1993-1994 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest

Doesn't Anyone Care About The Children?
Teacher: Sheila Lemley

Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado

1st Jamie Sue Bellis   2nd Kristen Hoozee   3rd Nicole McConnell

"The children need heroes [to] look up to and say 'that is how I want to be when I grow up!'"
Richard Espinoza, Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado

"Teenagers are a prime target of alcohol advertisers and drug dealers. Advertisements portray beer drinkers as cool, popular, life-of-the-party people. It's easy to see why teenagers can get caught up in the peer pressure of wanting to fit in."
Nicole McConnell, Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado

"Juvenile offenders know they are going to get off easy so there are no restrictions on them. If we would start treating them like the criminals they are and give them the punishment they deserve, the juvenile and gang problem would begin to decrease."
Jamie Sue Bellis, Prairie High School, New Raymer,Colorado

 "Children are filling the empty places left by absent parents, or other family members, with gangs. The children involved in gangs believe that fellow gang members care for them the way their families should but do not."
Jamie Sue Bellis, Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado

 "More and more kids are becoming involved with gangs and the ages are getting younger and younger. Kids need to belong to something or someone. Part of the problem is in the home, where the kids are missing something that they had before. . .When the change at home takes place we can expect the change in the gangs to start."
Richard Espinoza, Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado

 "In San Francisco, a man went into a high-rise building and killed several people, including a wife and mother of a baby girl. The woman's husband, who now has to raise his daughter without a mother, went to Washington, D.C. to speak out against gun violence."
Carlene Fast, Pioneer High School, San Jose, California

"As a teenager, my responsibilities on the farm range from feeding elk and cattle to cleaning and cooking for my family, friends, and guests at our bed and breakfast. Drugs and alcohol are really the last things on my mind. Wouldn't it be nice if every teenager could grow up on a busy farm, with a wholesome atmosphere and caring family?"
Nicole McConnell, Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado

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