Rockridge
High School
Taylor
Ridge, Illinois
Teacher:
Barbara Downey
Responsibility
By
Amanda Price
Grade
12
Every individual in our society has a "personal responsibility." The paths we take in life affect the paths of others. Therefore, we should be willing to help reform our society. Teens and adults can work together to make a difference and solve problems.
For centuries, there has been a large age gap between the youths and elders of our society. Youths assume that elders are too weak and forgetful to partake in their everyday activities. Elders feel that youths are too wild and disrespectful to share any of the same interests. Instead of trying to find a common ground, the gap grows larger and problems like teen suicide and divorce continue to increase rapidly.
Teens today face an array of temptations. One of these includes drugs and alcohol. These two things surround a teen’s life. Many times, a teen will turn to them because of peer pressure or because something has gone wrong in his life. But at times other than those, teens may use drugs and alcohol because they simply do not know the consequences. Drugs and alcohol are easily available. Teens have access to these, not only from other teens but also from adults who choose to support their teen’s habits.
Another problem in today’s society is the growing suicide rate. Some teens feel that they have nothing left to live for. Many do not have an adult to turn to when they are having problems, whether they are at home or at school. Teens believe that adults are too old to know how to help them.
America’s youths are also struggling with the issue of teen pregnancy. They are having unprotected sex without the knowledge of the parents. Most kids are afraid to tell their parent and by doing so, lose the opportunity to hear about safe sex, planned parenthood, and simple things, like the use of contraceptives.
Adults have many problems, too. Many of them affect the lives of their children. Marriage today is a word taken very lightly. People do not value the life of a partner like they used to. Although efforts are being made to make it more difficult to obtain a divorce, they are still readily available. Nowadays, if two people are not happy living together, they simply separate. No questions are asked and children bounce from house to house.
On the other hand, many couples choose not to marry at all. They remain together for many years and often have children. So, which is worse: getting a divorce or never marrying at all?
Divorces lead to single-parent homes. Usually, the child will live with his mother, leaving her with all of the responsibility. The mother must then hold down a job AND take care of her child/children. This means that the child will be under the care of a hired "baby-sitter" much of the time. It leaves no time for the parent and child to bond, and often a resentment of the other parent prevents the child from seeing them, leaving them under the guidance of only one adult figure.
Many adults face money issues. Some have no means of making money, so they end up on federal programs such as welfare. Much of this problem has to do with discrimination in the workplace. Studies show that 26% of the population is now made up of minorities.Most poor have not received a proper education. Some adults remain unemployed for long periods of time because of a lack of an education, yet they are looked down upon others because they need financial aid.
There many ways to solve these problems. The main way to do such is by combining the efforts of teens and adults alike. Some solutions to these problems would be mentoring programs, day-care for single parents, and marriage/family counseling.
Mentoring programs are very helpful to children, especially if the children have gone through a divorce. Children need guidance from adults and this is a perfect way to do it. Through these programs, children and teens alike are be to bond with adults. Both the child and the adult learn to respect each other. The child is able to develop a positive outlook for adults by the actions of their role model.
Day-care is am excellent option for single parents. By having child care provided for them, the adults are allowed to work without the hassle of worrying about their children. Adults need to be able to work and know that their children are safe. Most parents would rather have their children in a learning environment than at home alone or out on the streets.
As I have stated before, marriages are easily done away with. Before separating or divorces, adults and their children should go through counseling. Many times, problems go unresolved when marriages end. Both the parents and the children need to learn to cope with problems and learn to solve them. Sometimes guidance is the best way to encourage this.
What do we truly want from life? To make our dreams a reality, we must also help others attain theirs. Children and adults must work together. It should not only be our responsibility, but also our dream.
Questions
1) Manus’ society views marriages as "economic exchanges." It is simply a business deal between the parents of those entering into the marriage. In the United States, marriages are based upon financial incomes but people generally do not enter a marriage because of the economic benefits.
2) Of all of the people that I interviewed, a great majority of them said that marriages should be placed in the hands of God. They all agreed that couples should be honest with each other. Many of the husbands stated that the "big stuff" should be handled by the women and the women felt that everything should be shared. In order to have a long lasting marriage, you need to share your feelings and learn to rely on one another. Don’t leave everything up to one person but instead work through things together.
3) Eckersley believes that our society’s "collective goal" should be to take a closer look at how our economic growth is affecting us. We need to find a way to live without material items, yet keep our values and morals.
4) Goal: I would like our community to realize the effects of drugs and alcohol and take steps to reduce the use of these with counseling, drug rehab programs, etc.
5) Kids in our society are searching for acceptance. There is a large gap in our society; not only between races but also between teens and adults. It seemed like the ethics seminar worked for the teens and adults who went to it. Maybe we should be making more efforts to approach our problems instead of avoiding them.
6) As Kathleen Sullivan states, since the United States is democratic, every person has the right to freedom and individuality. Our social status doesn’t determine the paths we will take in life. Lawyers see to it that we are treated as equals. Lawyers do not distinguish by race, sex, etc. This is partially why the United States is known for its diversity. Lawyers can be helpful to everyone, no matter what their origin. They fight for our rights. We are concerned about things such as our environment. In a way, lawyers help us to prolong the life of human beings by defending cases such as those concerning issues involving healthcare. By doing so, they are protecting our wealth. We live in a very large country, but despite our size, lawyers protect the interests of all of our people. Lawyers assume a "national view" in issues that cannot be solved by the simple actions of small town people.
7) Like Sullivan, I believe that punitive damages work better than regulations. Punitive damages allow the company to see what is being done wrong, and yet, they can solve the problem by themselves. Regulations might be safer in situations like the coffee incident at McDonald’s but in a way, they take away our freedom. We, as American citizens who fought for our freedom many years ago, like to make decisions for ourselves. Many would claim that we are not democratic if we have our government making our decisions for us.
8) The retirement of babyboomers will create jobs for many of the upcoming babyboomers, the Generation X’ers. Many of the retirees will form businesses of their own, thus creating an income for themselves once again. They will inspire many other young people to go into business for themselves. Also, another large issue will be the care of these babyboomers as they age.
9) I do not believe that Clinton’s "anti-poverty program" will work as well as he assumes it will. He thinks that if he sets up a plan that it will automatically fall into place. First of all, not only do these people need decent housing, but also a good education. How are they supposed to get jobs if they have no basic knowledge? Next, several other presidents have tried to solve this problem. Maybe we do know more about these problems and we have more technology, but that does not necessarily mean that we are prepared to fight a battle as large as this one. Finally, I personally believe that even though we do have more money for issues like these, does not mean that we will spend it on things only involving our country. It seems that most Americans are unaware of the problems we are facing in our own back yards, so they will push to send the money to other countries. In the United States, we are more concerned about our freedom than our personal welfare.
10) Truett Cathy and Tom Lewis are both concerned with the welfare of children and the upcoming generations. Both of these men set up programs to help unprivileged children. Cathy and Lewis are very devout and rely on God to help them succeed. And, although not rich, these men managed to make sacrifices for the sake of others. They used their own belongings, including their house.