1993-1994 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest

Doesn't Anyone Care About The Children?
Teacher: Bill Harness

Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

1st Tim Moore   2nd Matthew Grandon   3rd Saul James Horner

"The moral, responsible people in this country should demand that our leaders and legislators place the emphasis back on the values that make a country strong rather than sitting by and letting these values be replaced by behavior that destroys the fabric of our society and makes us weak."
Matthew Grandon, Valley Springs High, Valley Springs, Arkansas

 "Gun control attacks a serious problem from the wrong angle. Today 60 million Americans own 200 million firearms, including 60 million handguns. Yet, less than four tenths of one percent of those handguns will be used legally. This will punish the law-abiding citizen, rather than the criminal who uses firearms in the commission of a crime. Evidence indicates that criminals have no need to purchase handguns legally, and overwhelmingly do not. This nation needs a tougher anti-crime bill, rather than an anti-gun bill. It is time in the U.S. to pass legislation which provides severe penalties for those criminals using firearms."
Larry Scott Graddy, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

 "The long history of waiting-period-plans points up the failure of those systems in other criminal justice areas as well. Waiting periods, permit- to-purchase laws and police background checks have been instituted around the country for most of the century. There has been ample time to study the effectiveness of waiting periods in deterring violent crime. They appear to be useless in curbing crime. One research study concluded that gun control laws have no significant effect on rate of violence beyond what can be attributed to background social conditions. Such laws do not effectively limit access to guns by the violence-prone nor does accessibility to guns appear to have an effect on the rates of violent crimes and accidents. But the Brady bill rests on a largely unsupported assumption that the combination of a waiting period and police background checks will somehow reduce handgun crime. There is no real proof of this...Assistant Attorney General Eleanor Acheson was forced to admit that the administration has no statistical proof that Brady would reduce handgun homicides or handgun crime."
Larry Scott Graddy, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

"I think that the state should let religion back in the schools..."
Matthew Grandon, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

 "Texas Key is the name of a program that has centers in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. It is offered as an alternative to large detention centers that operate more like prisons. Staff members at the Key centers say [their] programs are tailored to the individual and allow a person to succeed where other facilities have failed."
Shane Nichols, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

 "The Clinton administration recently weighed in with its own plan for a $75 million 'safe schools' fund to help education develop violence- prevention programs."
Larry Scott Graddy,Valley Springs High School,Valley Springs, Arkansas

 "After the 1992 riots in Los Angles, a youth service program called Humanists was begun at Thomas Jefferson High School. The program encourages kids to take initiatives to solve community problems."
Tim Moore, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

Back