An effective proposal for more justice, peace and welfare in our world would be a compulsory 2-year period of community service for all young people at the age of 18 or after they have finished their education.
During this period they will live together in communes settled in barracks or in vacant cloisters. During an initial phase they will participate in a preparatory training.
Hundreds of thousand young adults will be at the disposal of different forms of community service, e.g.:
1. Many of them will be deployed in the police force, especially on a local level, for street surveillance, securing public transportation and guarding industrial zones. During periods where one must be on alert, preventive body-search and traffic control will be possible. Special teams will be ready to intervene immediately when severe crimes, such as armed robberies, are committed. Thanks to all these trainees, policemen will be enabled to concentrate on serious crimes, on tracing terrorists and on the surveillance of high risk zones.
This measure will not mean that we will live in a police state. Surveillance will be discrete and focused. Ordinary people have no problem with more police officers in the streets. The rate of crimes will decrease, their will be a feeling of safeness so that immigrants will be better tolerated.
2. Tens of thousands young adult will be affected to the customs so that the borders and the import of goods will be under high surveillance. That can make possible the end of drug traffic since every parcel-post package and all containers will be controlled. Illegal immigration will be almost impossible.
3. Others will be employed in the social service sector. The quality of the services will ameliorate, e.g. in the care for elders or in mental health care. Problem families will receive intensive and enduring guidance. Pressure of work in most institutions in the social service sector will decrease thanks to the contributions of many trainees.
4. Youth care is another field where trainees will be deployed. The focus will be on youth and families at risk and on preventive activities. Under the supervision of specialists, who diagnose and draw up intervention strategies, the trainees will concentrate on home visits, home work supervision, social skills training, conflict management, etc. According to many evaluation studies, trainees are an important factor in the effectiveness of interventions, under the condition that they are well trained and supervised. Their dedication and enthusiasm contribute to better results. Besides that, frequent home visits and mediating between the family, the school and the community in the case of conflicts are important elements of successful intervention in youth and family care.
5. In our western countries schools offer excellent education for most children, but some children have difficulties to adapt at the school environment due to poor parenting and a background of deprivation. Especially children from poor families and immigrant children fail at our schools. Children with special needs, e.g. handicapped children, cannot develop according to their talents and capacities without specialized learning facilities. For all these children and adolescents with special needs the trainees can offer after-care, home work supervision, extra curriculum activities etc. They can assist school teachers in the classroom in order to help children who need extra care.
6. Environmental protection is also a domain where trainees can be deployed. E.g. they can help to optimize public transportation, where they can contribute to safety and where they can assist elderly people. Small scale transport will be organized in remote regions. Another example is biodynamic agriculture and the maintenance of nature reserves.
Conclusion
The two year period of community service must be seen as the final piece of education. The aim of education is to become a responsible adult. Each child receives the opportunity to develop his talents and to contribute to the welfare of the community. Society makes an appeal to all young adults to be at the service of the community.
Young adults who have no certificate or who have dropout of school will have a final opportunity for a vocational training. Their community service will start with a short and practical training after which they can practice their new capacities in one of the fields of the community service.
This proposal will have a huge positive effect on the integration of immigrants, especially for women.
I have not mentioned developing aid in Third World countries as a possible domain of the community service. The reason for this is that we must end hypocrisy. People from African and from some Asian countries have asked for independence and self rule. They have got what they asked for. We in the West are no longer responsible; what happens there has nothing to do with us. If these countries should have remained under our rule, they would have the economy and freedom like us. That does not mean that solidarity with these countries is not needed, but our solidarity must be organized on our own conditions, independent of cruel leaders with blood at their hands.