Whether it’s to bolster a college resume or to act out your beliefs and passions, volunteering holds potential to be a powerful experience for any student. To volunteer in service of others is to consciously dedicate time and resources where they aren’t required to go. That deliberate, voluntary choice to help others is what makes volunteering so powerful, and so personal.

So, when Benilde-St. Margaret’s juniors are required for one semester to spend 35 hours of their time helping a group of marginalized people, the effect of volunteering is seriously devalued. Students ought to come to their own conclusions about volunteering and no one should be forced into helping others when they aren’t passionate or believing in the cause.

Education aims to enlighten students beyond academics. With that goal in mind BSM, requires 35 hours of service work in one semester for every junior. The theory behind this mandatory volunteering is that if the students are made to help underprivileged families they will grow closer to those they are helping, and more understanding of the Catholic teachings of Social Justice–– fair enough.

But the fact of the matter is that the students who wholeheartedly volunteer, make those connections, and understand the Catholic teachings would’ve done so anyway without set timeframes, requirements, and a letter grade attached to their personal experience. Those who have no intention of making a connection will simply serve their 35 in the easiest way possible, seeking the minimum amount of work that must be put in. This completely defeats the goal of mandatory volunteering, which is to better the student.

No one can deny that most high school students lead busy lives. Mountains of homework combined with rigorous extracurriculars lead to dangerously high levels of stress. Students struggle to pass classes and live up to expectations inside and outside of school.

To add on a mandatory 35 hours into one semester would be demanding for the ordinary student. For those amongst us who are overachievers and barely know what free time is, the added burden is especially unwelcome and stressful.

The requirement of volunteering and service into high school also runs the risk of permanently damaging a student’s perception of volunteering. The likelihood of sparking a student’s lifelong love for service is little to none if they are forced into it. Cultivating a true desire to volunteer is much more important, both for the student and society, than imposing a potentially ineffective 35 hours of volunteering that will never be repeated.

Volunteering is a powerful force in any society and in any circumstance can, and frequently does, change the world. But volunteering is only truly beneficial if it comes from the goodness of one’s heart. It cannot be demanded, it must be given freely.