Editor’s Note: As of the beginning of 2008-2009 Winter Break, the Skyline chapter of National Honor Society has pulled the in-school tutoring hours requirement, allowing members to be productive elsewhere to complete their hours.
Knowledge is power, and even spider man knows that with great power comes great responsibility; yet apparently this simple maxim is lost upon the members of Skyline’s chapter of National Honor Society.
The Standard
National Honor Society is a national organization, with rather strict membership standards, intending “to create enthusiasm for scholarship, stimulate a desire to render service, promote leadership, and develop character.”
Members are selected at the end of sophomore year based upon their previous leadership and community service experience, in addition to a cumulative 3.65 grade point average.
Upon acceptance into the organization, each member is expected to attend all meetings, maintain a 3.65 GPA, and fulfill a certain number of community service hours in a variety of categories each semester in order to sustain their membership.
One of these categories is tutoring, which requires each student to complete four hours each semester, two of which must be through Skyline’s NHS tutoring program.
Without those last ten words, there would be no problem.
The Problem
Since members are required to attain two hours from its own program at the school, two unfortunate consequences have resulted:
A) Honor Society has declared a monopoly on the tutoring rights of Skyline students
B) Tutoring hours have been granted for members doing their own homework
Although it is admirable that Honor Society is trying to make a free tutoring service available to all students of Skyline, the fact of the matter is that there simply is not enough demand for every member of Honor Society to tutor a Skyline student for two hours each semester. In an effort to increase the demand for the service, Honor Society decided to claim the first rights to the tutoring of any Skyline students.
Last time I checked, eliminating the competition was not a tactic classified as “fair” or “honorable” by the United States, and in the real world, which Honor Society strives to prepare its members for, it is more often than not greeted with anti-trust lawsuits (see: Microsoft). As a result of this mandate, the quality of tutoring available at Skyline drops accordingly. For instance, Math Club, which was created so that the best math students at Skyline could help those struggling, is technically unable to tutor under this clause.
What gives Honor Society the right to this tutoring other than the fact that they “need” the hours? If National Honor Society wanted more students to take advantage of their service, perhaps they should offer the better service, instead of trying to squash the competition. Consequently, since there has been a lack of interest in the service, and the two hour per semester requirement has remained, students have been receiving community service hours for “being available” to tutor. The service is available from 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM Wednesday mornings, and also 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Tuesday and Thursday after school, all in room 204.
However, according to one Honor Society member, since the service was set up this year, only a single student has come in for tutoring. What is the result? Members receiving community service hours for nothing at all. Or perhaps I’m missing something. Maybe there is something unique about room 204 between the hours outlined above that make it a service to do one’s homework there instead of at home.
The Controversy
The bottom line is that students are receiving recognition for things which they did not do. Both community service hours, as well as membership in National Honor Society are considered by colleges when reviewing candidates for admission, and it is assumed that any community service is legitimate.
However, how is gaining hours in this way any different from forging hours entirely? When did it become okay to receive the benefits of a deed without doing the deed itself? I’m certain there are many students who need an A on their next test, just as badly as Honor Society members need community service hours, yet if a student were to cheat on their test, and justify it by saying that it’s okay because they needed the grade, would that be accepted? If so, I’d leave Skyline this instant.
Recording community service hours without actually doing the community service is an insult to the students who actually do the service. If one receives the same accolades for sacrificing a Saturday morning at the Food Bank as they would doing their homework after school in a designated classroom, the majority of students would no longer volunteer in the mornings. It just doesn’t make sense.
Of course, the majority of members of National Honor Society are not scheming students trying to get a leg up through any means necessary— they are just trying to fulfill the standard that has been put before them. However, this begs the question, why is this standard still required if the service is effectively obsolete? It is of course, only a part of the tutoring requirement, why not suspend the requirement until there is greater demand for the service, and allow students to attain their tutoring hours through any means?
This morning, a National Honor Society member who had just “volunteered” came out of the room once she had served her time, and remarked that no one had come in, and all she had done was her homework. When asked if she had received community service hours for this, she said that she did, and that regardless of how many (if any) people come in, members who come get volunteer hours. She was amused by this as well.
Later, when National Honor Society Treasurer Kim Lammers overheard that I was planning to write this article, she expressed her disdain in the absurdity of the system:
“The tutoring system uses twisted logic. While Honor Society thinks they are helping, they are just requiring people to sit in a room for an hour doing nothing. There are people in need and honor society is only focusing on requirements over the needs of students and the community.”
As stated before, the majority of Honor Society’s members do in fact strive to actually uphold the ideals of the organization, yet are bogged down by the seemingly arbitrary requirements inherent to the system.
Earlier today, I contacted yet another Honor Society member about the Skyline NHS tutoring requirement, and discovered a hidden reason for the lack of demand.
For some reason, NHS tutoring was forced out of its previous library dwelling, and only recently got the new location (again, room 204) up, running, and advertised in the halls. Because of this delay, the member reasoned, it was okay for members to get hours without tutoring, because factors beyond their control had reduced the demand below the ordinary level. Although she agreed that it was not ideal, she still believed that it was okay for students to receive hours for a service they were not fulfilling, on the basis that they were, “making themselves available.”
Although it is true that in this sense, they are “volunteering their time” towards the cause, if the time isn’t used by anyone, is it really volunteered? To me, it’s more accurate to describe it as “offering their time.” If I offer someone $20, and they don’t accept it, is it the same as me giving it to them? If the so called availability law holds true, Honor Society’s adviser will definitely be receiving correspondence from me in the near future so that I too can give back to the community by being available to students who don’t come.
Hopefully, demand in NHS tutoring will grow next semester, and this problem will fade, but so long as students are receiving community service for doing their own homework, I can not consider Honor Society to be fostering anything other than rat race it aims to avoid.
For more information on National Honor Society, and Skyline’s chapter, visit these links:
Comments
First thing I read this morning, and a very good read at that.
This is the problem with organizations like NHS. They take the form of a bureaucracy because it makes it a bit more fun. Bureaucracy is meant for large numbers of people with vastly different interests (e.g., a government). This is an after-school program. They don’t need a charter dictating specific hour allocations or provisions by which the charter can be changed.
The reason I bring up the bureaucratic nature of NHS is that it seems to me that this problem is a byproduct of an outdated clause in the charter, and a group of people unable to change it. If this were any other club at Skyline (save for, perhaps, Key Club), people could just say, “This is nuts. We’re not going to require tutoring until it is needed”.
Instead we have wasted effort recorded under the guise of honor. I suggest that all people in honor society work to overturn that element of the charter. Your ability to do so is a true test of the honor of the group.
Ya, I really wish NHS members could just get 4 hours of tutoring done without 2 needing to be at Skyline. Things would be a lot more flexible. But I’m sure things are going to be improved, the addition of at-school tutoring on wednesday mornings already opened up options for many people.
Very few students attended the after school tutoring last year that NHS put up. The problem is that the kids that need the tutoring will not attend the tutoring sessions. I think it is a bit of an improvement that the tutors need to spend a true hour after school being available rather than a quick 20-and-go, but the whole system needs reformation.
I have spoken with multiple people on the NHS Board to change this. I, being a president of NJHS, had great success talking with local elementary schools and organizing times for tutoring. Many of these schools have after school clubs where a certain amount of time is dedicated to homework, and NHS should ask them if they can send students over to help out. There are ALWAYS kids that need help, and if there are not, there are other things the students can help with under the guise of tutoring.
Anything is better than sitting in 204 for an hour doing homework and texting, right?
It’s important to remember that most members (to my knowledge) are not having difficulty attaining tutoring hours legitimately through other programs, including those at the middle schools, so really, the only problem is the requirement of hours through Skyline’s program.
It would be better to offer students the opportunity to tutor through Skyline’s program, but not mandate it, and also only grant hours if a service was actually done. Although NHS may argue that if it wasn’t a requirement, then students wouldn’t volunteer in the service, from the student’s perspective, it’s still more convenient to stay after school or come in early at their own school, than to travel to a different location to participate in a different program. Tutoring would still be readily available to Skyline students, and more genuine service would actually get done in the community. It’s a win-win scenario.
Jeff, I agree with the point of this article. But it’s not equivalent to cheating on a test or offering someone $20. Jesus.
By the way, what do you mean Math Club can’t tutor? Have you ever gone? Because Math Club does tutor often times students in MM2 or Geometry or MM3. Perhaps not officially, but it’s why people show up - there’s not a lot of places to get help for upper level math except Math Club, Mrs. Shim, Ms. Karkainen, Mr. Heldt. The other math sessions that are offered (they’re offered i think twice a week afterchool or something) can’t provide that help sometimes.
And Ms. Eide doesn’t want NHS students in the library so that she has to be the advisor afterschool and sign off. I’m not sure of the exact reason, but that’s why i changed.
Though your comment that later in the semester people will want tutoring at SHS, I don’t know if that will happen. As far as I know, last year almost noone actually ended up tutoring anyone.
When I was President we allowed our “group”-tutoring hours to come from helping out at any ISD-related programs.
Can’t that be carried over? I think, if NHS was smart, it would allow for a sign-up system that students could talk to their teachers about (or the other way around) for tutoring. Then the members actually get credit for helping, rather than showing up.
every club has its flaws. in the case of nhs, it’s the tutoring hours requirment. but like you said, that’s pretty much it. jeff, you are really smart, and i like listening to what you have to say in class, but stop blowing things out of proportion. you come across as an arrogant prick sometimes. and i went to math club a couple of times before, and the tutors are really helpful. i think kevin even tutored someone for two hours in the last meeting.
True: Every club has its flaws.
Problem: NHS and Key Club are the only clubs where you sign up to get credit for doing work. That’s almost their entire premise. Yes, there are a handful of people participating because they just want a way to help out, but the majority do it because they want “hours”. (Speculative, but I suspect most would agree.)
We’re not talking Movie Club or Food Club where people go to have a good time. We’re talking about a club where people go to build a reputation—a reputation that may prove helpful during college admissions or elsewhere. It isn’t fair to receive credit for sitting around at school when there are elementary/middle schools who could actually use the help.
I’m not saying that NHS kids are lazy or corrupt or anything else. I’m saying that NHS is doing a bad job at effectively using the resources available.
@Anonymous: Please refrain from insulting people here. Pick your personal battles in person.
Lauren: The $20 comment was not in any way referring to “paying” for hours. It was more the concept of offering vs. giving
The Math Club comment was from a post I saw on facebook, where a math club member had to ask an honor society member if it was okay for math club to tutor. This struck me as absurd, considering that the members of math club are almost guaranteed to be more competent than those in honor society, if they aren’t themselves. The thing is, if you look at Honor Society’s claim to the rights to tutor the students of Skyline before any other group, then just this is required: any other group intending to help students academically must ask for Honor Society’s permission, which seems absurd to me.
Regarding students coming next semester to be tutored, that was a hope, not a prediction. Hopefully the actual demand for NHS tutoring increases so that the NHS members are actually helping people instead of “being available” to help people, while getting credit whether or not people actually come in.
Anonymous: You hit the nail on the head. The NHS tutoring program is a flaw, and the most glaring one which almost everyone can agree on. The question then becomes, why isn’t it being changed if it is acknowledged to be a problem? As far as I read into the US NHS Constitution, it is not a NHS requirement, rather a requirement created by the SHS chapter in their own charter. I believe this should be amended so that members are not gaining credit for things which they did not do. Every club may have its flaws, but shouldn’t it be the club’s responsibility to try to correct its flaws?
Also, I’m not sure why people believe I am against our math club— I think it’s a great program, and has definitely proven helpful to the students who have taken advantage of it. It was only an example I used to show that if NHS’s claim to the first rights to tutoring were followed, then groups such as math club would be forced to ask permission from NHS to help students: a mandate I find ridiculous.
jeff, thanks for responding. alex, shut up. jeff, you are assuming that the officers have not tried to create changes. i’m pretty sure that the officers have tried to amend the two hours at shs tutoring requirement. the fact is, it is incredibly and ridiculously difficult to make or propose changes in skyline high school. they hardly ever listen to students, although they act like they do. also everything is run by administrators, who don’t give a shit about student activities, unless it has to do with sports. i would think that you guys would know how difficult the school can be. that’s probably a part of the reason why plateau times isn’t a school club right? jeff, i think it’s great that you are pointing this out. but i think it’d be more effective if you went about it in a way that’s more… diplomatic? that’s not exactly the word i’m trying to find, but it’ll have to suffice for now. anyway, i feel like some of your articles lose power because you write in such a bombastic style. and i’m not saying this in a mean or hateful way. i just want to help.
Why are you being rude toward Jeff (“arrogant prick”) and I (“shut up”)? We haven’t done anything but debate certain details of your viewpoint. I don’t understand the hate.
And the NHS charter is the business of NHS. If the kids at NHS vote to amend the charter, and then the school/district overrides, then we can blame a higher authority.
From the SHS charter:
“By-laws may be amended by the membership whenever necessary. A proposal must be made at a general membership meeting in a first reading. Voting will take place after the second reading. 2/3 of the members present at the meeting will be needed to amend the by-laws.”
If 2/3 of the kids in NHS don’t realize that this tutoring requirement is ineffective, then we have a problem.
“I don’t understand the hate” seriously? stop blowing things out of proportion and stop being so defensive. it’s really exhausting debating with you.
i want to thank you, however, for pointing out that part on the shs charter. i’m only a member, but i will ask whoever is in charge of nhs about this.
You didn’t debate me at all. You told me to shut up and then proceeded to debate Jeff.
It’s really exhausting debating someone who takes cheap shots while hiding behind a mask.
If you want to talk to commander-in-chief, the person to contact would be Jenna Kovalsky. Other members and their contact information can be found on the NHS website.
debate wasn’t the right word. my mistake. alex, i am sorry if you felt hurt by what i said. i did not mean for this to get so messy. i’ll just refrain from commenting in the future.
Alex phrased it excellently— Skyline NHS members should simply amend the charter. I have spoken to some officers, and those I have talked to agree that it isn’t a good system since students aren’t coming in for the tutoring. It may be difficult to work trudge through the swamp of administrative bureaucracy, but in the end, the officers and the members at large are the ones who make the club what it is. If the members want change, the administration has no power to get in the way of that.
Lestz are you just pissed cause they rejected you Sophmore year? … NHS is a little silly though, the club itself takes itself a little too serioussly for my taste.
Interesting discussion, but I’m struck by the focus on how the NHS tutoring feels weak and less valuable, but not about why it isn’t working better. Aside from xerox ads on the walls, how much recruiting or inviting takes place? The change of attitude about whether study and learning are valuable would be necessary if tutoring is really to get to the people for whom it will do the most good. As daring (or maybe uncomfortable) as it seems, it really comes down to students extending the offer to students — maybe not their friends — who could use the help. That isn’t very easy, but without the offer being real and personal, it feels like too great a risk for those who are going to expose their weaknesses. And who likes to do that? Here at my new school there are a number of good student to student tutor works, but very few kids here don’t have educational success as a HIGH priority. At Skyline is valuing their education even a 50/50 proposition? It’s a challenge, but NHS members should be up to it.