Hyndman High School
Hyndman, Pennsylvania
Teacher: Janet Phillips

 

 

 

Making our Communities Better

By Jamie Swauger

Eleventh grade

 

Our communities today are not as good as they could be. There are a lot of little things people don't do, and then they become something big. Once these become something big, it is harder to take care of the problem.

           

Making our communities better is not just changing the bad.  It is also changing the good to make it better than it originally was.

           

The major needs in our communities are changing the bad.  The major one I think about is drug and alcohol abuse:  a problem just about anywhere we go. And it's hurting people all over the world.  Every community should have a organization to help people with their problems. They may not go, but if they know it's there, they might. Also, people who have a friend with a problem like these should have a place to get help for their friend.

           

Violence is also a problem in our communities. There are a couple different types of violence:  marriage abuse and teenage abuse. These victims should also have a place to go for help because sometimes they have no one to confide in and they are scared to talk to the police because they love the person. If there was a center close by that the person knew about, he/she might go. We also need to teach people how to deal with violence.

           

There are two big organizations that deal with these things. The first one is called Teen Challenge which helps adults and teens with drug abuse. and the second is called JALMC, an organization to help teens and adult with violence. This organization uses peer meditation. These are very good organizations, and  we could look into these and get our communities involved.

           

Another major thing we could do as a community is to help with lesser privileged kids. So many kids around the world have close to nothing.  Some of these kids’ parents try. And some of them don't. But if they try or not, it's not the kids’ fault what his/her parents do. They shouldn't be punished. Some kids come from one parent families, and their mom or dad works. We need to help out with these kids.

           

Outdoor Odyssey and Big Brother/Big Sister are two programs that we can get into to help with lesser privileged kids. For Outdoor Odyssey we would go for one week in the summer and mentor two to three kids. Then during the next year we would take the kids out with us and have some fun or we could call them on the phone to talk.  Big Brother/Big Sister is basically the same thing.             

           

Helping our communities is not just changing the bad. It is also changing the good. We need to help clean up our parks and roadways to help keep our communities looking clean. It would take one Saturday a month. We just need to gather volunteers and pick a time and date to do it. Also, if our community doesn't have a park, we could find a spot and create one. We could raise money or get donations. If we make our communities look better, more people will want to come visit or even come here to live.

           

Another way to better our communities is to help out with stray animals. Now every community at some time or another has had a stray animal. Everyone usually complains about them, but we should be doing is helping out with them. We could take them to the Humane Society. We could even volunteer at the Humane Society. It doesn't matter what we do to help as long as we do something.

           

We could also have get-togethers for the community so the people get to know each other. We could have free dances or we could charge for admission and put the money into the community.  We could also have Christmas parties and New Year’s Eve parties. It doesn't matter what kind of party, as long as everyone had fun.  But I feel the community should do things together.

           

It doesn't matter what you do for your communities as long as you do something. It doesn't have to be anything major. It can be the littlest thing like organizing a dance or taking a kid out for dinner and a movie. We, as a community, need to take charge and make our communities better. It's not just about making our communities better. It also about making our lives and our friends’ lives better.

 

Answers To Questions Regarding Required Reading

 

 

Q1.  In Manus the groom's family pays the betrothal fee to the bride's family in dog's teeth and shell money.  After the marriage, the amount is paid back to the groom's family in pigs and oil.  In the USA the people invest their trust because a lot of couples these days are not actually married.  This makes it a lot easier to leave.

 

Q2. 10 years.  Married once.  To always tell each other everything and never lie to each other.  35 years. Married once.  To be honest, loving, caring, and to have fun.  15 years. Married twice  To be loyal.  Never lie to your spouse even if it will hurt them.  5 years.  To do everything with them.  8 years.  Married once.  Try out new things together.  19 years.  Married once.  Oneness in the Lord.  1 year.  Married once.  Treat your spouse with love and respect.  53 years.  Married three times.  Keep your sex life alive.  12 years.  Married once.  Be honest, trust in God to guide the two of you.  64 years.  Married once.  To be loyal and honest.  To rely on each other to make it through life.

 

Q3.  To live life to its fullest, and be happy no matter how rich or poor you are.

 

Q4.  To get together with the kids while they are young and get them involved more with sports and band so they can compete better with other schools.

 

Q5.  I don't like the idea of a doll that reminds children of their mothers. A child and its mother should have a special bond so that when they are not together; they are together in spirit. The doll may take away from that bonding.

 

Q6.  It's helpful because they are able to solve problems themselves instead of hassling the courts.  The lawyers are important in diversity because they can step in between two contrasting groups of people to solve problems.  Because the USA is wealthy, we tend to think of our health.  Lawyers can help decide what the law can do to give humans longer life.  Because of the size of our country, many regions have different customs. Lawyers can help with business transactions between unlikely partners.

 

Q7.  Regulations because they let you know what you have to do and how you do it.  No, I can't think of an alternative.

 

Q8. There will be more jobs for teenagers as they can be nannies for the elderly.  The elderly may go into business themselves; making life better for retirees by providing the growing market with home health care, home shopping, travel and recreation, and real estate services.

 

Q9. I think Clinton's plan will work because large businesses will provide more jobs for these people and they will provide higher pay.  The cheap loans will enable poor people to get on their feet by providing a way to start their own businesses or buying a better home.

 

Q10.  Both of these men retired and wanted to help teens become their best.  Truett Cathy is a Southern Baptist, and Tom Lewis also went to church.  Both men wanted to help children to become the best that they can become.  Lewis donated one of his two houses to form an after school center with computers, creative writing workshop, homework assistance, and a hot meal-the only one some kids got all day.  The center was located in  very bad part of town, but Lewis still went ahead with his plan.  Cathy is the founder of Chick-fil-A where workers who work there for two years can get money towards college.