activities liaison for Broward County schools. Maybe 10 over six years have not graduated because of the requirement, he said. The rule is so strictly enforced that even students who did not earn a regular diploma but want to walk across the stage at graduation cannot do so without logging 40 hours." |
The final paragraph above sheds light on my daughter's deep despair. After all her effort, she would not even be allowed to participate in graduation.
I believe this is unconstitutional and we should file a lawsuit. If we let them keep demanding such things in violation of our civil rights they will just keep taking more and more liberties. Mandatory volunteerism? Doublespeak? Oxymoron? Whatever be the case, it is involuntary servitude if we are forced to do it.
I am a volunteer myself and I do not believe anyone should be compelled to do this. Not everyone IS well-suited to perform volunteer duties and the very nature of the word volunteer suggests choice and not forced obligation.
Instead of mandating the community service schools should be encouraged to give extra credit for it and perhaps allow those who excel at it early graduation to have more time to shop colleges. Voluntary should not be redefined to mean compulsory. We need to stop this trend toward doublespeak now before we're all stuck saying "double plus bad" instead of unconscionable. If you don't understand that reference, please make it a point to read George Orwell's 1984.
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Comments: 43
Perhaps a GED?
Perhaps enrollment in a college?
Larry, she's getting a GED... but up until halfway through her senior year she loved high school and all the social activities, then suddenly she hated it. I'm wondering if there is more to the story she's not willing to tell me.
Ghostly, yes. I'm pretty ticked off, to say the least.
Now, I'm BIG into volunteerism. As a family we teach our children the importance of volunteering and supporting the community. But it's a FAMILY decision. The school is taking on too much!!! They should be focusing on education... not what values families are instilling in their children beyond education!
How much are these school paying someone to maintain those records, develop the inclusive list of volunteer opportunities, etc? What liability is the school accepting if a child is sent to work in a homeless shelter, animal shelter, etc and someone gets hurt? Sorry, but since many schools seem to be financially strapped, it seems the school could use their money with more academic focus!!!
Tammy, your comment leads me to wonder if rich kids can buy their way out of the requirement by making a substantial donation to the school. What do you want to bet they can?
Ellen, I don't know how widespread it is, but Obama wants to make us ALL do it. Congress was going to enact a mandatory volunteer (what an oxymoron) bill but they removed the mandatory language when they were told it was unconstitutional. I am ready to remove my other two kids from that school and send them to get GEDs too. The way they "educate" our kids these days is more propaganda than anything.
OTOH I volunteer about 4-8 hours/week but I have no job and it helps keep me from being depressed about the fact that I can't find work to save my life...
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I think the reason they have never been sued is because they always settle as soon as someone gets an attorney.
What they are requiring is clearly illegal.
Thanks for your support everyone.
Regarding Renee S’s post, there is probably something in the “welcome” papers that the school gives them in their freshman year that explains the requirements. How many students actually read it? How many parents take the time to read such things? An obvious question is what would happen if a parent read it and said, “No, I don’t agree to my child performing mandatory ‘volunteer’ service.” Too late for you, Lydia, but an interesting thought.
Doc Curmudgeon esq., one of the most interesting and helpful posts that I saw. Thank you.
As much as I hate the American Crybabies with Little Understanding (ACLU) there are actually times they can do some good for individuals. Note I say individuals because from the things I’ve seen the ACLU helps in those cases that make or will make national news.
They are, to me, like the unions. The auto unions helped their members and no one else. They harmed the auto makers, the economy, and the general population. But -- they did magnificant things for their members.
Col. George, I think the reason they’ve never been sued is that the majority of the people they’re screwing can’t afford legal counsel. You’d play hell finding an attorney to handle this on a pro bono basis because you’re talking about fighting the schoolboard, city, county, and state regulations. Then it would escalate to the state and U.S. constitution.
As much as I hate lawyers, Lydia, you really need to talk to an attorney. Surely there is one that would give you a free consultation and let you know what your options are and what you might be able to do.
Len, you may be right. If I don't get a response from the ACLU by the time school lets out for this year, I'm going to try contacting some private attorneys. Yes, it would be hard to get one of them involved pro bono as we're not actually seeking damages, just a change of policy... but there's no reason that attorney's fees could not be ordered paid by the loser - we'd just have to hope that the loser would be the school board and not The People.
The problem IS mandatory "service" as such to satisfy a graduation requirement. It needs to be challenged, have you tried contacting the Institute For Liberty? They fight government meddling as a Libertarian legal organization and are worth contacting.
www.IJ.org
(703) 682-9320
It's appalling anyone can support this. Mandatory community service is dead wrong, how does it contribute to anything but reinforcing the idea that government can compel one to do anything it wants to? That's the problem with our government today, the idea they can tell us to do anything they want for our "good"
Chuck, had never considered IJ, but might work. I just downloaded some of their guidelines to see if this is something they'd consider.
I feel for your daughter. Perhaps it's a little more personal. I knew in high school that our family fell between the lines...just too much money to get financial aid, yet not enough money to pay for college. I started working at 16 and saved for college. I was able to go through community college without accumulating any debt. Thank goodness i received a scholarship for my senior year at the university. I hate to see kids who have the initiative to work penalized. Let me know how this works out.