After careful consideration, I think that the answers to these questions - in the context of my previous experience with community service - is yes: I did have a personal agenda (whether it was for school credit or personal gain) and I did value the idea of just "being" a role model. For example, littering is one of my biggest pet-peeves, so whenever I see litter, I make a point to pick it up and find the nearest trash can. By completing this action, I'd always thought that I was doing the community a great service, but I never thought to consider and attack the greater issue of consumerism and waste in society. I have never done anything to find the source of the problem and root it out. Bickford speaks of the importance of activism over community service as a vehicle for social change, and I think I must agree. When I throw away a Starbucks cup that someone left on the sidewalk, yes, I have made that particular block a cement a bit cleaner, but I haven't taken the action necessary to make the city or even the country a bit cleaner.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Flower and Bickford
I'm finding these readings on the merit and effectiveness of community service to be extremely fascinating because I've never before heard a viewpoint that places community service with a negative connotation. I was always taught that serving the community was just the right thing to do. After reading these articles, I've begun to question my own motivations in participating in community service programs. Do I have a personal agenda - as Flower writes- rather than a greater understanding of social and public issues? Would I rather just "be" a role model rather than an active participant in a movement for social change?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Agreed. Although we don't have to give up the idea that cleaning up the street also has value, perhaps in ways that we don't expect (for example, other people might feel more self-conscious about dirtying a clean street). I'd hate for the articles to leave you with a sense of the futility of action!
Perhaps the articles encourage us to think about how to engage with structural changes, even as we continue our everyday acts of service. (Maybe it's like how I deal with global warming: I know my compost bin isn't going to save the earth, but it's part of a cultural shift that might lead to political and economic policy changes.)
Post a Comment