Which would you rather have, a fish or a fishing pole? We have all heard the timeless adage, but we largely ignore its applications to the recent issue of giving tangible rewards for charity. As students’ ideas of community and giving are still quite malleable, the message of charity must be delivered with the utmost care. The immediate incentive of a dress-down day, for example, will no doubt increase donations among the student body at this time. Yet, at what cost? The cost is a future where our charity is dependent on self-centered rewards and benefits, a future where the true meaning of altruism is forgotten. This is not to say, by any means, that we all rely on distorted motivations. There are indeed many who donate time, goods, and services to those in need out of love for their fellow man. In an educational environment, however, it is the duty of the administration to avoid situations where charity can be obscured, even superseded, by personal gain.

As Gilman students, we are certainly capable of making a difference in our society, but I would argue that our required community service and encouraged giving is not to change the world, yet. Instead, they are meant to foster a mindset of giving and selflessness, that when taken beyond Gilman, can hopefully affect the lives of many beyond our respective communities. Service learning is a vital part of our educational experience at Gilman, and corrupting it with the wrong objectives will be far more detrimental to our society in general, sacrificing the long-term benefits for the short-term ones. In a haze of physical rewards like dress-down days and pizza parties, the “learning” aspect of service learning and charity is all but forgotten. Let’s face reality: the potential good that we will be able to do in the real world significantly outweighs what we can do now. I hesitate to use the phrase “in the real world,” but I think that it is appropriate here. By fostering the notion that charity will be rewarded tangibly, the logical conclusion is that in the future, when there are no such rewards, altruism among today’s children will be diminished. This is simply not a risk worth taking. I am confident that as a school community, we are capable of coming through for the wonderful organizations that we support without being led by a seriously flawed impetus. We should all remember that we are not donating for a dress-down day – we are donating to learn the true meaning of service. Dress-down days are wonderful – but they should never be motivation for charity.