<p>For the past few weeks, I have been helping my sister out with a program called AWANA. it’s kind of like Sunday school but it’s held on Wednesday nights and there’s not really much teaching…the first part of the evening my sister teaches a lesson about something to do with God. Then we move on to a period of time where the kids recite memorized verses for “jewels” (these kids are roughly 5-8). Then we have a game, then they go home. This is roughly 2.5 hours per week. Normally I would get community service for it since it’s a non-profit organization. But I was told today that since it’s a religious organization, I do not receive community service hours. Does that seem fair? Am I right in saying that I feel slightly ripped off?</p>
<p>Now let me add to this: I have 93 hours of community service already, and to graduate I have to have 115. I’m not worried about getting that extra 12, but shouldn’t I be able to get it doing something I enjoy, whether or not it’s a religious activity?</p>
<p>Anyways. Like I said, I’m not worried about those 22. I’m just upset…isn’t the whole point of community service to use your talent, abilities and PASSION to help others? Who is my school to tell me I can have a passion for some things, but not for others?</p>
<p>Why do you care so much about whether or not your school formally approves of your “passion”? If you enjoy doing it so much, wouldn’t you do it with or without the service hours as compensation?</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s wrong for my school to tell me that because they don’t agree with it, it doesn’t count. Not only that, I think it’s wrong to do that to other students. And I have a strong feeling that it’s perfectly fine to do this to us, but if someone asks a Muslim to remove her headscarf it’s religious discrimination. Religious discrimination, whether it’s the former or the latter, is wrong. I don’t get why that’s so hard to understand.</p>
<p>There was a similar rule regarding religious/political hours in my county, but the ban on those types of hours was lifted due to the discrimination issues listed here.</p>
<p>I have a feeling that many school boards and schools reject these types of hours because the terms of service are very ambiguous. While you actually may be doing a service to the community, others may simply think that their presence in church or at a political rally may be worth hours. There are a few other situations where there are volunteer opportunities, but they do not equate to community service hours by the standards of the school. It’s quite common actually.</p>
<p>My daughter had a similar situation come up. For Key Club she needs 50 hours per year. The teacher advisor told another girl that work they both did with the Girl Scouts as an unpaid program aide (helper) would not count. I saw this going down the same route, what they were defining as a community, that perhaps her church service would not be counted either. When my d went back and questioned the advisor to the club, after giving more details on the program and emphasizing that she was not paid, the advisor relented and said it would count. Seems very arbitrary and if she still didn’t get success I would have suggested she ask to see the club’s definitions of “community” and “service” </p>
<p>So that’s what I would suggest to the OP. Ask for the written definitions and guidelines of what activities and for what organizations the hours would count. As a GS leader I consider what you did community service.</p>
<p>School rules are determined by the faculty, not the students. Your school can define acceptable community service locations as they see fit, just as they define the curriculum, acceptable clothing on campus, the academic calendar, etc. Nobody is demanding that you quit your volunteer work or claiming that your religious community doesn’t benefit from your volunteer hours. Your school is simply stating that the community service hours they require for graduation must be served in a secular environment. As long as the rule is applied to all students equally, the requirement seems fair.</p>
<p>I think, the school probably has a reason. I know that in my town the school won’t take religious activity as community service. The reason is that the church in my town used to draw kids to political type stuff by offering them hours. For example, they offered like 40 hours if you went on a “walk against abortion”…</p>
<p>The school was like “NO. No. no. NO!” excusing the kids from school for attending a political rally is a bit extreme. Now most church activities don’t count (however if you volunteer at like sunday school that counts, but trips and stuff don’t).</p>
<p>HGFM You should definitely verify with your school system on their documented procedures on what qualifies. I did check on my S school system and found the below that is detailed on the website “Students may receive volunteer hours for helping at religious institutions as long as those hours do not include participation in a religious service, teaching religion or proselytizing. For example, a student is not eligible for service learning teaching Sunday school, singing in the choir or serving as an altar server. However a student may receive service hours for assisting in landscaping, clean up days or volunteering in the day care center. In addition, students serving as teen aides (i.e. copying materials, walking kids to bathrooms, assisting with supervision) are eligible for service learning credit as long as the student is not teaching religious studies.”.</p>
<p>We have a similar rule at my school. No community service for programs with religious affiliations. As long as it applies to everybody, it is fair. </p>
<p>Just because you don’t get the credit or whatever for the hours doesn’t mean you should stop. Just do something else for the hours.</p>
<p>BTW, I REALLY don’t see the correlation between you not getting hours for this and Muslims being asked to remove their hijabs.</p>
<p>I thought that was only for funding. But I do agree that it is kind of fair. The service you’re doing is not church-related charity work, and that’s the only religious work that should count.</p>
<p>“We have a similar rule at my school. No community service for programs with religious affiliations. As long as it applies to everybody, it is fair.”</p>
<p>Well, no, it isn’t fair. Two people could be doing work of the exact same nature, and one could get credit and the other couldn’t, simply because one person’s work had a religious label stamped on it. What’s fair about that?</p>
<p>It’s fair because people know the rules before doing the service. The problem is she wasn’t doing something a nonreligious person could do. If she were working at a homeless shelter or something of that sort that somebody could do regardless of being religious or not. </p>
<p>Again, it’s fair because the same rule applies to EVERYBODY. Nobody has an issue with it at my school. </p>
<p>My question to the OP is did you know you couldn’t get community service through a religious organization BEFORE you did it? You can always still put it on college apps and do it because it’s your passion. You only need another 20 hours. Do that at some nonreligious organization and then you can devote however much time you want to your religious service. Don’t let the rules of what counts at your school limit what you do.</p>
<p>I concur with romanigypsyeyes, the rules state that students may receive volunteer hours helping at institutions, such as with setting up chairs, as long as those hours do not include participation in a religious service, teaching religion or proselytizing.</p>