I AGREE in part with Ms Ann Medlock's view that the 'compulsory'
approach to community service or service learning is wrong ('Don't
force students to do good', May 5).
While a certain amount of compulsion is necessary to provide a
platform for children to perform these deeds, I agree with Ms
Medlock that leading by inspiration should be encouraged. This is
so that children realise good deeds should be done out of kindness
and compassion, not for points or rewards.
That is why in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when I was a
coordinator for the Being & Becoming programme in a secondary
school, a team embarked on a project to collect and collate stories
of good deeds highlighted in newspapers and compiled them into a
booklet for all students.
We collected so many articles from teachers and students that we
were able to come up with three booklets.
The results of such projects cannot be easily quantified, but I
am sure the values embedded in them seeped into the majority of
students through the best way possible - by example and through
stories.
Dishing up violence day after day in great detail in newspapers
and on television just serves to glorify crime, violence and the
negative aspects of society.
Newspaper reports should be toned down and the kinder, more
positive face of society should be highlighted more often. This can
only serve to uplift our society.
Patricia Maria de Souza (Ms)
