Some people believe that teenagers should be required to do unpaid community work in their free time. This can benefit teenagers and the community as well. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Some believe that young people should occupy themselves with unpaid

community

service in their spare time. Proponents of

this

idea present it as a beneficial activity for both

teenagers

and society as a whole. I do not fully agree with

this

statement, and in

this

essay, I will talk about

this

topic and explain why I disagree with having

teenagers

work

for free during holidays, and how youth can participate in their communities while

also

benefitting more from their

work

.

First

, people who support having teens do unpaid

community

work

argue that children and adolescents spend a lot of their time off on unproductive things

such

as playing video games, watching TV, or following social media. Those activities are not productive, and they can impede

teenagers

' growth mentally and physically as they do not provide meaningful mental stimulation or sufficient physical exercise. In their opinion,

teenagers

can benefit greatly from participating in outdoor activities and interacting with their

community

at large

instead

of spending their summer vacation in their rooms.

This

, they say, would turn them into socially responsible adults and improve their communication skills.

On the other hand

, a compulsory mandate that

teenagers

should occupy themselves with

community

work

can have unintended negative consequences.

For example

, they can be exposed to dangerous situations during their

community

work

and risk their safety. It can take a single incident of someone injuring themselves whilst doing

community

work

for other teens — and their parents — to avoid

community

work

altogether.

Furthermore

, children

this

age are already weighed down by many rules, school

work

, and home chores. Adding

community

service on top of their long list of responsibilities can be counterproductive and would leave little room for creative activities that

teenagers

enjoy. To conclude,

although

encouraging teens to do

community

service is a good concept, it has to be thoughtfully implemented in a way that

teenagers

volunteer on their own and for their parents to ensure that there are ways to ensure their children's safety and well-being in the meantime. I do not think that compulsory unpaid labour is a good way of doing it. Encouraging youth to be helpful members of society through financial means or through rewarding their school records can be a much better alternative.