Permanent link for article #0084:
12-06-2009
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Air Cargo Blog
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Subject: Service-Learning
I thought the following was funny. On
AirCargoBlog.com,
a desperate high school student is looking around for some "community
service" work, apparently in order to fulfill his mandatory requirement
for graduation so that he might be allowed to attend college. A
couple of the responses were, ahem, interesting. Here is the
initial query:
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I want to now [sic] if it is possible (security
and liability wise) to work cleaning out commercial aircraft
at an intl Airport. I need at least 72 community service
hours if I plane to go to a excellent college and could not
thing [sic] of anything better then cleaning out a
B757.
I am going into my senior year. I mention the word "community
service" meaning without pay ... I would be doing back flips
to clean out airplanes for free. Very excellent what about
liability will they accept me if I am using my own
insurance?
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Here is a portion of the first response:
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Please keep in mind that "community service" is usually
assigned by the courts to minor offenders, and is associated
in most people's minds with infractions against the law.
So it's a excellent thought never to say "Community Service"
by itself. Instead say "Community service for college
admission.
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Yes, as I pointed out previously, the function
of "community service" does have a bit of an identity problem. It does
amaze me that most educators seem oblivious to the fact that mandatory
service requirements, imposed upon students, certainly convey the
stigma of a punishment, which no amount of verbal whitewashing can
conceal.
And here is the second response received:
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How would that be considered community service? It would
not benefit the community, only a commercial, for profit,
enterprise. If that's your thought of community service,
you could wash and wax my car while you are at it.
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I actually feel sorry for this poor kid. In his struggle to complete
this assignment, he has clearly been given no guidance and is, in
my opinion, rightfully clueless about what others expect of him.
It is difficult to know if he is making a good faith effort to
perform real work for his 72 hour sentence, if he thinks that this
work would benefit his community, or if he sees the job of cleaning
planes as a way to pocket treasures left behind by passengers. But
one thing is for sure. These are 72 hours that have nothing to do
with education and everything to do with socialization.
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