1993-1994 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest
Doesn't Anyone Care About The Children?
Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas
Teachers: Tim Berger and Jan Zimmerman
1st Patrick Sampson 
2nd Chelsea Toll
3rd Keri Adams
"Drugs do something to the brain, to the mind, to the soul, from which many people
cannot recover. If drug addiction were something a person could take a shot for, or a
couple of aspirins and be okay, it would not be the calamity it is. Right now the
government and the police have the responsibility. In Los Angeles County, the police make
more than twelve thousand arrests in an attempt to disrupt the activities of an estimated
70,000 drug gang members. They are spending billions of dollars on trying to stop the
problem, but it isn't working. The responsibility has to be shifted to the
individual."
Jamie Dorman, Concordia High School, Concordia,
Kansas
"In
Omaha, one boy held a gun to the head of a fifth grader. School authorities treated the
incident only as a school disciplinary problem, a couple of months later the boy shot a
young girl with a .45 automatic...reflection of what goes on in the outside world."
Amanda Hanson, Concordia High School, Concordia,
Kansas
"When
House Speaker Tom Foley attended a U.S. British meeting last summer, he decided to take
time for a bit of cycling in the English countryside. Fine. But he wanted to ride his own
bicycle, so the Air Force had to pick up his and Mrs. Foley's cycles at their home and
deliver them to Andrews Air Force Base for the flight. In a case like this, the dollars
are usually small, but they can add up."
Anthony Gonzales, Concordia High School,
Concordia, Kansas
"Teachers
must become more involved in their student's lives, if they plan on preventing violence in
their classroom."
Patrick A. Sampson, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas
"Many
people also are no longer keeping their vows, and therefore, single-parent families are on
the rise. Child-care facilities and the Head Start program are trying to take the place of
one or sometimes even both the parents. The results of these changes have been mostly
devastating. People are going to have to start facing the problem head-on, and come up
with a reasonable solution. If it means going back to the ways of the 50's in which mom
stays home and dad works, then so be it. Families may be poorer, and many women will
complain, but it worked once and people were happy so why not try it again."
Kevin Brown, Concordia High School, Concordia,
Kansas
"Because
the parents are less at home, values aren't being taught."
Nicci Bachand, Concordia High School, Concordia,
Kansas
"I
don't think that any of these problems of violent crime can be solved until we teach our
children moral values and ethics."
Skouby, Carbondale High School, Carbondale, Illinois
"To
Eugenia Harris, a 13-year-old bookworm, the high rising rap star Snoop Doggy Dogg is
something of a role model....There is something different about this role model though. In
November of this year he was indicted in Los Angeles Superior Court for murder...This is
not Snoop Doggy Dogg's only offense. Just after graduation, he landed in jail for the
first time, for possession of cocaine with the intent to sell. Many people ask why these
young kids like role models like this."
Justin Johnson, Concordia High School, Concordia,
Kansa
"Our
officials in Washington hold the responsibility of being a role model."
Doug Zimmerman, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas
"Teachers
must become more involved in their student's lives, if they plan on preventing violence in
their classroom."
Patrick A. Sampson, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas
"The
media and entertainment world must step forward and help teach our children that violence
kills. Vanessa Scherzer, of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence states, Every week kids
see their favorite TV star blown away one minute and out of the hospital the next. They
don't see what family members go through, they don't see a kid in a wheelchair, and they
don't even see the legal ramifications"
Patrick A. Sampson, Concordia High School, Kansas
"Once
children find that their parents believe in them, their whole self- esteem will change.
They then would want to succeed in life, not for their friends or parents."
Brian Preston, Concordia High, Concordia, Kansas
"The last
suggestion, is to show and give our children what they really want. Love."
Patrick A. Sampson, Concordia High School,
Concordia, Kansas
"A
task force appointed by the California governor has made recom- mendations for increasing
security in the state's public schools. California's administrators and teachers have to
be trained in school crime prevention and safety procedures along with meeting many other
requirements. In Oakland, California, schools now practice a 'bullet drill,' in which they
move away from windows and crouch under their desks."
Michael Kline, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas
"T.
Rogers, who founded the L.A. gang, the Bloods, and who began the bloodshed between the
Bloods and Crips, is currently working on reversing the problem he began. He revisits
schools that he tormented and tells overcrowded auditoriums about the 'blood, sweat, and
tears' of gangbanging. He has also joined forces with ex-football great, Jim Brown.
Together the have opened up gang-rehab programs nationwide."
Patrick A. Sampson, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas
"Crime
is a social problem and education, or re-education, will help solve the problem. We need
to teach our children respect. Respect for themselves, respect for others, and respect for
human life. We need to rebuild family values in our homes. Our children must soon realize
that they need to be responsible and talk out their problems, instead of shooting them
out. For if they don't, they will eventually kill every youth in this great nation of
ours. It's genocide."
Patrick A. Sampson, Concordia High School,
Concordia, Kansas
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