Opinion Roundup: how many hours of community service makes the most sense for honors requirements?

At Townsend Harris High School, students are required to complete 40 hours of community service annually to earn the Townsend Harris Honor Certificate, with only 10 of those hours permitted to be in school hours. While this is not a requirement for students to receive their high school diploma under NYC guidelines, this requirement is part of the criteria to receive the Townsend Harris Honors Certificate at graduation. According to the “Handbook on Community Service,” students who “did not perform 40 hours of service during one year…can make that time up in another year.  If [students] need to make up hours, [they] will have to do an additional 20 hours as a penalty.”  However, with the rigorous course load at THHS has the required 40 hours become too much for students? 

Last week, The Classic published an op-ed on this requirement. Below, students were interviewed to see their opinion on the topic.