Community Service

         Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions. Community service also reduces the chances of suicidal actions or questionable behavior in children,teens or young adults. Community service increases chances of getting into important colleges and jobs.
Volunteers may provide community service, however, not everyone who provides community service is seen as a volunteer, because some people who provide community service are not doing it of their own free will; they are compelled to do so by:

• their government as a part of citizenship requirements, in lieu of military service;
• the courts, in lieu of, or in addition to, other criminal justice sanctions;
• their school, to meet the requirements of a class, such as in the case of service learning or to meet the requirements of graduation, or, in the case of parents, required to provide engagement and community, and to help them achieve their educational, developmental and social goals.

Youth service hours and/or projects is often required for advancement, e.g. for a Scout to advance to the next rank or for a high school student to graduate.
Service learning is the deliberate connection of community service to stated learning goals. A common misconception among educators, youth workers, and young people is the notion that service learning can be assigned. Several experts attest to the necessity of engaging youth in deliberating, planning, implementing, and reflecting on their community service, thereby sustaining high-quality service learning. This is intended to make community service an effective learning tool.
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at the University of Maryland, College Park researches young people and their community service. CIRCLE analyzes trends in community service/volunteering over time and by subgroups, such as sex, race and ethnicity