Kadoka High School

Kadoka, South Dakota

Teacher: Teresa Shuck

 

 

Our Communities

by Travis TerWee
Grade 10

 

Today in our communities, there are a variety of various duties which we could all perform to improve the quality of life.  It is necessary as we are moving into the twenty-first century that we improve our living standards as much as possible.  We need to, however, take this one step further that writing it on a piece of paper, we actually need to put it into action.

           

The first major thing we need to work on is recycling, by taking those pop cans to a recycling center, instead of throwing them on the ground, we can make the community took nice.  However, that's not the only benefit of recycling; we will also be conserving raw materials for the future.  This will take the strain off the Earth a little bit at a time.

           

It is also necessary that we start mentoring programs for all children who need attention, but can't get it in the home.  By doing this we can start eliminating social problems. and hopefully save some lives.  It is entirely possible by giving children the proper attention that we could cultivate more of them into people who are successful in society.

           

As well as a mentoring program, we should also have a place children could go after school, a place where they can interact with other children and also have fun.  With just a few adults to supervise, we could improve social interaction between children.  By doing this we could help build self-esteem.

           

We also need to get back to our original moral code.  In society, our moral code has greatly changed over the last thirty years.  Not just around the house where very few families even sit down to eat supper at that same time, but also in the world around us. People have lost most of their courtesy.  It used to seem you if you saw someone walking down the street you would at least say "hi".  However, in society today, rather that greeting them, we would walk across the street to avoid a confrontation.  These are the kind of instances that we need to change.

           

It would also be beneficial to rework the family moral code.  Even by simply sitting down at the supper table together for a meat we could improve communication in the family.  By improving communication, we could get to know each other in the family better, and possible have better relationships.  And maybe, just maybe, by having a better home life, we could tower the chances of lives of crime.  By planting the roots of a strong moral code, by example, we may be able to improve self-esteem, cultivate independent thinking, and lower the chances of children resorting to violence to solve their problems.

           

And that brings me to another point.  As parents of children, or even just respected members of the community, we need to set an example.  That means we need to abolish the things that we as a society took down on.  This includes alcohol, domestic abuse, smoking, drugs, and trying to lower the crime rate.  This may seem a bit optimistic, but by accomplishing the abolishment of these things, we would set an example and help the children grow up in a safer and healthier environment.  I don't mean that we should have alcohol and smoking outlawed just because they are shunned upon as a society, but we should avoid picking up either of those habits so that we can set an example and show the children that it's not that 'cool' to smoke or drink.

 

We also need to better invest in marriages.  In the US, marriages have almost turned into a fad.  Divorces are getting easier to get and much more common.  If two people want to have kids together, they should be married, and they should both make sure that the relationship wilt last, for the child's sake.  By keeping our children growing up in one home with two parents our children could focus more upon the tasks at hand, rather than at whose house he or she is to live at.  By doing this we could also teach our children that marriage is a sacred thing, in today's society it almost seems like a game.

           

All of these ideas seem nice, but your probably wondering where we would get the funding, or the volunteers, or the time.  This is the one thing that we really need to worry about.  Our personal responsibility in improving the quality of life in our communities this to do exactly that, volunteering time and possible donating money to causes that matter, like those listed above.  Of everything that is listed above., our number one concern is to improve our moral code.  After that is done, the rest will follow.

 

 

Questions

 

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

In the US, society invests in marriages so that children may grow up in a single home while living with both parents.  By living in the same household with both parents, the children can focus more on their personal lives rather than the problems between parents.  With marriages, the unstable family relations issue slips away, and people are generally happier, healthier and live longer.  These problems may be taken seriously in Manus, but they don't appear to be the main concern.  It appears to be that marriage is a game in Manus, almost like a lottery.  I feet that betting with human lives is very unwholesome and may be quite detrimental to husband and wife's individual personalities.

 

 

2.)        Interview 10 married people (No names.) 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.

 

            1.)        12 years           1          You need to compromise, if you can't do that your wasting                                                                    your time.

 

            2.)        3 years             2          You have to be sure you know the person really well, or                                                                        you may end up without a wife.

 

            3.)        45 years           1          Just be prepared for hardship, if you can stay together                                                               through poverty, you know you have the right spouse.

 

            4.)        2 years             2          You have to be ready to deal with disappointment,                                                                                sometimes you don't get your way.

 

            5.)        16 years           3          Try to choose someone you can get along with, looks aren't                                                       everything.

 

          6.)        8 months          1          Just go with the flow, you have to compromise and see                                                              things both ways.

           

            7.)        8 years            2          Compromise, compromise, compromise.

           

            8.)        11 months        1          Be loyal and caring.

 

            9.)        3 years             1          Be honest to one another.

           

            10.)      59 years           1          You have to love one another.

 

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

He believes the goal is to dematerialize society without reducing the quality of life.  Although this goal sounds nice, and definitely would be beneficial to society, it is very impractical, and wouldn't work very well for the majority of people, in the US especially.  The populations as a while fears change and the media feeds the tendency of people fearing change.  Furthermore, after a life of clawing to get to the top of the corporate ladder, they aren't likely to want to give away all the materialistic goods they've gathered over the years.

 

4.)        Write a worthy goal for your local community.

As adults to set an example for the children we should refrain from such activities which we as a society frown upon, such as smoking, drinking, drugs , infidelity, etc.

 

5.)        Comment on the excerpts from "Tomorrow's Child."

Values of life are deteriorating, the fact that mere inanimate objects are sometimes used to try to replace a parent is a perfect example of the deterioration of our values as Americans.  All of the values that we used to have in American society have turned to memories.  The mention of the word family in modern-day America raises eyebrows, with almost 1/3 of all marriages ending in divorce.

           

With the gap widening between richer and poorer, we very well could end up in a strictly winner take all society.  It is also true that if people don't see a door open, they give up.  People

therefore are to easily discouraged, and simply need more self-esteem and a larger sense of self worth.  Also, the minority gap must be closed regardless of racial history.  We should all be treated with equal chance in the world.  This way, if you fail, you don't have anyone to blame it on, except yourself.

 

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

In the US lawyers are allowed to do good for four main reasons: democracy, diversity, wealth, and size.  For doing good in democracy I list the following:  We pride ourselves on individualism, therefore there is a great movement of classes compared to the traditional caste society.

 

Lawyers help protect us from the danger of tyranny of the majority. Because we resist higher taxes to sustain the government lawyers are allowed to take on many roles that the civil service or other parts of the government would.

 

Lawyers are the vocal chords of people, putting the peoples words into legal action. As for diversity there is only one point: because of our diversity conflicts must and do arise, lawyers are helpful in resolving these conflicts.

           

For the issue of wealth, the US has a substantial amount of wealth as compared to most developing countries.  Therefore, instead of worrying so much about the basic human needs we branched off.  We now have the extra money to worry about less necessary, but still very important issues, such as water quality, air pollution, topsoil erosion, and other pressing issues.  But the average American doesn't know all the proper legal procedures to get regulations passed by a court of law.  Thus, we need lawyers in this situation also.

           

Lastly, because of the size of the US, lawyers can act as mediators or middle men for national companies dealing with individuals. They achieve what economists call economies of scale.

 

These are just some of the reasons that the US is a place where lawyers are not only necessary, but they are also helpful.

 

7.)        Ms. Sullivan claims bad practices are changed either by regulations or punitive     damages.  Which do you prefer and why?  Can you think of an alternative?

I definitely prefer regulations over punitive damages, regulations actually get something done, by just dishing out money you aren't accomplishing anything.  By setting up new regulations, if enforced, we can make the world a more comfortable place to be. I personally can think of no alternative that would change anything drastically enough to be mentioned.

 

 

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

Society may greatly benefit from the retirement of the baby boomers.  Because of their need to do something they will probably take up charity work, volunteering for the community.  This would be nice considering almost all non-profit organizations need more members.  A second benefit of the retiring baby boomers is the possibility of new private businesses owned and operated by them, this could create a whole new market of services for the non-baby boomers to take advantage of.  Even the elderly who stay home may provide opportunities for teenage entrepreneurs.

 

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

Personally, I believe that this program wilt have little affect if any.  Some of the poor want jobs, but others would rather stay on welfare, remember you can't help someone who is not willing to try.  Just as the program to develop poorer neighborhoods by offering benefits to companies flopped, so will this., Even if we are successful in getting the poor jobs, who knows how long they wilt keep them.  A study in the reading found "35% of former welfare recipients couldn't perform simple tasks, such as finding a place on a street map, and 41% couldn't use a calculator to work out a 10% discount." The statement speaks for itself, no one is going to keep

a person in a job for long if they can't perform simple tasks such as these.

 

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

Truett Cathy and Tom Lewis both share a deep sense of pity, or love, depending how you took at it, on the less fortunate.  They also both have a great sense of business, and they went through great times of regret with their respective businesses.  They also care about even the middle class, offering college scholarships to those in need.