1993-1994 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest

Doesn't Anyone Care About The Children?

Teacher: Constance Goodwin

Lubbock-Cooper High School, Lubbock, Texas

   1st Amber Cratzki  2nd Pervis Evans 3rd Dnate Baxter

"I believe that the cheating in schools and colleges has gotten extremely out of hand. It has become way too easy to slip through a class the dishonest way. One of the most common ways of cheating is plagiarism. Students often write down the words from a published book or magazine in the exact order as they were originally written without quoting the author. The teachers grading these papers often do not detect this dishonesty; therefore, not a lot is done to prevent this.
Amy Nelson, Lubbock-Cooper High School, Lubbock, Texas

 "The unspoken feelings in this area are the worst kind because even though parents may feel responsible, their children might still blame themselves for what happened in their families.' For example; when I was eight years old, my parents were finally divorced. They had been separated for many years before this occurred. Because of such a long separation period, I felt that I could have done something else to keep my family together. I never knew until later that the problems in my parents' marriage were much too serious to be overcome by anything that I might have said. The unspoken truths of our family problems led to a feeling of guilt that a child should not have to experience."
Sherri Paulk, Lubbock-Cooper High School, Lubbock, Texas

 "A plausible way of challenging this problem might be to implement a required course teaching the responsibilities of children and families into the curriculum of high school level classrooms. Along with establishing the responsibilities, various ideas could be taught concerning how to deal with and relate to children. I am almost certain that with the establishment of these classes, that over a period of years our nation would begin to see a more responsible attitude towards the development of our children."
Dnate' Baxter, Lubbock-Cooper High School, Lubbock, Texas

 "Many people even use television to reverse the violence and indecency usually placed on the screen. the Oprah Winfrey Show, for instance, recently had a show on how to deal with violence seen on television which has become almost accepted as a daily occurrence. There was also a show teaching families how important family time can be and how to create time for it. This, like many other shows of it's kind, puts forth effort to resolve such problems rather than increase them."
Pervis Evans, Lubbock-Cooper High School, Lubbock, Texas

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