1993-1994 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest
Responsibility, Who Has It and Who Doesn't and What That
Means For The Nation
Teacher: Jerry McGinley
DeForest High School, DeForest, Wisconsin
1st Melissa Wendt 
2nd Adam Parker 
3rd Jessica Moen 3rd Sherri Koltes
"My brother drinks at least twice a week and sometimes everyday. He
drinks to get high or when he is really upset. My father taught him how to do this. A
friend of mine has a cousin who got arrested when he was eighteen for drunk driving.
Unlike my brother, he killed someone. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. Laws do not
kill an addiction."
Anonymous, DeForest High School, DeForest, Wisconsin
"Given
the chance, I would do three things to improve responsibility on the part of the mass
media today. The first thing I would do is to pass a law (one that is enforced) that no
public or private figure can be bothered by the media until there are official indictments
made. Secondly, a simple 'tit for tat' should be legally enforced. [When] a newspaper does
a front page story on a person's involvement with drugs, and [later] discovers the charges
are not founded, they have a tendency to [apologize] on page twenty-seven two weeks later.
The paper should be legally required to give the same attention to the dropped charges and
Jenny Larson, DeForest High School, DeForest,
Wisconsin