1993-1994 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest

Doesn't Anyone Care About The Children?

Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

Teacher: Wanda Allen

   1st Jeremy Wyatt 2nd Kyle Moulton 3rd Karen Lyn Cox

“A twelve-year-old boy shot a stock broker on a street in Corpus Christi, Texas. As the victim watched, the boy blow the smoke from the gun barrel John Wayne style, then rode off on his bicycle."
Shane Morris, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 “I heard about a student-run LSD ring in a school in Virginia with which administrators refused to get involved. Reports claimed that these drug transactions took place outside of the school, but on school property. Administrators claimed that since this went on outside of the school building, it was not a concern of the school administration. They would not monitor the suspected students, and offered no help to police."
Jeremy Wyatt, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

“In one large urban area, there was so much drug use and gang-crimes that the teachers were afraid to say anything to the parents. They were scared that parents would punish the children and the children would kill them [the teachers] or at least seriously injure them.”
Stephanie Renee French, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 “Criminals use guns to take the things they want, and they don't care if they have to kill anyone or not. [Some] people [would] rather shoot you than look at you. Guns are not our problem. Yes, they do aggravate the situation, but our major problem are the gun owners.”
Scott Fowler, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 "A 37-year-old woman named Gloria Williams was arrested shortly after her 15year-old son was arrested on charges of gang rape. The mother was charged with failure to exercise reasonable care and control of her son. Investigators said they found evidence strongly suggesting that the boy's mother condoned her son's gang activities. The charges were dropped aga inst her when authorities learned that before the incident she had taken parenting classes.”
Heather Hicks, Camden High School, Camden,

 "[I would] allow students to discuss their religion with other students and students who perhaps know no religion. [I would] have classroom discussions of problems that students face at home. [I would] allow teachers to discuss their morals and values, even when they don't agree with the parents' morals and values."
Jeremy Wyatt, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 "Thirty-five years ago school reform was spurred by exaggerated fears of Soviet scientific advancement. More recently American concern has centered on economic competition from Japan and Germany. These insecurities stem from global ratios of test scores and competitions. Why does it not stem from a sense of morals and duties? If the classroom is to be reformed then one has to start with the beliefs of the kids and go from there. What good is education if the children do not believe in it? Many educators say that there is a group of basic beliefs---tolerance, honesty, respect, diligence that belongs in the classroom. Even educators who welcome the return to values believe there is a limit to what the classroom can accomplish. In the face of poverty, family instability, and social disorganization, parents want schools to fill a 'values vacuum'."
Stephanie Renee French, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 "Educating teenagers about sexual activity is the most direct way to control teenage pregnancy."
Carrie Mitchell, Camden High, Camden, Tennessee

 "It is vital that a positive attitude toward learning be cultivated in young people. Parents can try to create a balance in their child's life and counteract his negative attitude about learning by getting involved in the academic and social community of the school. It is common for elementary schools to have programs for parental involvement. By junior high such programs do not exist. If one does not exist, get parents together and start one. Another way to get involved is to volunteer as a teacher's aide. For example, if a parent is a lawyer then he or she could organize a pretend trial to help students understand more about the law and the judicial system. By doing this a parent can lessen the effect of negative peer attitudes. In the absence of parental involvement, the peer group becomes all the more powerful. Parents need to take a bigger role in their child's education. All schools should set up a program for parents so that they can learn about what their children are doing. This way the parents could help the child at home. These programs should be offered at times when parents are off from work. The schools should keep in contact with the parents and vice-versa.  If parents and schools can work together, then the child's education will be that much better. The teachers and parents both have a responsibility that is shared at school and home, which is the advancement of the children."
Stephanie Renee French, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 "Most parental responsibility laws are not intended to punish. Two years ago, Wisconsin passed the Grandparent Liability Law, mandating parents pay for the care of their minor children's offspring. The idea was to involve parents in the sexual education of children as a way of preventing teenage pregnancy and AIDS."
Heather Hicks, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 "Not all television is useless in teaching our children. Recently on the news, I saw a story about a young boy who called 911 when his neighbor's house was on fire. He gave them his address, and the fire department arrived in time to save the house. When the child was asked how he knew to do this, he said that Barney, the purple dinosaur, had told him what to do in case of a fire."
Nickie Ballard, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 "Most parental responsibility laws are not intended to punish. Two years ago, Wisconsin passed the Grandparent Liability Law, mandating parents pay for the care of their minor children's offspring. The idea was to involve parents in the sexual education of children as a way of preventing teenage pregnancy and AIDS."
Heather Hicks, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 "Parents have lost their power to parent. It has not always been this way. Parents once thought that it was their moral obligation to take care of, discipline, and take responsibility for their children. The community expected this of the parents. These children knew that their parents would not tolerate their behavior and they did obey them. There is no longer a connection between the family and their community such as these."
Carie Mitchell, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee.

 "In Sweet Home, New York and in Howard and Baltimore Counties, Maryland, superintendents formed representative groups of community leaders that included people as ideologically diverse as fundamentalist ministers and ACLU attorneys. They held public forums and listened to community opinion. Together the group produced a list of values with which everyone was comfortable. These values were incorporated into the school districts' curriculum."
Jeremy Wyatt, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 "In my school district, each school has formed a partnership-in-education with a local business or industry. The partner provides the school with many needed supplies and equipment. They also provide students with motivators and incentives to learn, such as folders, pencils and bumper stickers for making the honor or merit rolls."
Jeremy Wyatt, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 “Many people in this country feel that the institution of education is in severe decline. Schools are deteriorating; good teachers are abandoning the profession; students perceive little value in the subjects they are taught, and officials of other nations openly mock our educational standards and institutions. Our schools have become hotbeds of violence, vandalism, and unethical behavior. And most people feel it is not their problem. Candidates who are running for office are largely ignoring the issue of education reform. When they do mention it, it is stressed largely as a means of restoring our industrial competitiveness. This makes education an aspect of the economy, and not a fundamental institution necessary for the survival of society. Serious education reform cannot be achieved until there is a significant increase in the number of people, political leaders, educators, parents and students agreeing that widespread reform is needed and agreeing on general ways to go about achieving it. Educators must realize that their work, coupled with the institution of family, is the key factor in shaping a young person's life, and deciding what kind of citizen they will someday be."
Jeremy Wyatt, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 "In the past, family, church and school were considered a triangle for education. After the 1960s values were not even mentioned in the classroom."
Shane Morris, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 “If the parents cannot take responsibility for their children they will never be able to teach the children to take responsibility for themselves."
Carie Mitchell, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

 “Some will blame the system while others blame the parents. I think it is a combination of both. Neither of the two put any pressure on kids to have high moral standards and to do what is right. All the messages sent to kids today are negative, such as on TV, radio, or movies. Society is not worried about high standards, only what sells, which of course are only the bad things....Today there seems to be no discipline, and what [little] of it there is does not seem to get the message across. In many situations when kids are corrected, they just rebel and get even worse. ...Parents and society should stop and think about what they are doing and how it may be influencing young people. We should all care and encourage everyone to do what is right."
Karen Lynn Cox,Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

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