re: #133 eschew_obfuscation

At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, this is really scary.

Yes, it really is scary.
My daughter’s school, like most of the other schools in our area, has a “service hour” requirement. Students are supposed to get so many “service hours” each semester, and only certain approved activities “count”.
A student who does not get the “service hours” has his or her religion grade lowered by one letter.

Well, I’ve told her to get them if she can, but if she can’t, we’re OK with that too.

Our family’s “community service” does not necessarily involve the activities the school has decided are important. We have a different take on what’s important. For instance, we spend a great deal of time providing assistance to an elderly neighbor of ours, who has 4 acres of yard to take care of which is beyond her ability to do. She loves her yard and gardens, and likes to sit outside. If she had no help, these would be overgrown and/or she would have to sell her property. However, what we do for her does not “count” as “service hours” under the school’s program, and I am completely put out by that.

It seems to me that we, the parents of our daughter, by our example as well as by requiring assistance from her, should have more say in the types of “community service” we choose to emphasize. It irks me no end that the school requires “service hours” from students for a range of activities chosen by the school. This is beyond what the school’s mandate is (or should be) which is to educate my daughter.