'Goodwill of neighbours, friends, strangers' meant so much: Georgina student

Is making high school students volunteer 40 hours a good idea?

Yorkregion.com
December 14, 2018
Lisa Queen

After banking hundreds of hours volunteering in York Region before graduating from high school last June, Nelson Mahmoudi laughingly admits he needed a push before he initially embraced the idea of giving back to the community.

“My very first volunteering position came as a surprise to me because my mother sort of forced it upon me,” he said.

Having been in French immersion since Grade 1, his mother signed him up to read French books to children on reading circle nights at the Georgina Public Library.

Soon enough, he loved his volunteer gig, which he did from Grade 6 to 10.

In time, he was appointed teen volunteer head, which included taking new recruits under his wing and allocating tasks.

At 18 Mahmoudi’s list of volunteering roles is long and varied.

Although Ontario high school students are required to volunteer 40 hours over four years before they graduate, Mahmoudi racked up 216.5 hours before graduating from the French immersion program at Newmarket High School in June. In fact, he had 75 hours documented before he stepped foot in his Grade 9 homeroom.

His total commitment doesn’t even include hundreds of hours he volunteered before Grade 9, which don’t count toward the province’s requirement.

His volunteer experience includes taking part in summer camps and military re-enactments at Georgina Pioneer Village, working on municipal, provincial and federal political campaigns in Georgina, East Gwillimbury and Newmarket, planting trees in Aurora and manning the concession stand at season-end soccer tournaments in Bradford.

Many of his volunteer positions played into his passions of politics, history and law.

Now enrolled in a seven-year concurrent undergraduate degree in politics and law at the University of Ottawa, Mahmoudi not only applauds the province’s 40-hour requirement but would like to see it boosted to 60 hours.

Without requiring students to volunteer, many never would, he said.

“You know how some parents will throw their kids in the water to teach them to swim?” he said.

“It’s sort of like that because of the fact, we’re so young, we don’t know where to go from there, especially in Grade 9.”

Mahmoudi sees the province’s mandate as not only a chance to encourage young people to give back to their communities but also an opportunity for them to discover or pursue their interests, gain valuable experience and make worthwhile connections.

When Mahmoudi's mother became bedridden when he was a child, he remembers how important help provided by Georgina Cares was to his family.

“It was the goodwill of neighbours and friends and sometimes even random strangers that helped me,” he said.

Although students may roll their eyes at the thought of volunteering, the requirement is beneficial and hopefully leads to a lifelong commitment to volunteering, Erin Cerenzia, manager of Neighbourhood Network, said.

“It’s not just something to check off your to-do list in order to graduate. Giving back those 40 hours of time through volunteer work is about enriching the lives of those less fortunate than us, it’s about the personal growth you experience by meeting new people, learning more about people who are different than you, developing your character and values and, of course, it’s about building better communities together,” she said.

“To some people, volunteering is inherent. It’s who they are or how they were raised. But to many others, volunteering takes a 'push' to get started, which is where the required 40 hours comes in and is so beneficial.”

Stefan Slovak, communications manager at the York Region Catholic District School Board, agreed.

“We believe that the 40 hours of community service assists our students in developing a commitment to social justice, a sense of being contributing members of our society and in widening their perspectives on the community in which they live,” he said.

“The requirement supports our faith development as we strive to provide our students with the principles of equity, justice and hope.”

Community involvement encourages students to develop an understanding of civic responsibility, the role they can play in strengthening their communities and provides them with an opportunity to consider potential opportunities that are available to them, York Region District School Board spokesperson Licinio Miguelo said.

At the same time, it is also important to note the requirement poses challenges for some students who have limited access to resources or time to spend volunteering, he said.

According to Vaughan Food Bank’s executive director Peter Wixson, an important issues in working with students is fostering a culture of volunteerism.

“It works for some but it doesn’t work for all. Some do it and they think it's the best thing that ever happened. Others don't like it because they think it is something like dictatorship. Forced to do something they don’t want to do, I can understand it,” he said.

“But those who do and are involved, man, they are the best people you can ever think of.”