Medicine Lodge High School
Medicine Lodge, Kansas

Teachers: Devra Parker and Mike Hubka

 

Respect for Teens

By Ryan Morrison

12th Grade

 

On Friday night a few high school students are standing around a small town’s Main Street area the police drive by and quickly turn around.  The law enforcement officers approach the teenage students and inform them that they need to find a new place to assemble.  This is due to all the vandalism that has been occurring around town.  The kids argue that they had no part in what has been happening around the small community.  The cops shake their heads and inform them again to leave the area.  The teens, with smug looks on their faces, leave.  In this situation, the police have no right to move the kids, unless the town has a law prohibiting assembly in public areas without a permit. The police also have no right to accuse the teens of a crime they have no evidence they committed. Communities need to come together with the young adults instead of blaming them for the problems which occur.

           

A responsible role that a community needs to hold is to respect the youth; they are the future of the town.  The teenagers will only learn lessons of disrespect if they are not treated with the respect they deserve.  If students are condemned, they will not maintain a positive role for the future. If innocent kids are accused of crimes they did not commit, it will push them to do wrong. Teens will not learn responsibility or improve the quality of the community if they are constantly being ridiculed and put down. I am aware that some teens act carelessly, but it is not right that other teens be treated unkind for others action.  Adults may accuse teens of crimes, but an adult could have committed the crime.  Those who do well in the community should be rewarded and thought of as a role model to others.

           

Teens in my community are prosecuted everyday for simply being young.  Many local business owners are hesitant to hire high school students for employment for fear that they will not be taken seriously or treated with respect.  Those who do employ students only hire them for jobs that adults do not care for.  In addition, the pay for students is much lower than that of adults.  If kids do not have jobs, it gives them more time to do destructive offenses.  A student who maintains a job and goes to school should be rewarded for being able to handle a responsibility so large.

 

 “Children should be seen and not heard” is an old phrase that is incredibly outdated. Kids should have a say in what goes on around them. In 50 years, today’s teens will be the ones living with the consequences of mistakes made today.  Not all decisions should be made by kids most should be left up to the discretion of adults. If a child’s future is at stake, he or she should definitely have the right to voice an opinion.  It is the parent’s responsibility to teach their children when to speak up and when it is not their place. 

           

To further my own thoughts, I would like to express that a community is not a whole if we allow the generation gaps to become a problem. I say this because not only do police officers and business owners discriminate against the young, but also the elderly. Volunteer work from both the aged and those young students attending high school would help fill the age gap.  Many high school students, even middle school students, are afraid of older people.  The fear of the elderly by the younger generation is often the cause of distance between the two age groups.  If programs could be set up to allow them to interact and get to know one another, the problem could be solved.  I know from experience that in my local high school, many teachers help to set up programs to aid with the connection between old and young.  It takes more than teachers; it takes the entire community to put forth the effort and cooperation to conquer this task.  The elders of the community deserve respect, but teens also deserve the same amount of respect. 

As a high school student living in a small town, I know the allegation that people charge me with often.  I work in the public, and I can say that many people do not trust or show respect to my fellow teenage coworkers or me.  I am obligated to be kind to all my customers no matter how harsh they are to me, and I have to bite my tongue quite often.  I show respect to all, and all I ask for in return is to be shown respect by others.  Sometimes I think that people just do not realize that they are hurting the future of the town by criticizing the younger generation.  

 

Teens of today are faced with many hard choices that did not have to be made ten years ago.  Choices concerning consequences of drugs, sex, violence, and stress are a big concern for young adults.  Yet, with all the extra choices kids have to make, the community is making their life harder by not supporting and believing in them.  If a town has a strong bond between the young and the old, it is a powerful and plentiful element.  Bringing the two groups together is difficult.  This process requires all people, not just the young and the elderly.  So, if we work together both groups will learn over time to respect one another.  With respect and trust, a community can be well established. Either young or old, each person will hold a responsibility to maintain the deferential relationship.  The quality of life will be improved if communities work as one instead of as two divided between the young and old.

 

Answers To Questions

 

 

Q1.      The United States of America looks at and invests in marriage very differently than they do in Manus.  The United States views marriage more loosely than the citizens of Manus.  Cohabitation has become very common in the United States as a “test” to evaluate whether or not the marriage will work. In Manus, it is not traditional to live with a spouse previous to the marriage ceremony.  The population of Manus often invest in marriages as an incentive to make them last; men with numerous divorces are not excepted as well.  Divorce has almost became prominent in the US.  It is common for couples to give up on the marriage without even trying, causing many people in the United States to be married several times.  These are only a few of the differences on how marriage is viewed in different cultures.

 

Q2.      In all of the interviews that I conducted, I learned that marriage is not easy.  The most common replies given to ensure a long and happy marriage was strong communication.  My interviews went as follows.

*  Married twice; widowed in the first marriage.  Six years in current marriage.

    Advice given:  “Marriage isn’t easy, and communication is the key.”

*  One marriage, 20 years. 

    Advice given:  “Know your partner on the inside, don’t marry for physical reasons and

    truly fall in love before making any commitments.”

*  Married once for 29 years.  

    Advice given:  “Don’t try to change one another.”

* Married once for 36 years; widowed. 

Advice given:  “Always communicate, and do not go to bed mad at eachother.”

*  One marriage, 25 years. 

    Advice given:  “Communication is most important; spend all spare time together.”        

*  One 18 year marriage. 

    Advice given:  “Have lots of patience with eachother.”

*  Married once for 29 years. 

    Advice given:  “Marriage takes a great deal of work, communicate constantly and 

    Never go to sleep angry.”

*  One marriage, 23 years.

    Advice given:  “The key is trust and understanding for your partner’s feelings.”

*  Twenty-three years in one marriage.

    Advice given:  “Don’t take life too seriously; enjoy the time that you share together.” 

* Married once for 16 years.

   Advice given:  “Don’t take your spouse for granted and try extremely hard to make

   things work.”

 

As written above, the individuals that I have interviewed are involved in long-lasting marriages.  The advice that they gave was relatively repetitive.  This shows that in all marriages the same things are needed to make them successful.

 

Q3.      Eckersley believes the collective goal of all people should be to reduce the material “progress” that we, as a whole, have made.  He states that people today only view their lives as getting better if there is more money involved.  The relationship that lies among wealth, health and well-being is not clearly defined, when in reality it should be clearly cut.  As a collective goal we need to ensure that the quality of life continues to grow for the better.  Currently, economic growth and power hungry people are causing the conditions of different people’s lives to decrease steadily.  As economic wealth grows, the environmental conditions worsen causing health problems for people of all ages.  People do not realize that money and wealth do not lead to happiness; most often, they lead to depression or selfishness.  In conclusion, I agree with Eckersley that the population, as a whole, needs to work on reducing their obsession with wealth and material things in order to enjoy a happier and healthier lifestyle.

 

Q4.      Although my community is extremely small, goals can be met with the cooperation of all citizens.  If I were the one to be setting the goals, I would set small goals that would eventually lead to the accomplishment of one large objective.  Our small town needs more active involvement and community pride; therefore, my goals would be based around this.  In order to accomplish this, more community activities need to be planned.  In the beginning, something would have to entice the citizens to come out and support these activities.  This could be accomplished by holding a raffle, a community luncheon, or a festival.  After people get involved with this, more and more activities need to be held causing the same people, and others, to become involved.  All of these events lead up to the next one causing more and more involvement.  This will cause the citizens to be proud of their small community and want to be active with organizing the next social function.

 

Q5.      Tomorrow’s Child basically says that there is too much advancement in the toys that today’s children play with.  Toys are substituting in for parents, which is not a good thing.  It also discusses that children are being taught that they have to do whatever it takes, good or bad, to succeed.  It states that within the next century whites may be outnumbered, or at least equaled, by today’s minorities.  That is the kind of world that tomorrow’s children are going to have to live with—technology that is too advanced, a world that is too competitive, and a population so diverse that no one particular group is the majority.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q6.      Lawyers in the United States are particularly helpful in keeping our government democratic.  “[Lawyers] … protect us from the danger of tyranny of the majority.”  Americans seem to be distrustful of our own government; that is one of the reasons why lawyers come into such high play in the US.  Lawyers within our nation take on many cases that, in other countries, would be handled by the government or civil services.  The United States is known world-round for its diversity; not only in race, but also national origin, religious preference and sex.  This much diversity in one nation brings about conflict.  That is where the law comes into play; lawyers step in and fight for the rights of their clients in order to please the people.  The United States is also one of the wealthiest nations of the world.  Most Americans can easily provide the basic necessities for themselves, and then they spend their money on modern luxuries.  The luxuries include clean air and access to healthcare.  When Americans do not believe others are working along with them to reach their goal, they turn to lawyers.  The size of the United States of America causes a large need for lawyers.  With the US being such a vast nation, the people believe in a variety of different customs.  The large businesses believe differently than the owner of a small shop on Main Street in “SmallTown, America.”  The lawyers come into the picture when economics are discussed.  They are in it to save you, the businessman, money; they also deal with angry customers threatening to sue.  If that actually occurs, the lawyers are they to defend you and get you out of the rut.  So, the United States is a nation fairly knowledgeable of the law; the population turns to lawyers in a vast amount of cases.

 

Q7.      I would prefer punitive damages to regulations.  Punitive damages only affect one person, therefore that person can take care of what they  need.  Regulations affect a large amount of people, and that can cause confilct.  When people have not been involved but they are still affected by the outcome, they seem to become angry.  Therefore, punitive damages is the better way to go.  I really do not think that an alternative would be any more successful than punitive damages.  It is the best route to take because it takes the least amount of people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q8.      Baby Boomers of the twenty-first century will retire soon in the upcoming year 2001.  Chances are that these young and very well educated adults will not just stay at home.  Early retirement programs are allowing these 76 million baby boomers to retire early when they are still healthy and very active.  Most of these mature adults will want to challenge there minds and start a personal business.  These new businesses will provide many jobs for the people of Generation X.  Though people in general  are retiring early, there are still some that wish to work until the age of 80 or 90.  Those who retire later, are also providing job opportunities; these opportunities are for teenagers.  The older generation are doing so just by retiring and staying at home.  Those who stay at home need assistance to do tasks that they are unable to perform.  This allows teens to become entrepreneurs for those in need of assistance.  Services are also set up to help fulfill the needs of elderly people, and some of these services are set up by people who have already retired.

 

Q9.      My conclusion of president Clinton’s anti-hunger policy is that it is likely to help poverty stricken countries, but will not end poverty all together.  It is stated in the given information that there are unquestionable market failures to correct, but the administration claims that the policies are now more fundamentally better than in the past.  Also stated, is that almost four million people have lifted themselves above poverty, but poverty is still a severe problem in America.Clinton believes that if we do not do it now it will never get done, and I agree.  I feel the economy is stable enough to handle the responsibilities of the poor people, but is society ready for such a heavy change? I think that is a question Bill Clinton should think about before presenting all this new information to Americans.  Making new companies for those unemployed would be a strong start for such a long and hard battle against hunger and poverty.  I hope that the president keeps up the fight.

 

Q10.    Both Cathy and Lewis have goals to help children who were born into unfit lifestyles.  Lewis set up a center were children can attend after school.  The center was set up to help kids learn and achieve goals in school.  Cathy, as well, started a center called the WinShape Homes.  It is a home on campus that provides a home-like atmosphere to twelve young promising students.  Cathy also gives out thousands of dollars in scholarships to children that have had an unfortunate life.  When Lewis first thought of this idea it was turned down by many people just like Cathy’s chicken sandwich.  Once written in a newspaper, it said that Cathy’s good work was all thanks to the little chicken fillet sandwich he invented.

 

Sullivan, Kathleen.  “The Good that Lawyers Do.”

 Before the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco:  9 June 1999.

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