Harriman High School
Harriman, Tennessee
Teacher: Nancy Newcomb

  

 

 

The Role Of Personal Responsibioity In Your Community

By Will Kilgore

Grade: 10

 

 

John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” This is a principle that can be equally applied on a smaller scale; such as in a community. In order for a community to thrive and become a successful and fulfilling place to live, each person in their community should fulfill his/her personal responsibilities. Personal responsibilities include anything from fulfilling responsibilities as a parent to volunteering at a homeless shelter. The role of personal responsibility is vital to the quality of life in a community. People need to contribute to the community if they expect to reap any benefits from the community.

           

Everyone has personal responsibilities. Whether or not people execute these responsibilities determines the quality of life for themselves and the community. Sometimes people are unable or unwilling to address their personal responsibilities.  Unfulfilled personal responsibilities result in many-fold problems for a community.  When responsibilities are unfulfilled, other individuals, government agencies, or churches  are needed to help resolve the problems. Unless some person accepts responsibility, the quality of life for a community suffers greatly. Some people go above and beyond their responsibilities and fill in where others fail to fulfill responsibilities. These people become mentors, volunteers at nursing homes, or donate money or time to charities such as the Salvation Army.

 

One may ask, “Just what is meant by personal responsibilities?” Personal responsibilities include anything from fulfilling responsibilities as a parent to volunteering at a homeless shelter. For example, the personal responsibility of a parent is to provide a home and food for a family and to train a child and bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  From this starting point a correct attitude toward school, work, authority, family, and ones place in a community can be derived. A parent must teach a child to work for himself/herself and to have respect for duly appointed authority.  When this is done, the child can fulfill his/her responsibilities to learn in school with the understanding that he/she has a responsibility to hold a job as an adult that supports his/her family.  Then they can use this knowledge to train their children. 

           

An adult or child must also realize that fulfilling personal responsibilities involves staying free of addictions that will make it impossible to learn, work, and function productively. Drugs and alcohol will actually cause them to become burdens to society.  This will increase law enforcement costs, health costs, and cause the destruction of families.  Alcohol and drug abuse cause many domestic disputes, child abuse, and spouse abuse and results in many separations and divorces. Also drugs and alcohol abuse result in many auto accidents, work-related accidents, and great losses for businesses because of  absenteeism, mistakes, and reduced productivity.

                       

Problems arise in a community when people fail to assume their personal responsibilities.  For example, when people fail to spay or neuter their pets, the pet population grows too large and creates problems for the entire community, such as overcrowded animal shelters. More serious consequences occur when people fail to fulfill their responsibilities as parents. For instance, parents who fail to know where their children are, what they are doing, and whom they are with at all times can create problems for the entire community.  For instance, their children may surround themselves with people who influence them to use drugs, leading to an increased drug problem for the community. Another more serious consequence of parents not fulfilling their personal responsibilities are massacres such as the one at Columbine and other schools across the country. These problems could possibly be prevented if parents were more involved with their children, thus preventing massive problems that effect the entire community. The above situations are examples of what the failure to take personal responsibility can do. This failure has negative repercussions for individuals and also results in negative impacts for the whole community.

                       

People who complete their own responsibilities and then go beyond what is expected to fulfill the needs of others in the community are vital to a community. For instance, mentors are essential to the quality of life for a community because studies have shown that children who are mentored are less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol.  This benefits the whole community by lessening the drug problem and lowering the crime rate. The children who are mentored are also likely to give back to the community when they become adults by becoming mentors themselves or by giving to back to the community in some other manner.  As you can see, mentoring greatly benefits the community and teaches children to fulfill their personal responsibilities. Other volunteers, such as volunteers at a homeless shelter, are equally important in aiding the community.

           

Evidently the role of personal responsibility is one of great importance to a community’s condition. A person must fulfill his/her individual responsibilities, and in doing so, he/she will not become a burden to the community. He/She will then be the type of person who looks beyond himself/herself to give to the greater community. The people who contemplate JFK’s question will find ways to reach out in order to better the entire community, after first preparing themselves.Hopefully, people will realize the importance of their responsibilities and how the fulfillment of these responsibilities affects not only their quality of life, but also the quality of life for the entire community.                 

 

WORKS CITED

TIME MAGAZINE.  “The Greatest Speeches of the Twentieth Century.” TIME Magazine 100:  Leaders &    

            Revolutionaries.  New York:  TIME Inc. Principle Offices, 1998.  55.

 

 

ANSWERS TO REQUIRED READING TO QUESTIONS

 

 

Answer One

 

            In Manus people will put dog’s teeth and seashells as an investment for a betrothal.  Then the recipients on the bride’s side pay these amounts back later in pigs and oil.  The Manus center their investments around tried and enduring marriages and the marriages.  So the marriages that last longer and are endorsed by society assume greater prestige and investor “stock group.”

 

            In the U. S. couple invest in their marriage by conceiving a child, buying and furnishing a house, buying china, and taking care of a pet such as a dog.

 

Answer Two

 

            First Couple Interviewed: 

 

            Marriage has lasted twenty-two years.  It is the spouses’ first and only marriage.  Given advice, “Don’t forget your anniversary, or you could be sleeping on the couch or worse!”

 

            Second Couple Interviewed:

 

            Marriage has lasted five years.  It is the husband’s second marriage and it is the wife’s first marriage.  Given advice: “Keep the material things in the back of your mind.  Remember that you have to respect your spouse and vice versa.”

 

            Third Couple Interviewed:

 

            Marriage has lasted eleven years.  It is both spouses’ first and only marriage.  Given advice:  “A marriage to a person is an important gift that should be cherished and held close to your heart.”

 

            Fourth Couple Interviewed:

 

            Marriage has lasted for one year and a half.  It is both spouses’ first and only marriage.  Given advice:  “Take marriage step by step and day by day.  Just don’t forget that there are two people in a marriage, it is not just you.”

 

            Fifth Couple Interviewed:

 

            Marriage has lasted fifty-five years. It is both spouses’ first and only marriage.  Given advice:  “This (marriage) is a life investment, and you can only get as much out of it as you put into it.”

 

Answer Three

 

            Our collective goal is to show that real progress can be represented by the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI).  The GPI examines the exchange of goods and services and activities such as domestic work that contribute to social progress.  The GPI reveals that the GDP grows when certain problems are solved.  These problems help create economic activity and increase our awareness of what our roles can do to help society.

 

Answer Four

 

            A worthy goal for my community is to start a good cleanup program for my community’s roads and highways.  Our roads get plenty dirty with all the littering, oil, and stripped tires.  Accidents could be reduced and our general health and respect for our community and ourselves could improve.  So a clean road is always a safe road.  A safe road is always in a good community. 

 

Answer Five

 

            I think a toy can be a very good companion for a lonely child.  But I don’t think a doll could ever really take the place of a mother or a father.

 

            I don’t think missing certain economic opportunities should put a person out of civil society.  I think minorities are more and more seizing economic opportunities.  The certain people that don’t take opportunities are not as affected as severely as a few decades ago.

 

Answer Six

 

            In a democracy lawyers help us by being the intermediaries between individuals and the state.  They protect us from tyranny and help us set in our mind that we have a social mobility and public responsibility.

 

            Also lawyers help our heterogeneous society’s social customs agree and cooperate, they help set up important organizations in wealthy societies, and they help achieve an economy of scale in such a large complex society.

 

 

Answer Seven

 

            I favor regulation more than punitive damages.  I believe that most people want to follow the law.  If certain enforcers passed set strict rules and enforce them, then even more people will want to follow the law.  It’s good thinking.  So think about it.

 

Answer Eight

 

            There are many ways society can benefit from retired baby boomers.  One benefit would be a gray wave of entrepreneurs.  Many will start up their own businesses and be in a highly competitive market.  There is also hiring of other retirees.  There are also opportunities for teenage entrepreneurs to help elderly people.  The many ways that society benefits from retired Generation Xer’s will help shape our future for the new millenium.

 

Answer Nine

 

            The likelihood of Clinton’s antipoverty plan making an impact is slim.  The idea of letting small corporations open in untapped work forces is a good idea.  This process depends upon the investors though.  If sales slip in a poor area, investors will take out there money and will cause the business to fail.  Also if the work force in the rural areas is mostly unskilled, then the business won’t be able to calculate the revenues and give accurate information to the investors.   Then there are areas where even if businesses do open, they’ll have to keep prices low in order for the customers to even buy something from their store.  Manufacturing companies in the rural areas will have to have skilled laborers, medium to high quality products, and find a buyer who is willing to buy the products.  Hopefully new ideas could improve this concept, but at least we are taking a step in the right direction.

           

Answer Ten

 

1.                  Both Truett Cathy and Tom Lewis care for kids who need a boost in life.

 

2.                  Both have set up foundations with helpful programs to benefit the kids and give them an inspiration to learn.

 

3.                  Both are very deep and thankful for their Christian religion and are active members in their youth programs at their church.