The Moral Dilemma

by Jymie Sweetman

12th grade

Infusion of morality into the community as a whole is, in my opinion, the most important aspect of improving our community. It is my responsibility to encourage my fellow classmates to do the "right thing." Being a positive role model for children and showing them that truthfulness and honesty pay off, is something our generation must do. The harsh reality is that our generation has not been taught to differentiate between right and wrong. How then can an amoral society teach others to decipher bad from good? By recognizing and trying to reestablish morals in our society we will better ourselves as well as those around us.

The decline in morality, respect, integrity and discipline is evident in every aspect of our lives. Kids entering schools and shooting their peers make it clear that something is not being taught. Many recent activities in my life have brought to my attention that these values are lacking in almost all of us. Last week while taking an English test, the seniors at my school, including myself, proved this theory to be true. Almost half the class skipped the test, while the rest of us, sat discussing answers and cheating. When we returned to English class the following week, much to our surprise, our teacher, Mrs. Alfred, knew what we had done. While sitting in the class listening to her lecture us on "personal integrity," I realized that she was a paragon or truth and honesty. She made us realize that we should bring ourselves above cheating and lying, that doing the right thing, not only makes your conscience light, but it shows others how much integrity you possess. Not only did we let Mrs. Alfred, someone we love and admire, done but we let ourselves down as well. We taught those in lower grades that it was "cool" to skip tests and cheat. Our actions taught others that it was okay to lie and be dishonest. Thanks to Mrs. Alfred, we realized our wrong doings, corrected them, and most importantly learned from them. I feel that if there were more teachers who cared about our moral standards, they would give students good examples to look up to. In addition they would be taught more than just the subject matter, they would be taught ethics as well.

I also feel that in order to establish these things in our community, we must volunteer our time to help teach children as well as adults good values. My plan to do this involves Big Sister and Big Brother programs, peer counseling, youth centers, parenting classes, and "adopt a grandparent" programs. By uniting old with young, rich and poor, and Christians with nonbelievers only good can come as we become one.

As the band, Kid Rock, puts it "You get what you put in." Therefore, we must give our all to our community. We should ask ourselves, "how much do I care about improving my community?" Putting our all into our community is key in bettering the quality of our lives. WE can only begin this by setting god examples of behavior and involving everyone in programs that educate us in honesty, love, and caring.

One program I feel would prove to be beneficial is a Big Brother and Big Sister programs. This would include pairing up a young boy or girl with an older adolescent. This pair could then enjoy activities together such as going to the movies or watching a ball game. This would give kids a "cool" positive role model, while helping to teach teens responsibility.

Peer counseling is another program that could be helpful to teenagers in our community. My idea is that we could have volunteers sign up to do a phone counseling. These counselors would provide any student that needs to talk, a person willing to listen. I am sure that volunteers would not give the best advice. However, they could lend and ear, which is sometimes more helpful than advice. This could help teens deal with their problems and give teenagers an alternative to solving their problems instead of turning to drugs or other destructive behavior.

Parenting classes could help young parent learn how to deal with new babies. More and more, young girls are giving birth. These new mothers need guidance. If older parents in the community were willing to teach these classes, it would permit the classes to be free and would make the new parents feel more welcome. This would also allow more young parents to attend.

Another problem the children have is boredom. Our time is very small and there is not much to entertain the kids. By working together and raising money for a youth center, we could eliminate a lot of the problems such as a drug and alcohol use. A youth center would give the adolescents something to do in a place of these other immoral things they do to fill their time.

My last suggestion is an "adopt a grandparent" program. During old age, many people begin to feel useless to the community, however, we have a lot to learn from our elders. Setting up a program where younger students would spend a couple of hours a week with a ‘grandparent' in the community would be beneficial to both parties. It would make the older person feel important and useful as well as providing a good example for younger teens.

All of these above mentioned examples would help establish morality and help prevent iniquity in our neighborhoods. Personal responsibility is very important in working out the problems in our community. We each must take a stand against violence, vandalism, and substance abuse to better the quality of life in our small town. The fact of the matter is that each person is ultimately responsible for his/her own actions. Therefore, we must act responsible in order to set a standard for others and improve our communities.

Questions

1.In America we put more into the love in a relationship, in Manus, marriage is built on financial gain.

Years Married # Marriages Advice

23 1 "You have to be totally in love or you couldn't stand it!"

2 1 "Good Communication."

17 2 "You must learn to accept one another as they are."

12 2 "Let your spouse "think" they are the boss."

10 1 "Give lots of gifts."

2 3 " [No matter your mood}please him or there will be a fight!"

20 1 "It's best to communicate your feelings honestly and clearly."

11 2 "Trust, patients, and understanding."

26 ? "Have so many children that you can't afford a divorce."

9 2 "Don't make a big deal out of small things, and don't be to jealous."

3.Our goal, according to Richard Eckersly, should be to dematerialize America with out reducing the quality of life.

4. To get the communities involved in the problems, such as substance abuse, among our teens.

5. I think these excerpts are being honest when they state that the "have and have-nots" in life play a major role in each person growing. The materialistic and emotional have-nots of our society demoralize and enlarge the gap between people as a whole.

6.She states that "Lawyers help, like other intermediaries between individuals and the state - protecting us from the danger of tyranny of the majority." They create a public form of public form of responsibility and accountability that would not happen in a untrammeled democracy. Heterogeneous creates problems therefore lawyers help keep the peace.

7.I prefer punitive damages because it actually makes the person pay for the wrong they have done, therefore, they are more likely to correct the wrong if they are punitively punished more harshly.

8.These baby bombers are the healthiest and most educated generation so they are more likely to continue working, and becoming entrepreneurs rather than retiring. This will provide older and younger generations more jobs.Thus decreasing the unemployment rate.

9. President Clinton's anti-poverty will make a big impact. It is evident that poverty has dropped since the government has been working in poverty stricken areas. It is also apparent that by enabling small businesses to invest in these poor areas some the unemployment will decrease. The third aspect is that these so-called "new-consumers" will help our economy by adding to the need for employment.

10.Both of these men are very active in church. They both have a love for children and a