Distant or Direct: Participant's Interactions With Service Recipients While Completing Ontario's Community Involvement Requirement

The Government of Ontario instituted a community involvement requirement - whereby all secondary school students must complete 40 hours of community involvement in order to graduate - in an effort to "encourage students to develop awareness and understanding of civic responsibility and the role they can play in supporting and strengthening their communities" (Ministry of Education and Training, 1999, p.6). However, while Ontario's community involvement requirement is a mandatory program for all secondary school students, procedures for its completion are loosely regulated by the Ministry of Education. In this chapter, the author focuses on participants' experiences of both distant and direct interaction with service recipients, although the latter is highlighted.