Community service

COMMUNITY SERVICE


Plan:

1. 
   High school graduation and community work
   
2. 
   Corporate social responsibility
   
3. 
   Community service for institutions
   

Community service is a non-paying job performed by one person or a group of people for the benefit of their community or its institutions. Community service is distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed on a voluntary basis. Although personal benefits may be realized, it may be performed for a variety of reasons including citizenship requirements, a substitution of criminal justice sanctions, requirements of a school or class, and requisites for the receipt of certain benefits.
Community service is a non-paying job performed by one person or a group of people for the benefit of their community or its institutions. Community service is distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed on a voluntary basis. It may be performed for a variety of reasons.

• 
  It may be required by a government as a part of citizenship requirements, generally in lieu of military service or for civil conscription services.
  
• 
  It may be required as a substitution of, or in addition to, other criminal justice sanctions – when performed for this reason it may also be referred to as community payback.
  
• 
  It may be mandated by schools to meet the requirements of a class, such as in the case of service-learning or to meet the requirements of graduating as class valedictorian.
  
• 
  In the UK, it has been made a condition of the receipt of certain benefits.^{[dubious – discuss]} (see Workfare in the United Kingdom)
  
• 
  In Sweden it is a suspended sentence called "samhällstjänst" ("society service").^[1]
  

Reasons[edit]
High school graduation and community work[edit]
Some educational jurisdictions in the United States require students to perform community service hours to graduate from high school. In some high schools in Washington, for example, students must finish 200 hours of community service to get a diploma. Some school districts in Washington, including Seattle Public Schools, differentiate between community service and "service learning," requiring students to demonstrate that their work has contributed to their education.^[2] If a student in high school is taking an Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) course, community service is often needed. Whether American public schools could require volunteer hours for high school graduation was challenged in Immediato v. Rye Neck School District, but the court found no violation.
Many other high schools do not require community service hours for graduation, but still see an impressive number of students get involved in their communities. For example, in Palo Alto, California, students at Palo Alto High School log about 45,000 hours of community service every year.^[3] As a result, the school's College and Career Center awards 250–300 students the President's Volunteer Service Award every year for their hard work.