Who Benefits from Community Service?: Exploring Service Programs at both Everdeen and Colby
In a class a few days ago, we had a rather heated discussion of who the mentorship program where elementary and middle school students from surrounding schools are paired with Colby students actually benefits. Is it the mentees? Is it Colby students? If the Colby students are benefitting, is it simply from spending time with kids, or is it just a resume booster? Hearing this debate made me rethink my previous notions of the program; perhaps it is more about making Colby students feel good than it is about helping our mentees. I must add that I am complicit in this, as I’m a mentor myself. And so, I recognized the ways in which elite students at Everdeen talked about their community service endeavors: simultaneously framing them as fulfilling social justice work and downplaying their own personal gains.
In an interview, an Everdeen student described a similar mentor-mentee program to the one on campus, which prompted my reflection. This student, Jake, had been working with Sudanese students in an after-school program to help them with homework and learning English. It blew my mind that this organization had allowed Jake, a highschool student with no background in teaching or language learning, to teach these students. He participated in this program, furthermore, to get enough community service hours to receive an internationally-recognized award; many of the students from Everdeen mentioned working towards this. In the same way I asked myself “are Colby students properly trained to be mentors? I would adapt the question to this situation: is Jake properly trained to be a language teacher? If the answer is no, and the student is not greatly benefiting from this experience, why does he get to use this time towards receiving an award? It seems to me as if the award is more focused on a performative commitment to service, rather than effective and ethical community service itself.
The school sends hypocritical messages surrounding service, suggesting that it is not as important as they say it is. An alum recalls one of Everdeen’s three “pillars” that they wanted to focus on being service. Students were separated into houses, which they likened to Hogwarts, which all had specific service projects. They would fundraise, host food drives, and go on international service trips. The school prides itself on creating global citizens, which includes a commitment to social justice and community service. I wonder, however, if this hope to create global citizens is hypocritical, and perhaps reinforces preexisting class distinctions. This same alum goes on to say: “I think [service] was talked about a lot, but it wasn’t really a thing. I think it was an idea that they wanted us to be very involved in, but when it came down to it, a lot of people at [Everdeen] weren’t super interested in that, because it was kind of focusing more on academics or sport.” The school wants to be seen as a place that breeds conscientious peoples, but they do not seem to be getting the message across to the students; we see that when students talk about their service, they mostly talk about how it affects them, instead of the community.
When students are asked questions about this topic, they seem to have the right answer for everything: how this taught them to be aware of their privilege, how it feels good to give back, etc.. It is after they get the scripted remarks out of the way that they reveal more problematic sentiments. One student, Violet, said she liked community service because it “makes [her] feel good,” and that “people are so appreciative.” Another said that service and social justice work “makes you better as a person” and that it “ helps [students] to have a well-rounded ability.” It is clear that these students have spent time thinking not only about how this service affects the community, but also themselves. And, they find it to be largely beneficial!
Returning to Colby’s mentoring program, I think all mentors at heart know that the program could be more beneficial. How can meeting once a week with no direction ever change the structural problems that invite such programs to exist in the first place? How can community service at Everdeen better reflect the community needs, rather than the needs of elite students to feel good about themselves? That is a question that I don’t know the answer to. And while I might not have an alternative, it is clear that the existing model of community service by elites present at both Colby and Everdeen does little for community development, and much for elite well-being.