"In the 1700's, our forefathers had a vision for America. To them, America meant freedom, democracy, and free speech. It was a place where people could start new lives, and families could prosper and thrive in a bountiful new land for generations to come. However, our forefather's vision for America can be viewed as idealistic. They all wanted freedom to do as they pleased. A constitution was written that stressed individual liberty and the regulation of commerce---period. The framers of the Constitution apparently never thought they would have to tell people to be good to one another.

So, how did America become the Finger-Pointing Capital of the World?

• Stella Lieback spilled hot coffee on her lap. But it was Mcdonald's fault.
• The Menedez brothers killed their parents. But it was their parent's fault.
• Bryan Fortay did not make the first-team quarterback at the University of Miami. But it was the coaches' fault.

[America] used to make us think of success - names such as Andrew Carnagie, Fredrick Douglass, and Harry Truman---the man who kept a sign on his desk that read: 'The Buck Stops Here'.

Not any more. Now, we have got the Menendez brothers, Stella Lieback and Bryan Fortay.

America the land of the free: guilt free, fault free, and responsibility free. Blame you, blame them, blame everyone, but don't blame me. I am just a victim.

Among all the victims, the lawsuits and the shirking, we cannot help wondering: Whatever happened to personal responsibility? The evaporation of personal responsibility is the result of the American dream gone kablooie. The country founded of the ideal of individual liberty, they say, has reached the point where all those individual freedoms outweigh the welfare of society as a whole. Many citizens in the United States are obsessed with self-interests, that is, getting the best deal for themselves in all matters, both financial and otherwise. Fred Guy says, 'I think we are going kind of nuts right now.'

At the core of pessimism is an increasingly frantic fear among Americans that the country is suffering a moral and spiritual decline. The search for values has always threaded through American life. From the battle against slavery to the battle against alcohol, Americans have used politics to further their deepest moral and spiritual yearnings. The question now is whether politicians will look for common ground, a synthesis combining the great themes in American values: personal responsibility, individualism and community, freedom and sacrifice. If not, the cultural warfare will only get worse.

Also in America, states are treating Mom and Dad as criminals if their children are bad. Parents are increasingly being held liable, sometimes even in a criminal sense, for the bad behavior of their children, The new laws are born in frustration as states fear their police and schools are losing a battle to control teen violence, drug-use, truancy, and pregnancy. There is little evidence to suggest that parental-liability laws will work to curb teenage sociopathy. The truth is that no one is sure how to control teen violence,truancy and pregnancies.

Who is fed up with the behavior of many Americans today?

Lots of people are. Here are some examples of how states are cracking down and using anti-parent laws:

• California: Parents can be fined or jailed for allowing children to participate in gangs.
• Arkansas: Parents can be fined when children skip school.
• Twenty-nine states plus the District of Columbia: Won federal waiver to evict families from public-housing projects if one child is using or selling drugs.

Many Americans today feel mired in a deep cultural recession and are struggling to escape by restoring old-fashioned values to a central place in their lives. It is a Woodstock turned on its head 25 years later, a counter-revolution that esteems prayer over pot, self-discipline over self-indulgence, family-love over free-love.

In the fall of 1994, Republicans passed what they called 'The Contract With America'. It pledged major changes in the civil-justice system aimed at curbing the number of lawsuits and the size of damage awards. The House of Representatives passed three pieces of legislation that would cap some jury verdicts, deter some court actions and force some losing litigants to pay the legal fees of their opponents. Most important, Congress set national limits on awards for punitive and medical-malpractice damages. 'This represents the first significant regulation of lawsuits and lawyers from the perspective of non-lawyers.' says Representative Christopher Cox of California.

Americans need to start accepting their responsibilities. If they do something wrong, they should take the blame for it and stop pointing fingers at everyone else.

The best solution dealing with the problems in America today is discussion and education, although, it could take a generation for our society to evolve to the point where violence is so passe' that the media can no longer use it to attain higher ratings.

Americans today need to become more active in finding solutions for the many problems in the country. America needs to start a new crusade for [future] generations. As a famous quote by Pueblo Casseles says, 'We ought to think that we are one of the leaves of a tree, and the tree is all humanity. We cannot live without the others, without the tree.'

Togetherness is the key to a better America. If family members can start reuniting and start working together, there is a chance for our country to redeem itself and get back on top. Americans need to emphasize more 'good versus evil' instead of race against race. To quote Abraham Lincoln, 'Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.'

"America is a country that was built by stong men and women. They based their decisions on the ideas of previous leaders. The American forefathers planned on their country standing for a long time. When we think of all the hard work our ancestors had to do to win us our freedom, we might be amazed at how little effort it took to get the country to the point it's at. The founders of America instilled morals and values in their children, and they wrote some of those morals into their laws. It was their morals which made them realize something was wrong with Britian's treatment to the colonies and made them fight for their freedom. It seems that in the present times we have began to over look some of the things our ancestors believe in. We are not so concerned with morals as we are with getting ahead in life. Americans today focus on themselves and what they can gain."
Jennifer Vosielle, Avoyelles High School, Moreauville, Louisiana