Teacher: Terri Buechler
1993-1994 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest
Responsibility, Who Has It and Who Doesn't and What That
Means For The Nation
Teacher: Terri Buechler
Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
1st Tonya Knutson 
2nd Neal Bobzin 
3rd Sarah Hanson
"Michael
Belton, a former clothing salesman won a $619,000 jury verdict because he was injured
trying to board a bus. Belton's blood alcohol level was .424 percent which is more than
four times the legal intoxication level. With this amount of alcohol Belton was so drunk
at the time, he could remember virtually nothing of the accident."
Neal Bobzin, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"In
1983 near our house, a college student was driving back to school on a Sunday evening. At
the time there was major flooding in the low-land areas and roads were barricaded to
ensure the safety of drivers. When [the student] came to the barricades he
Randy White, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"People
who put up beware of dog signs are still getting sued when their dog bites a trespasser. I
think this is ridiculous. The courts argue that if a person puts up a sign that person
knows his dog is mean, therefore that person is liable if the dog bites someone. Even a
burglar can sue if he is bitten by a dog. That even makes less sense because the dog is
defending his home. Isn't that why some owners get a dog. Where does the responsibility
lie?"
Kim Johnson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"One
way of stopping these lawsuits that cost the taxpayers millions of dollars each year is to
make people realize they have responsibilities. If someone is under the influence of
alcohol or drugs while an accident occurs, he should be made to take treatment and no
money [should be] awarded to that person."
Neal Bobzin, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"My
sister owns a hair and tanning salon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Since she has opened
the salon, she's learned that there are many risks that come with owning a tanning salon.
If somebody tans too much and develops some kind of skin cancer from it, they could sue my
sister for a lot of money and probably win. Even though signs are posted as how long to
tan, and the customer chooses to ignore them, should the shop owner still be held
responsible? I know I cannot solve all the problems in the world today, but I have tried
to at least solve one of them. Remember the problem my sister had with her tanning salon?
I talked with her and mentioned the idea of having tanning cards. This would mean if you
went into the tanning salon for the first time, she would give you a card to fill out
before you start to tan. On this card would be questions like: how well do you tan? Do you
burn easily? Do you have any type of health risks? What type skin do you have? etc. My
sister would then read it over and decide whether or not this person was a high risk. She
would maybe only allow them to tan three times a week for 20 min. each. If this person was
not at high risk, she could maybe let them tan every other day for 30 min. each. In both
cases, after one to two weeks at that schedule, they would fall back to tanning one to two
times a week to keep their tan. My sister thought this was a good idea, but whether or not
she will decide to use it is another thing. She has to decide if the money she's making
from the people who tan exccessively, is worth the risk of a possible lawsuit."
Tonya Koutson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"A
couple was driving down the road, lost control of the car and went into a ditch. During
the course of the crash the woman's seatbelt broke, the man's did not. She was thrown into
the back seat of the car. She survived but her husband was killed instantly because his
seatbelt stayed in tact. Her lawyer told her that she could sue the [car manufacturer] for
negligence because of her defective seatbelt. She won a large settlement even though her
seatbelt breaking saved her life."
Angie Olsen, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"Another
problem of irresponsible behavior is that if you have a No Trespassing sign (posted) on
your land and someone comes on your land to hunt without your permission and gets hurt,
who should have to pay for their injuries? According to the law it is the land owners
responsibility. If someone has nerve enough to come on the land and hunt even though there
is a No Trespassing sign up and they get hurt, then they should definitely have to pay for
their own injuries. If the and owner had the responsibility to (post) signs, so others
should have the responsibility to stay off the land."
Jackie Welsh, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota