First Round Excerpts From 1998-99 Essay Contest

The Role Of Personal Responsibility In Balancing
Individual Liberty And The Common Good

Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
1st Jessie Burkhart        2nd Jacqueline Wheatley     3rd Tiffany Rose Prater

"It is evident that many feel the balance of individual rights and the welfare of our communities should be the concern of the police and the court systems. I do not agree with this ideal. It is my opinion that the chosen few cannot decide what is in the best interest of a large faction of people. Everyone must work together to maintain the balance of rights. We cannot allow our rights to be put into the hands of those who do not even know who we are. The communities must decide how to balance what is good for the community and for the individual."
Jacqueline Denise Wheatley, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"I believe that every person plays a role in balancing individual liberty and the common good. The common good refers to what is best for a community as a whole. It is the personal responsibility of each person to balance their economic, educational and personal interests to promote the common good. Each individual pursuing his or her own economic interest serves the common good; this is due to the fact that each would be contributing to the general prosperity."
Tiffany Rose Prater, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"It is not easy to balance individual rights with the common good. There seems to be no easy way to guarantee such things as the rights to freedom and property and the pursuit of happiness and provide for the common good of the majority. Smokers have the right to smoke, but nonsmokers may not want to be exposed to secondhand smoke. People are given the right to bear arms, but they murder with the guns that they carry. Pornography can be easily obtained, but many parents do not want their children to be exposed to it. There seems to be no solution that will please everyone. Today we must stand together to protect the interests of our communities. We must focus on the issues that are important to us. We should care for our fellow citizens' well-being and respect their beliefs. If we would do this, then balancing individual liberty and the common good would not be so difficult. Even the smallest actions we make can make a difference in the lives of others. We must be responsible for ourselves. When we do, we take a role in the balancing of individual liberty and the common good."
Tracy Bell, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"I would like to expand upon my idea of everyone at the present time having different opinions and add to this the responsibility of balancing educational interests in order to promote the common good. People now have many different educational and professional interests. From medical technology to marketing strategies, all of these interests combined increase the common good. Medical advances promote the general health and well-being of the American people while people involved in business and accounting help the economy. Universities today have many areas of interest. Combining every individual's talents promotes the common good. This indirectly fosters personal responsibility, in this case choosing which educational pathway to take. In every aspect of life every person, either directly or indirectly, influences the common good. When everyone sees that they play a significant role in balancing their rights with the rights of others, that will contribute to the common good. For it is only when we realize our weaknesses that we become stronger."
Tiffany Rose Prater, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"When the Constitution was written, society as a whole worked for the common good, therefore an emphasis was placed on that instead of individual liberties. Our founding fathers favored the civic virtue of the classical models of republican government. Civic virtue is the commitment of citizens to provide for the common good, even at the cost of their own individual interests. The American Founders also shaped their ideas around the natural rights philosophy of John Locke. The natural rights of philosophy is based on conceiving mentally what life would be like if there were no government. This imaginary condition is known as a state of nature. The natural rights involved life, liberty, and property. In respect to life, people want their lives to be as free as possible from threats to their security. Involving liberty, people want to be as free as possible from the control of others, to be able to make their own choices, and to live as they so please. As far as property is concerned, people want the liberty to work and obtain economic goods such as land, houses, tools, and money. The Founders felt that they had to modify this classic definition of civic virtue to make it practical in the ever-changing circumstances in America. They acknowledged the natural rights philosophers' view of human nature, that is to say that people are motivated mainly by their own interests. One of the main Framers, James Madison, held the belief that the pursuit of self-interest could in its own way further the common good.
Tiffany Rose Prater, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"I believe that, had the founders of our country known what would happen in the future, they would have 'put more emphasis on the protection of the community.' The times they lived in were full of God-fearing people. And let's face it. The twentieth century is full of independent, free-willed individuals who don't depend on other people (or the supernatural). The founding fathers didn't have to worry about nuclear weapons or genocide. The enemies of our founders had never seen a shotgun until the whites arrived. Therefore, the fathers believed in individual liberty because they were so afraid of God and His retribution that they were trusted to make the right decisions."
Anna Herrin, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"The dawn of a new age and millennium are becoming ever more closely related to reality. What does the future hold? Perhaps new trends, music, lifestyles? In light of this information there is one thing that not even the hands of time can ever change. The personal obligation to insure individual liberty and contribution to the common good will always be in high regard. As we pause to reflect on past years, let us look forward to a new dawn of promise for all Americans."
Jessie Burkhart, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"The Act would be imposing on individual personal liberties contrary to the Constitution. Although these acts are designed to discourage gun usage among school-age children, they re not always effective. They often have just the opposite effect on the youth of today."
Jessie Burkhart, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"Suppose a person who owned a handgun lived within a thousand feet of the school. Or prime hunting grounds were located nine hundred and ninety-nine feet away from the school. There I could understand. What I don't understand is how the very system which protects our rights can condone the senseless deaths of teenagers at school. So much to the right of life. How can saving the lives of thousands be considered unconstitutional? Is one thousand feet too much to ask for when it comes to saving the lives of innocent children and teenagers? Teens like me. People who don't ask to be involved but are anyway, and whose lives do not even seem to be being considered. I know that if this law could save my life, I would definitely want it enacted immediately. Who knows? It may save my life and that of countless other students who attend school in fear.
I have written this essay hoping to influence the minds of the people who protect me. Those who hold the lives of millions in their hands. If only a few of these words are listened to, then maybe I have--or can--save the lives of countless Americans who depend on their government to keep them safe. Maybe it will take the people who will soon be 'promoting the general welfare' of the future to change some minds."
Anna Herrin, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"When the government of the newly formed United States of America was being established, there were many conflicts as to what type of government it should be. Classical Republicans were a group of people whose definition of a well functioning government was 'one that focused on the common good rather than the interests of only one class of citizens.' Members of this group thought a republican government would only work in a small community. Although, they also thought the members of the community should all fit into the same mold. Diversity was not tolerated.
   The Founders had a different idea on the organizational methods of a government that would promote individual liberties and the common good. Baron de Montesquieu, a French writer, was widely admired for his beliefs. He felt a system should be balanced among the classes. Monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy should be evenly combined to form a strong, representative government.
   As time dragged on and the government became what the people called a republican government, there were still many debates on balancing the rights of the people and the common good. A set of laws needed to be written and followed. The Articles of Confederation were drafted. Many problems surfaced in this document. The people were afraid the government that would be created under the Articles would be too strong. They feared that their rights would suffer or be taken away. Also, the voices of the citizens would be drowned out because each state was only given one vote. This system failed because there was not a proper balance in the rights of the government and the rights of the people.
   The Philadelphia Constitutional Convention was held and two plans were proposed: the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan was favored by large states because the number of representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate would be 'based on the size of the state's population or the amount of its contribution to the federal treasury.' The New Jersey Plan was established around equal representation.
To help balance the rights of both the large and the small states, the Framers drafted the Connecticut Compromise of the Great    Compromise. It was stated that the representation of the states in the Senate would be based on equal representation and the members of the House of Representatives would be based on proportional representation. The people were beginning to feel that the balance of individual rights and the common good was corrected under the government formed by the Constitution. The powers of the government were limited and the people gained more delegation.
   The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution after many arguments made by the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists argued that the rights of the people would be violated if not specifically noted in the Constitution. They were scared that individuals' rights would be taken away in the struggle to conform the government to fit the needs of the common good.
   When we look back in time at the forming of our government, it is easy to see how the Framers placed 'emphasis on the protection of the community over individual liberty.' Many of the men did not think it was necessary to include the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. These men believed that the Constitution as is would work for the community as a whole. Two hundred years later, our society still find itself trying to locate the fine line that separates the rights of the individual and those of the common good."
Jacqueline Denise Wheatley, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"Too many people today are getting by with things that they should be punished for. There is a problem when people can blame their mistakes on heredity. We must be accountable for our actions to the point that we are able to deal with the mistakes that we make and the obstacles we face without attributing them to the fact that we might have been abused as a child or our spouse beats us. These excuses are not sufficient. We are who we choose to be.
Tracy Bell, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"The people have always had great influence over the government. Everyone should be active in our government because laws can be changed and liberties can be given and taken away without a voice. to speak against them.
Justin Kane, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"From the past people have to learn that the things they do, no matter how small, can effect millions of people across the country that they will never meet."
Tyler King, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"Our mayor, who recently spoke at a Veteran's Day celebration and who is a veteran himself, made a strong and focal point to the young people and the crowd who listened. He told us that we had no idea of the meaning of true sacrifice. We did not understand what it was like to be in a war and know that our lives ere being justified by fighting. He told us that we did not understand what it was like to watch people die and struggle to live. All these points are correct. We as young Americans today do not know how to deal with the term 'true sacrifice'. We are lucky to be living in an era in which we have very few wars and trauma. This focal point that the mayor gave touched many who sat in the audience. It lead us to realize that we have our own individual liberty because of those brave men and women who have fought or participated in so many conflicts that made us the country that we are."
Kyle Jordan, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee

"It is everyone's personal responsibility to balance individual liberty and promote… the common good as best as he or she can….[It] is really [not so hard]. There are numerous acts…[that] may be performed at any time of day and any day of the week and nearly anywhere a person may choose…A persona my donate [time or] money to any cause or group that he or she believes will benefit society…There are no laws stating that all of the act for the common good must be done Monday morning or Friday afternoon. The [task] of balancing…personal liberties and the common good was created to be very limber and agile and…able to fit everyone and every possible schedule…Unfortunately, not everyone will do his or her share of the work involved in the promotion of the…general welfare….Civic virtue is too demanding for [many to accept]. Americans seem to believe that they barely have time for themselves and dedicating [effort and assets] to [the] community takes too much time from other more important things, [plus] there [appears to be] no clear gains to such a sacrifice. [I suspect that these people have not taken the] time to sit back and really think about the benefits which will be gained from following the social contract and civic virtue."
Kathryn Cuff, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee                                                   Back