In an op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor, “Mandated Volunteerism,” a mother reveals her disgust with the amount of so-called voluntary community service her private school children have had to perform. She notes how community service is being required and touted by private school teachers as absolutely necessary for entry into elite colleges. She points out how this is detracting from the real purpose of doing service, and is supplanting the family as the chief instructor in imparting values to young people. The schools make it seem that if they don’t insist on service, the students will not learn its importance anywhere else. She also points out unfairness in the system, in that some students from wealthy backgrounds are able to build resumes with spectacular activities, like flying to Africa to aid refugees, while students from ordinary backgrounds may be needed to help out at home and in any event can hardly manage such extraordinary feats of service. In another story, “Britain Debates Value of Marriage,” the Monitor continues its advancement of single motherhood by making sure to give the last word to experts who deny its connection with any bad outcome for children or for society.