Boston Globe Op-Ed on National Service

By Allegra Goodman December 31, 2008

There was much talk during the presidential campaign about coming together for change. Each party spoke about renewing America, each highlighted energy independence. Television commercials for both John McCain and Barack Obama featured windmills as symbols of homegrown power replacing foreign oil. One source of native energy got less press: America's youth.

In the new year with a new president, as we try to rebuild the economy and leverage our resources, I would love to hear a serious debate about how the next generation might contribute. Many countries require national service of their high school graduates. The service takes different forms - from community work to military enlistment. High school graduates generally begin work or college. But how would the United States look if 18-year-olds spent a year working in parks and schools, day care centers, libraries, or took a year to work with the elderly and the underserved, with the homeless, or with young children after school?
Programs like City Year promote this spirit of volunteerism. But what if City Year spread to every city and town, and programs like it became the norm for every graduating senior?

To some parents, national service on such a massive scale might sound too much like the draft. To some politicians, it might sound like a bureaucratic nightmare. But millions of hands make light work. As the mother of a 16-year-old, I see untapped potential in young men and women.

Our kids are big and strong and capable - big enough to get into trouble, but also big enough to do some serious work. We all ask morosely, what kind of world will our children inherit? But what if we allow our children to become part of the solution? Just think what 18-year-olds might contribute: building, cleaning, organizing, tutoring. And imagine what our children would learn about others if they worked outside their own communities.

Allegra Goodman is a novelist. Her first book for younger children, "The Other Side of the Island," has just been published.