Community service not a punishment

I was extremely disappointed to read that school officials at Zion-Benton High School added three days of community service to the punishment of the students involved in the banana costume prank. As a teacher and a legislator, I have worked for years to increase student involvement in local government. I have sought student volunteers for community events, environmental clean-ups, blood drives, parades and festivals. As adults and community members we need people who are willing to serve as coaches, PTO volunteers and Scout leaders. We count on our friends and neighbors to be members of school, library and park district boards. Hundreds of volunteers toil for countless hours on soccer fields, ball parks and board rooms to make their communities better. Students need to learn that community service is a positive, enriching experience; not a punishment for poor behavior. If you want theses kids to step up to the plate as adults, teach them as teens to do the right thing by choice not by force.

Sherry Perkowitz

Round Lake trustee