Obama change will require community service hours

[Bearco]

So much for a free country!
Quoted from Obama's new change.gov website. In his own words.

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

 

[Born4spd]

Hitler Youth?

 

[spanky]

Wtf?

 

[penguin]

I think it's a great idea. Apathy is rampant. As much as we talk about American rights and freedoms when was the last time you saw a high school kid doing something to improve their community? We require Physical education credits to graduate. We require a foreign language to graduate. We require arts to graduate; however, the one thing we don't require is that the students participate in a program that teaches them that they are part of the community. How? Have them be required to 1) clean a park, 2) serve food at a homeless shelter, 3) visit an old folks home or 4) do something to become more involved in the community. Lots of people bitch and moan about the youth of today being apathtic and not caring about their country. Well, let's get them involved. If you as a parent aren't doing it, why not the school? It's not 'Hitler Youth'. It's 'American Youth'. I would be proud to know that my country wants my daughter to get to know her community and to do something about it. If you think it's government intervention, then I challenge each of you parents to require your kids to do 50 hours of community service a year. As much as alot of y'all talk about how better it was 50 years ago -well, 50 years ago people would have loved this. 50 years ago people would have told their kids they had to do it.

 

[Akajun]

I think it's a great idea. Apathy is rampant. As much as we talk about American rights and freedoms when was the last time you saw a high school kid doing something to improve their community?

When he did his Homework and made good grades. Im sorry I thought that the point of going to school was to get an education, not build an outhouse for a welfare queen.

 

[Dave328]

Community service was a requirement of graduation from my HS (Brother Martin). It was ~20 hrs or so IIRC. I just told them I wasn't going to do it. They said, OK well you won't graduate. I basically told them to suckonmyballs! The battle of wills stretched my whole senior year, and guess what? I got my diploma. Unfortunately, this new program seems to trump my old plan.

 

[Dave328]

I think it's a great idea. Apathy is rampant. As much as we talk about American rights and freedoms when was the last time you saw a high school kid doing something to improve their community? We require Physical education credits to graduate. We require a foreign language to graduate. We require arts to graduate; however, the one thing we don't require is that the students participate in a program that teaches them that they are part of the community. How? Have them be required to 1) clean a park, 2) serve food at a homeless shelter, 3) visit an old folks home or 4) do something to become more involved in the community. Lots of people bitch and moan about the youth of today being apathtic and not caring about their country. Well, let's get them involved. If you as a parent aren't doing it, why not the school? It's not 'Hitler Youth'. It's 'American Youth'. I would be proud to know that my country wants my daughter to get to know her community and to do something about it. If you think it's government intervention, then I challenge each of you parents to require your kids to do 50 hours of community service a year. As much as alot of y'all talk about how better it was 50 years ago -well, 50 years ago people would have loved this. 50 years ago people would have told their kids they had to do it.

WOW!!
Seriously, just, WOW!
You must have been a member of the microminority in The Corps. I know a bunch of Marines, some ret, some active duty, and NONE have even one iota of a percentage point of your same beliefs. Humph, it's what makes the world go round, I guess.

 

[penguin]

First I hear people bitching that America isn't the way it used to be and then, when someone says that people today need to become more involved members bitch again. I applaud your child getting good grades. But I disagree that school is just about getting an education. If that was it I would say bar ALL extracurricular activies. Football? Cut it. That's not about getting an education from the 3 R's. Driver's education? Cut it. Let them learn to drive on their own time. All these other groups? Nope. Get rid of them. No education there. School is more than just getting an 'A' in those 3 R's. It is a social program. It has been from the beginning. What I see here is just more BS for people to try to bitch about how Obama will take away their freedom. School has moved to the point where it is just about the 3 R's and that these youth of today are disconnected from the outside world. Hey, if you want to bitch and moan about your kid doing work to help improve the community - oh, like for example planting a garden at a retirement home full of US veterans, then so be it. But don't come bitching again and say the youth of America is now apathetic and aren't respectful like they were 50 years ago, because 50 years ago your grandfather would have made your mother do this.

 

[penguin]

WOW!!
Seriously, just, WOW!
You must have been a member of the microminority in The Corps. I know a bunch of Marines, some ret, some active duty, and NONE have even one iota of a percentage point of your same beliefs. Humph, it's what makes the world go round, I guess.

Really? Hmmm...that's odd. Because in the Corps I was voluntold to 1) help repair an orphanage in Pattaya, Thailand, 2) Paint a school in Oceanside, CA, 3) work a special olympics in Camp Lejeune, NC and a million other voluntold things.

Before you speak out your ass about things you don't know of, I'll have you know that I know PLENTY of Marine families that REQUIRED their children to come to the same volunteer functions we were voluntold to do.


Hey, if you want to say that you'd rather have your children playing Xbox then helping out the community, then go for it.

 

[BSGA]

And why exactly should this idea be the role of government? A volunteer program I can see, but a requirement? Sorry, but to me this smacks highly of socialism. I myself have gotten my kids to do this on my own. I don't need my government expecting this of me and my kids, thank you very much!

 

[penguin]

We have volunteer programs. We see how many parents are actually involved enough to get their kids involved. If this smaks of socialism, take your kids out of school as school itself is a social program. Why not bitch and moan that the evil empire is making your kid learn french prior to getting in college? Or taking those 3 hours of PE? Or taking an exam to move up a grade. I mean, hell, you can teach your kid french, right? Blah blah blah. More things for the GOP hardliners to bitch and moan about.

 

[BSGA]

So I guess it's OK for the government to force a citizen to give up their labor for free now? If that's so, where does it stop?

 

[Bearco]

Kids should be involved, but that responsibility belongs to the parents and the the parents alone. If this is where is starts Penguin, then where will it end. Your guy won fair and square and b/c he is the president, I will try and give him my respect for the next 4 years (unlike the way Bush was treated). However, this does not mean I will sit by quietly when I believe he is headed in the wrong direction.

 

[gbundersea]

Good grief! The Socialist, Marxist, terrorist-lover won, so here comes Penguin out of his hidey-hole to start spewing again.

I was SO enjoying the silence too!

Wait everyone... Penguin's not a mod anymore, so the "Ignore" feature works now!

<mouse click>

Ahhh... golden...

My BSC is now a liberal-free zone.

 

[Born4spd]

I wonder how many have me ignored..

The few, the proud, the ignored!

 

[sylvest]

Volunteer hours=unpaid work
people in college work jobs to help afford college, they dont have time to volunteer
and if we want real change shouldnt we make the dropouts and the lazy pieces of **** that draw welfare and mooch off the system be the ones doing the community service. at least they would do a little work to deserve their check from uncle sambo

 

[penguin]

Kids should be involved, but that responsibility belongs to the parents and the the parents alone.

And I agree. It should start with the parents. However, the same could be argued about other educational advancements. What about PE? What about drivers ed? What about school drug education programs? What about school health programs? What about the myriad of other school social programs? If the argument that school should be only about the 3 R's, then the exclusion that the ones here are arguing should be for the above programs as those are all social programs (some brought under GOP presidents) that have NOTHING to do with the 3 R's. Now it becomes a 'pick and choose' social program debate. It's tantamount to arguing that all illegal drugs are bad. But then you say that MJ is ok. That turns the debate to 'all illegal drugs with the exception of MJ are bad'. The same goes for this. If people are going to complain about social programs in school and their worry that this is socialism, let's include all of the social programs. If people want to say that they believe THIS social program is bad, then let's base the debate on that.

If this is where is starts Penguin, then where will it end.

The same thing was said about woman's sufferage. Or about civil rights. Or about the McCarthy era. Not that I'm comparing those massiave things to a school requirement; rather, I'm comparing the statement 'if this is the start...' to similar statements. The US is lagging behind almost every other industrialized nation in education growth. The No Child bill was horrid. Parents, as a whole, are disconnecting their children from their community. That's without question. When was the last time you saw a massive non-church volunteer program? I'm confounded how someone can say that they wouldn't want to have their children involved in helping the community. That they wouldn't want their children to gain a sense of community pride and spirit. Sure, people here say 'well, I'll take my kid and do it'. Well, do it then. But I seriously doubt that many people here will take 8 hours a week - which would be their weekend time - to take their child to a park and clean up. Do you?

 

[Speedlace]

But I seriously doubt that many people here will take 8 hours a week - which would be their weekend time - to take their child to a park and clean up. Do you?

YOU CRAZY!!!

Week-ends are for tail-gating.

LSU, LSU, LSU!!!

 

[penguin]

Volunteer hours=unpaid work
people in college work jobs to help afford college, they dont have time to volunteer
and if we want real change shouldnt we make the dropouts and the lazy pieces of **** that draw welfare and mooch off the system be the ones doing the community service. at least they would do a little work to deserve their check from uncle sambo

Oh I agree that the welfare receipents should be required to volunteer. But that's not what we're talking about. I agree that people in college work. I did it, too. Not all welfare recipients are lazy pieces of ****. That's like saying your mother was a whore. Not all women who have sex, are.

 

[penguin]

YOU CRAZY!!!

Week-ends are for tail-gating.

LSU, LSU, LSU!!!

**** Bama. I be sad