Grade: 11

As society leads of the beginning of the new millennium, many people are beginning to wonder what the communities that we live in today will become. As we have seen throughout the nineties, many beliefs and values that were once so important have now become a distant memory. For example marriage, at one time, used to be a sacred experience. Divorce rates, in the past 10 years, have sky rocketed. As a society it is time to come together and work out the underlying problems that are facing our communities in hopes of making them more livable for the next generation. As individuals we need to set aside the “Someone else will do it” attitude and start doing things ourselves.

We first need to look at ways on how the people in the community can have a positive effect on society. Take for instance the recent school shootings. How many incidents must occur before towns begin to realize that the government can not handle the situation by themselves? With the support of elected officials and other voices, families can finally realize how their actions and attitudes affect the entire surrounding areas. By pulling together and decided what is best for each town, whether it be, meetings which describe in depth views on the effects of guns and violence or motivational speakers that will grab not only a child's attention but an adults as well. By working together to help solve a problem people are showing that they do care about what is going on and are giving their support on ways to improve it. When a child realizes that his or her parents really care about the town that they live in or how their children are growing up, then and only then will the child believe that what is going on is wrong.

Each day we turn on the news and hear about how our welfare percentage has decreased, yet why do we still have so many people living at poverty level in the United States. There are people everywhere that have very insufficient skills to be where they are at while their are people with less of an opportunity and more skills who get the low paying jobs. This kind of trend will only continue. People believe that once they are at poverty level they are there forever. Very few are able to come out of it and make a life for themselves. This is the case partially due to the fact that people of the upper and middle classes believe that those who are poor are not smart or are just lazy, and therefore do not deserve a decent job. While this is strictly a stereotypical remark it is evident that this behavior does exist. By setting aside a few jobs in each company for those who are underprivileged to show their skills would give a huge boost to the economy and especially the people. By strictly controlling who works at certain jobs and who doesn't we are strengthening the economic hold that poverty has on society.

Finally we turn to the problem that has been facing generations for many years; how can we close the gap between the oldest and youngest generations so that both can come together to improve the life of society. First both groups need to discuss where the major issues lie. These being styles, trends, and mainly rules. Most people from the older generation to not like change they never needed it and this means that the younger generation doesn't either. The older generation believes that society was better before everyone started having different ideas about how they should live their lives. Once this began violence and danger presented itself inside the safest of communities. So naturally they would feel that change can only be bad and things should be back to the way they were. What the older generation does not realize is that it is too late to change things now. The damage has already been done and now it is time to fix it before things really begin to get out of hand. By coming together and compromising both sides can get a feel of the others worries and fears. This may help in the long run seeing that soon enough this younger generation will become the older generation and still have the same values and beliefs.

While their are numerous things that can be done to improve the quality of life in our communities many believe that if they keep redundant, the problem will go away. We as society need to realize that this is not what will happen. If nothing is done the problem will only get worse. By taking a stand on what you believe in and voicing that opinion people will begin to listen and come to terms with the insecurities that they have. It is only then that we will have safer communities for our children to grow up in.

Answers To Questions

1.How does society invest in marriage in the USA and in Manus?

In the USA and in Manus, the value of marriage is different. Society in each case give the bride and groom gifts, whether it is dog’s teeth and shell money or cash and a blender. In Manus, society sees marriage as an investment meant for life. When a marriage is broken and results in divorce, it seems that the divorced people will lose some accountability. In fact, the people of Manus hesitate in backing a man who has been divorced. Society, however, in the USA doesn’t invest quite as much in marriage. With divorce rates as high as they are these days, it’s understandable and acceptable for a marriage to result in divorce.

2.Interview 10 married people. State the length and number of each one’s marriages and a line or two of advice from each on how to maintain a long, happy relationship.

Person 1-Married 32 years-only once- “Learn how to listen and compromise”

Person 2-Married 32 years-only once- “Have tolerance and consider the other person”

Person 3-Married 24 years-only once- “Try to have common interests to keep your marriage exciting”

Person 4-Married 7 years-only once- “You must have trust or you have nothing at all”

Person 5-Married 33 years-twice- “Communication is the big thing. If you can’t share your feelings then your in trouble”

Person 6-Married 23 years-only once- “Your mate should also be your best friend”

Person 7-Married 11 years-once- “Saying yes to your spouse really makes a difference”

Person 8-Married 3 years-only once- “Must have trust in each other”

Person 9-Married 10 years-once- “Do not rush anything”

Person 10-Married 18 years- “Disagreements are part of marriage. You can get through most anything”

3. According to Richard Eckersley, what should our collective goal be?

Our goal should be to reach happiness. It must be true happiness and not apparent happiness. Just because you seem to be rich you’re not truly wealthy until you have joy.

4. Write a worthy goal for your community.

A perfect goal for my community would be to offer a children’s homework help center. Many kids dread the fact that they have to do homework. If there was a group of students or adults that would volunteer their time to help kids do their homework and make it fun, then the terror of homework would decrease.

5. Comment on the excerpts from “Tomorrow’s Child”

The idea about the mother figure doll is a bad idea. If kids think that it is okay for their parent to ignore them and just shove a doll in there face to occupy that space, then the child will grow up confused. When the child has children of their own, they will think that excluding their kids is okay too. I do agree with the next excerpt. If people don’t realize that they must participate in society, the chances for them will run out. Sooner or later the participation opportunity will be prohibited and government will decide everything for us.

6. How does the fact the USA is a democracy make lawyers particularly helpful, according to Kathleen Sullivan? How does our diversity, wealth, and size make lawyers particularly helpful?

The fact that the USA has a set limit of power and rules in the constitution helps lawyers. They do all types of research on examples that have been set already which is helpful. We have a wide variety of religions and races in the USA. This causes much controversy. Lawyers are needed to solve these problems. Our society is a rapid growing one. People tend to want to advance our country by starting new programs. They look to the law for help. We are a very large country and not everyone is going to agree on everything. We must try to decide what is best for the rest and lawyers help to determine.

7. Ms. Sullivan claims bad practices are changed either by regulations or punitive damages. Which do you prefer? Do you have an alternative?

I would prefer regulations. If there is a consequence to bad practices, then they practice would be reduced. There is absolutely no possible way to completely eliminate a bad practice. But decreasing it is always a huge step.

8. Briefly describe three ways society would benefit from the coming retirement of baby boomers, according to the required reading.

Some of the boomers will start their own businesses. Some will hire other retirees to work for them and have a very intelligent business. Last, some will offer there services to the next generation and prepare them for the same type of life style to advance society.

9. Evaluate the likelihood of President Clinton’s anti-poverty program making a real impact. Give at least three reasons to back up your conclusion.

I do not think that Clinton’s program will make a huge impact. One, he will need the people to agree and support him before he can do anything. He has lost so much respect from society that they will not trust him enough to make a difference. Also, many president’s have tried similar programs before and have failed. Society will be certain that this will happen again and will not give it a chance. Last, society is at its highest right now. They feel content the way it is. Trying something new just isn’t in the plan. They feel like maybe we could just do it later.

10. Name three things Truett Cathy and Tom Lewis have in common.

Both of the men put their time, money, and heart into the same investment. They invest in children who are less fortunate. They are both also very persistent. When they find a cause that they believe in they stick to it. When they succeed in one thing they continue on and do something new and succeed at that. They never give up.