1993-1994 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest
Doesn't Anyone Care About The Children?
Teacher: Barbara Petersen
Luck High School, Luck, Wisconsin
1st Eve Ulmaniec 
2nd Sarah Erickson 3rd Jacqueline Jensen
"Parents need to be setting examples of
responsibility. They can do this by being involved in their children's lives. A
good idea to spend more time together is by making a schedule of family
activities. Perhaps making a date to do something, like go to a baseball game
together, could assure that time is being spent together. As long as parents and
children make time to be together, the communication between them will teach the
child responsibility."
Nikki Rae Videen, Luck High School, Luck, Wisconsin
"Not only should parents be more involved but
teachers should also. Teachers should learn to deal with disruptive children and
demonstrate equal treatment to all students while trying to make every student
feel special in any way they can. When children receive praise, they feel better
about themselves."
Jill Nichols, Luck High School, Luck, Wisconsin
"Too many teachers
are not prepared with instructions on how to deal with disruptive students and
how to break up fights before they end in murder. School systems can help stop
the violence cycle by identifying fight-prone children when they are young and
introduce them to non-violent alternatives. Other ways schools can help are:
offering peer mediation, clear- cut standards, consistent discipline, ways to
instill basic values of right and wrong, and to teach young people to respect
themselves and others. However, it is the parent's responsibility to begin these
lessons at home. Children absorb the behavior accepted by their parents and also
by the community to which the family belongs. If a child grows up in a community
where citizenship is taken seriously and people work together to improve
conditions, the children get the feeling of obligation to the neighborhood as
well as the family."
Lori Wicklund, Luck High School, Luck, Wisconsin