Junior Achievement Essay

That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right
of the people to alter or abolish it. This quote from the Declaration of Independence might be
interpreted that it is our right as Americans to make sure we are not subject to any decision that
may be perceived to be destructive to the principles America was founded upon. This
requirement of public services would be destructive to our educational processes and our
leadership as a nation in the world for freedom and citizen rights. I believe that we should not be
required to spend at least one year in public services.
In 2014 there are a total of twenty three countries that require community service or
military service of some sort. These countries share similar characteristics in that they all are
developing countries with a poor economic system and small population. These twenty three
countries have an average of at least 3.0% to 8.3% of their populations living underneath the
poverty rate of a total of $1.25 per day living expense. In the United States of America the
poverty rate is 1.7%, not to mention having a population over 300 million. America is
prosperous enough to not require community or military service, which also allows America to
stay true to the doctrine upon which this country was founded on: freedom.
In the twenty-first century students typically attend a 4 year college/university or a two
year community college or trade school after finishing grade schools. If we had a required public
service law what would happen to the students after high school? Students would have a gap year
between high school and college, which would not be ideal as this stops their educational
momentum. Even if the requirement was allowed to be taken after university, then thats one year
of no income for that student thus forcing them to either accrue more interest upon their student
loans or have to wait another year before paying them off. The alternative of not continuing

college or any other higher education could potentially be even worse for the student if he were
to decide to join the workforce without a degree after his or her one year foray in public service.
A gap year could affect lots of students who failed to develop important habits, its easy to lose
focus and fall out of the academic routine.
While an argument could be made that public services develop leadership and
communicational skills, a university encourages both of those traits far better; this is apparent in
the history of America as eight of our presidents, including our current one, attended Harvard
University. Many of the arguments that are pro-public service revolve around the fact that it
teaches responsibility, instills compassion, and opens an individuals eyes to impoverished side
of life. While all of that may be true, the negative side of requiring public service, especially with
no exemptions of any sort made in regards to education, is that we would be inhibiting those with
great minds and ambition. Had a public service requirement been introduce in America, we
would have lost out on the great minds of Mark Zuckerberg, David Karp, and Bill Gates to name
a few. Not only would we have denied these three individuals their future, but through the
millions of dollars they have donated to charities and the quality of life inventions they have
created, America would have been a much darker place. These leaders would have been lost in
the system and if we were to implement a requirement for public service, there is no telling how
many more we would lose as it is obvious there has yet to be any innovative or strong leader to
come out of any of the 23 countries currently requiring public service and denying their citizens
a chance to achieve their potential unhindered by their government.
The Universal National Service Act of 2003 was introduced on January 7th, 2003. This
bill was created by the House of Representatives. They wanted to require a public service for
teens from 18-26 years old to be required at least 6 months of public service. The bill died

because it was against U.S citizens rights and freedoms. This bill attempted to solve the issue
before mentioned by exchanging two years of public service for four years of university tuition,
with a restriction limiting the amount the government pays. However, by limiting the amount the
government places a chokehold on the choices that individual has in terms of what university to
attend, especially with tuition exceeding $50,000 per year at some of the top end Universities.
The decision to strike down the bill was the right call as it goes against everything America
stands for and our constitutional rights as citizens of this country.
AmeriCorps and Peace corps are both non-profit foundations that create service projects
and public services to people in need and have over 200,000 members in America that serve on
these projects. There are also many countys across the United States that require a certain
amount of community service hours. For example, In Maryland the state requirement for
graduation is 75 SSL (Student Service Learning hours). These public service hours are
considered to be a way for middle school and high school students to give back to their
community, create and foster new friendships for the future, and build character. Because the
amount of hours is low for such a long time period, this does not constitute infringing on ones
rights and is in fact very helpful for students as it opens their eyes to the need of volunteering. By
educating our young about the benefits of volunteering and offering internships that further their
education in exchange for public services rendered, the issues that hindered the 2003 bill would
be put to rest. This country was founded on capitalist principles, therefore if the government
wishes to introduce public service as a requirement, then it should further that persons goals in
some way, shape, or form.

Works Cited
Americorps. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorps20>.
Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. <https://www.congress.gov/>.
Elon University. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. <http://www.elon.edu/eweb/pendulum/Issues/2005/03_17/features/specialprojects.xhtml>.
GOVtrack. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
<https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/108/hr163#summary>.
Peace corps. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://www.peacecorps.gov/>.
Word Bank. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/beyond/beyondco/beg_09.pdf>.