“The Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a democratic society and global community.”

Since the beginning of middle school, I’ve noticed that Civic Engagement/Community Service has been somewhat unpopular among students. At first, I thought that this dislike of Civic Engagement was justified because there are some Civic Engagement programs that have felt like a waste of time—for example, when I was in 7th or 8th grade, I had to pick the seeds of an invasive plant for several hours. However, when I actually started to assess why Civic Engagement is unpopular, I began to realize that it’s on me, that it’s on us–that apathy is pretty ingrained in Parker culture.

As a middle school student, I found writing several reflective paragraphs for each Community Service outing, to be a pretty big nuisance. Although writing a couple paragraphs may be daunting for a middle schooler, I do remember being given sufficient time each Community Service day to finish my reflections.

It’s quite embarrassing that as a high school underclassman I complained about having to write a couple of reflections after attending public events.  I was asked to do the same amount of work I had done in middle school. I find it equally embarrassing that I complained about having to attend public events.

A public event, which is viewed by many upper school students as a chore, is far from a chore. Instead, a public event is an opportunity to engage with people outside the Parker community about issues that one may find personally intriguing or relevant to society.

Although a public event may take place on the weekend, it is still an excellent opportunity to follow up on issues that you deem important. However, at Parker, the reality of a public event is quickly replaced with a grim narrative of being “coerced” into attending a “pointless,” “dull” discussion or activity.

Unfortunately, I feel that the one thing that could make public events more popular would be if they affected one’s transcript. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Civic Engagement—one of the only pass/fail courses—also happens to be the subject taken least seriously amongst Parker students. On the other hand, one could make the argument that there isn’t enough time devoted to Civic Engagement for it to be considered as important as other subjects.  That would be fair.  The limited amount of time given to Civic Engagement often baffles me.

If our progressive education places emphasis upon students eventually bettering their greater community, shouldn’t Civic Engagement make up a greater portion of our curriculum?

I’d say there are two remedies for improving the Civic Engagement program at Parker: either there needs to be more time and resources allocated into the program, in order to make it as essential as other subjects, or there needs to be less emphasis placed on grades. I think that in order for our progressive education to be most effective, quantitative assessments need to have a lesser value. When a student focuses on how they perform on a quantitative level, they tend to stray away from learning how to think critically and problem solve–especially if it’s ungraded.

The unfortunate reality, though, is that it’s pretty unlikely for Parker students to suddenly be less focused on grades, and I would probably say that it is equally unrealistic that Parker students instantaneously become more dedicated to communal issues, even if there is more time granted to the Civic Engagement program. I do wonder, though…If grades were eliminated from Parker, would students become more concerned with social responsibility?