1996-1997 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest

Responsibility: Who Has It And Who Doesn't
And What That Means For The Nation

Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

Teacher : Galen Boehme, PhD

      1st Jessica White       2nd Elicia Trevizo       3rd David Streit

"Peter Prahar was visiting China and was robbed in the midst of a crowded business area. To Prahar's surprise, a mob of angry people jumped the thief before he escaped. The Chinese have the largest population in the world as well as the lowest crime rate."
David J. Streit, Kinsley High School, Kinsley,Kansas

"Sportsmen have been helping with the conservation of nature for over a century. Every time a license is sold money goes to protect and to manage the environment. Sportsmen also volunteer to cleaning and building protections that benefit the environments that they use for their sports. Sportsmen probably have more love for the environment and for the animals they harvest than most animal rights activists."
Landon Van Nahmen, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Another group is SADD. Standing for Students Against Drunk Driving, SADD has grown to over 11,000 high school chapters across the United States. Their goal is to reduce traffic fatalities. They help to persuade teens to admit that drinking and driving is stupid and to look out for each other."
Ty Dale Troutman, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Many examples exist concerning responsibility for farm safety. One example is knowing how dangerous pesticides can be and becoming familiar with all the pesticides one uses. Another example of responsibility is to always wear safety gear when working around chemicals. This can help one avoid rashes and skin burns. A third example is to know first aid and CPR because one never knows when he will have to use it. A fourth example of responsibility is to always have a safety rope if one goes inside a grain bin and to always have someone outside to help you if emergency circumstances should occur.

My last example of responsibility is that one should only operate equipment that he is trained and qualified to operate. For example one may be specialized on a certain piece of equipment. It would be very dangerous for the person to get on another piece of equipment he has never ran before."
Joshua J. Schmidt, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Currently, a juvenile commits a crime and most likely never sees the harms of his or her actions and never realizes his/her responsibility for it. A solution could be to implement restitution programs. Restitution forces teens to face their responsibility. They have to work to pay back their victims."
Jessica White, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"To increase the level of responsibility some people are saying that we should no longer have teen curfews. The curfew is said to undermine the responsibility of the parent as well as of the child. Trust is one of the important parts of responsibility."
Kelli Countryman, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"If teens know that they will be caught drinking and will be given 100 hours of community service, many teens would probably think twice about drinking."
Ty Dale Troutman, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"PALS stands for peer assistance leadership. It is a program where students with particular strengths help those with weaknesses in a certain area, or they give people someone to talk to. PALS also serve as conflict managers in peer mediations. In so doing, teens are taking on responsibility by helping others while at the same time learning to be leaders."
Jessica White, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"In 1989 the Local Advisory Council, which works with the public housing tenants and management, helped to start the Project Peace. The nonprofit organization goes into high schools and three elementary schools near public housing to teach violence prevention, conflict resolution, and mediation."
Alicia Trevizo, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Another article dealing with responsibility is 'What Makes This School Work.' The Malcolm X Elementary School in the middle of Washington's 7th police district is full of prostitutes and drug dealers. In an area of so much crime and trash the elementary school opens every morning with a smile. Every day a difference is being made inside this school. The faculty strives to make the children's lives better. The schools have no government funding programs, no foundation grants, nothing but caring people who want to change young lives for the better. The school educates children about the danger of drugs and to stay away from them."
Landon Van Nahmen, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"As Mother Theresa said, 'In this life very few of us will do great things.' Jenny Fuller added, 'But we can all do small things with great LOVE!'"
Deseri Herrmann, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"A program called S.U.P.E.R., which stands for Science Understanding Promotes Environmental Understanding, has been helping students around the country unite to help the environment. The program that works across the Internet gives students a chance to address their concerns with the students in other communities and other states. The program also gives the students a chance to create new projects to overcome their concerns."
Kelli Countryman, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Responsibility is shown by Sam Walton's ownership of Wal-Mart. Walton prepared a good management team before his death, appointing David Glass as the new CEO, this was responsible."
Joel Lovesee, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Target...is a local group of high school teens against drugs and alcohol. It has organized several drug free activities for teens to participate in. One activity is the after prom party. This is an alcohol free party for teens to go to after the prom. Teens that go to this party have chances to win prizes. They also get to have a late supper and go bowling."
Ty Dale Troutman, Kinsley High School, Kinsely, Kansas

"Responsibility requires each person to be liable for his own actions. This concept requires self-confidence to cope with life's challenges and individualism to fulfill our needs without creating problems for others. Self-responsibility is necessary to create a community."
Kelli Countryman, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Many examples exist today reflecting upon irresponsible behavior. One example includes a party like the one in Bethesda last fall for 350 teenagers, where teens ground raw eggs into the carpet, smashed all the glassware in the kitchen, turned over the refrigerator, kicked the doors in and stole all jewelry belonging to the mother of the party-giver.

Another example where inner city-youths live by rule of vengeance is the case of a 16-year old youth. He shot and killed 18-year old Bryan Lamar Jones at a parking lot outside a downtown nightclub February 13 after they got into an argument when the youth told Jones to move his car. Witnesses said the youth shot him when he apparently thought Jones did not move fast enough. Today violence has unmeasurable limts. For example, the teenage convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, in what prosecutors say was a gang killing, was sentence to a 'Hard 40' life sentence. Valdez was convicted in November in the death of Jose Ayon who was severely beaten during a party and driven over by his own car. The driver was Valdez." Alicia Trevizo, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Another example of taking responsibility occurred in Los Angeles, California. Mike Powell has been raising his five siblings by himself since he was nine years old. His mother was hooked on drugs and was never around.; his father died when he was four, shot by drug dealers. Mike became an expert at covering up and taking his siblings to school. Mike finally told his story to a church help group when he was 16. He now lives with his siblings and his grandparents and is a member of an inspirational rap group."
Trampas Kurth, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Due to irresponsibility of society, injustices have occurred in our corrections system. In the 1970's, a man named Singleton raped a 15 year old girl and left her to die on a country road after cutting her arms off. Despite the horrors involved in the crime, Singleton walked a free man after only eight years in prison. In 1988, Ivan Boesky stole 200 million dollars from businesses which may have contributed to a drop in Wall Street investing. He was sentenced to one year in minimum-security prison which featured tennis courts and gardening. During the same week, a man charged with possession of a small amount of drug nearly received a life sentence (45 years) without parole. White collar crimes are punished less because lawmakers protect those who are most like them."
David J. Streit, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Judi McKinney, the local school nurse, recently found that 80 to 85 percent of local children in the Kinsley-Offerle school district are on free or reduced lunches. Many of those same children will show up at school in clothes that are not appropriate for the current weather conditions. Children will also be sent to school when they are very ill. The school nurse will send them home and tell their parents that the child needs to be taken to a doctor. The child will show up for school even sicker the next day. These recurring scenes affect the whole community.

Jeri Stegman, the local county health nurse, says that when these children finally become sick enough, because their parents have not faced their own responsibility to take their children to the doctor, the children then end up in the emergency room. The taxpayers pay for this medial care."
Deseri Herrmann, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"In the Hazelton-St. Joseph Medical Center, 12 patients could feel scalpels slicing into their flesh during surgery. Anesthesiologist Dr. Frank Ruhl Peterson 45, pleaded no-contest to diluting surgical anesthetics of 12 patients to feed his own drug addiction."
Tanda M. Brown, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Another example is the Intensive Case Monitoring program which assigns college students, sometimes called trackers, to keep a close watch over juvenile delinquents. The students keep track of the youth by making sure they attend school and are at home on time every night. The college students also serve as tutors and role models for teens. This began in 1989 at Southeast Missouri State University. Since then, no other state universities and colleges have joined."
Alicia Trevizo, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"On April 2, 1996 at the county election the question 'Should the county hospital located in Kinsley, Kansas be closed and terminated?' was placed on the ballet. The wording of this question caused many problems. People voted 'yes' for the hospital, but 'yes' was against the hospital. This negative wording of the question caused much confusion among the voters.
Joel Lovesee, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Michael Deaver, a former White House aide, is being tried on charges of lying to a grand jury. Deaver is claiming that his use of alcohol and drugs used to fight his addiction impaired his memory."
Ty Dale Troutman, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Juvenile crime is by definition irresponsible behavior. Thus the solution lies with people accepting responsibility. The first priority needs to be given to the parents. Parents are the people responsible for teaching their children responsibility. Studies show that in families where the rules are not explained. And caring and empathy are not expressed, the children are more likely to become delinquent or criminal as they grow older. With this in mind, the first step in reducing juvenile crime is to implement more parenting programs such as Head Start, which teaches a positive approach to parenting and gives kids the advantage."
Jessica White, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Responsibility is an important role in everyone’s life. Our community can prosper with the help from responsible parents. This will also cut down on juvenile crimes. parents that care have children that care."
David J. Streit, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Our community needs to come together and teach parents how to face the responsibility of being a parent. Today 63 percent of the United States adults believed that schools and parents should equally share the responsibility for a child's development. This means that parents are placing more responsibility on the schools to teach social skills. This placing of responsibility is causing confusion and frustrations among the teachers as well as among the children. Children's morals of right and wrong are distorted because of the two different beliefs. Parents are wanting the school system to take on the role of parents. Consequently, when schools are forced to take on that responsibility the children are left alone to raise themselves. The children then become victimized due to the irresponsibility of their parents. To stop this victimizing of children schools need to offer parenting courses to help parents do their job better."
Deseri Herrmann, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"The biggest obstacle I see is overcoming the influence of peer pressure. Many actions taking place come on the part of the teen's friends. If one teen commits a crime then the friends feel obligated to follow along. I know about peer pressure from personal experience. In my experience, peer pressure ranges from the color of lipstick I wear to the actions I take outside of my home. Many other teens are influenced by their friends' decisions and actions. The major obstacle that stands in our way is how to stop the violence and peer pressure."
Alicia Trevizo, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Calling crime an illness takes responsibility away from the criminal. Without responsibility, a criminal will not feel regret or remorse. Treating criminals as 'patients who are ill' will strip them of their free will. No justice is done."
David J. Streit, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Students drink for a variety of reasons. Some drink to feel the relief of an emotion; others are rebelling or trying to imitate the behavior of adults; most of them drink because they are bored or because they want to feel high. Alcohol use is the only drug use that has not recently dropped. There are four reasons this is so. One is that their parents are pleased that their children are not doing other drugs. The second is that alcohol is easy to come by. The third reason is that many of these students have parents that drink, so they feel it is acceptable for them to do so. The fourth reason is that alcohol is widely accepted in today's society."
Ty Dale Troutman, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"A major problem is providing simplified information to the public. The local mill levy was raised for the wrong reasons. The petition to close the hospital was passed for the wrong reasons. People voted against the hospital for the wrong reasons as the public had inaccurate as well as incomplete information."
Joel R. Lovesee, Kinsley High School, Kinsley Kansas

"A school DARE officer in Vero Beach, Florida, was arrested and convicted of robbing a bank. Such an individual is expected to be a role model to the students. Committing a crime contradicts his responsibility to uphold the law."
Jessica White, Kinsley High School, Kinsley,Kansas.

"Brandon Abston of Lawton, Oklahoma exemplifies taking responsibility. While playing outside, he noticed a window filled with flames in an apartment building. He ran in and brought a child out. Many adults stood by and watched, but none offered to help, despite Brandon's continuing pleas. He rushed in three other times and brought the children out. Brandon later said he enjoys helping people and wants to spend his life doing that."
Trampas Kurth, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"While the rates of juvenile arrests may me down from two decades ago, school violence is worse now than it was five years before. School violence can range from stealing a pencil to killing a classmate. The problem of school violence cannot be solved alone. It will require intensive efforts by the entire community to reduce the epidemic of violence in the nation's schools. The problem we see today is just the beginning. Unless society today starts to fix our schools and give students an opportunity to learn, then today's violence in no way, shape, or form will compare to the problems of the future."
Alicia Trevizo, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Another organization is P.U.S.H. It stands for 'prevention using student help.' It is a club of about 40 to 50 teens that spread the word about drugs to elementary and middle school students. The younger students are easier to impress and will look up to the P.U.S.H. students as role models.
Ty Dale Troutman, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"The most significant obstacle to be overcome concerns personal attitude. If people have the attitude that nothing can be done than nothing will be done. Frequently the media fuels this attitude." Jessica White, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Not enough people care about the responsibilities they should care about. Communities could consider opening gyms or offering a Big Brother-Big Sister Program. They need to start and sponsor athletic events, church activity groups or hobby clubs for after school and weekends. Nevertheless, a community needs to keep the lines of communication open. This could be a task force composed of religious, civic, educational members who meet weekly. It could also be composed of student representatives for the purpose of detecting problem areas and resolving them."
Alicia Trevizo, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"We as citizens need to start taking back responsibility in our lives. We are not a society of victims, an idea that started when races and generations became labeled. Too many times people have used their labels as a crutch. ‘You won't hire me because I'm black.’ Notice how the baby-boom generation was labeled and exploited. When this generation reached adulthood, crime escalated in America. Being tagged as part of a group and being treated differently because of it cause victimization.

Victimization leads to rationalization of our faults. Instead of being liable for our own actions, we first try to lay the blame on someone else. It is necessary to instill responsibilities back into society so that everyone can thrive. Anyone can live under a monarchy. But in America, the people run the government. Therefore, every American has the responsibility to see that justice is served.
David J. Streit, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

Kinsley High School offers a parenting course that allows juniors and seniors to understand the responsibility that a parent must face."
Deseri Herrmann, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"Creative solutions to the proposed problems are these: more community meetings, simplified explanations, and truthfulness among community members. Community meetings allow local people and civic leaders to share their ideas and questions. The meetings provide a sense of togetherness with the town which helps from trust. These meetings not only provide information, but they allow discussion for the future.
Joel Lovesee, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"An armored car crashed in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Miami, Florida spilling one-half million dollars onto the streets. People near by, including Faye McFadden mother of six who works for five dollars an hour, immediately began to scoop up the money. However Faye McFadden recently became one of only two people who returned the money. She said, 'I teach my children that if they take something that doesn't belong to them then it's wrong.'"
Deseri Herrmann, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas

"A moral character is not usually natural, and that is the reason why all the child's surroundings need to be positive and influential."
Audrey McAvoy, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas                                                     

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