1995-1996 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest
Responsibility Who Has It And Who Doesn't
And What That Means For The Nation
Hopkins High School, Hopkins, Michigan
Teacher : Don Jobe
1st Katie
Balfoort 
2nd Katie Kloska 3rd Anne Hanley
"Prisoners are not allowed to collect welfare benefits while they are in jail, but
during fiscal year 1994-95, 700 New York State Prison inmates found a way to still collect
their monthly checks. Before these inmates were sent to jail they either gave or sold
their welfare benefit cards to relatives or friends. Those people that held the card for
the inmates gave some of the money back to the inmates. The result of this welfare scam
was nearly $200,000 in welfare benefits received illegally from the Home Relief
Program."
Katie Kloska, Hopkins High School, Hopkins, Michigan
"In Arizona, 70% of all lawsuits against the state are brought on by prisoners. Another example is in New York. The New York State Attorney General claimed that although 97% of prisoners' suits never reach trial, it takes about 20% of his department's resources to defend against these suits.
I do not think our justice system should allow this. These criminals who sue the state
using taxpayers' money for court-appointed attorneys are not repaying their debt at all.
Rather, these people are forcing society, once again, to pay."
Katie Balfoort, Hopkins High School, Hopkins, Michigan
"A surveyor of 1,008 consumers by Mary Mount University's Center for Ethical
Concerns found more than 75% would boycott a store if they knew it sold goods made in
sweatshops; 66% would favor a merchant cooperating with labor laws. Nearly 85% would pay
an extra $1 on a $20 garment if it were guaranteed to be made in a legal shop. Even among
workers making less than $15,000 a year, more than 75% would pay the higher price."
Anne Hanley, Hopkins High School, Hopkins, Michigan
"Students in Roselle, Illinois, are not waiting for others to take action either.
In 1989, environmentally aware students attending Lake Park High School founded the Earth
Club. Each year the Earth Club decides on a goal to accomplish that year which will help
improve or enhance the environment in some way. In the 1994-1995 school year, their job
was to clean up Goose Lake, a pond that was filled with waste and showed little or no
wildlife in a project called Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP)."
Toni Lynn Newell, Hopkins High School, Hopkins, Michigan
"Spending time with your child yields many good results. Children who are loved
are more likely to become stable adults. They teach their children to love and how to pass
along that ability to love to the next generation. Almost twice as many high achievers
come from two parent homes: in the past several years from Hopkins High School, virtually
all of the graduating top ten have been from households with parents married and living
together."
Tiffany A. Major, Hopkins High School, Hopkins, Michigan
"We need to keep on striving to learn good ethics and morals and teach them to our
kids and try to keep them in a healthy environment; after all, children are the
future."
Cami Dykstra, Hopkins High School, Hopkins, Michigan
"In Salem, Massachusetts inmates at the Essex County Jail sued the sheriff and
other officials for cruel and unusual conditions. The prisoner didn't like the multiple
bunking, that the cells didn't have a sink and toilet or no way to exercise during the
winter, like a lot of other people. The men were awarded a total of $2 million provided by
the Massachusetts taxpayers. Each inmate got about $10 tax free each day he was
jailed."
Rachael Lenhart, Hopkins High School, Hopkins, Michigan
"Children need more than a roof over their heads and food in their bellies;
children need love."
Cindy Shelley, Hopkins High School, Hopkins, Michigan