Improvement of the Community Through Individual Growth

By Jackie Woosley

Grade 12, Age 17

1259 words

How can an individual improve his or her community? When a person looks at a community, he will see that it is made up of individuals whose character and values will decide whether it is a good or bad place to live. Most people prefer to live in well-balanced and safe community. That is why each person must be a responsible individual, family member and member of society.

First, in order to have a well-balanced and safe community, each community member must be a responsible individual. Some ways in which people can show their individuality is through their morality, integrity, and compassion for others. If each person shows good individuality in his community he will find himself living in a better community.

When a person has a good morality, it shows in the community. Religion plays a large role in many individuals. All religions have a strong belief in morals. Some religions may believe in divorce, while others are strongly against it. People often get married for the wrong reason. This causes the divorce rate to go up. Individuals need to start thinking more wisely about whom they marry and why. The people who believe in marrying for love, not lust, are said to “live healthier and live longer”. Another thing that should be enforced are stricter rules for divorce. Divorce has become so easy that it is a surprise that it is not just considered another American pastime. So maybe more individuals need to get back to the old fashioned marriages where marriage was an individual’s most important decision in life.

An individual needs a lot of integrity to live right and do well for his community. A person’s integrity can place him as being complete and individual. A person with great integrity is whole. He can’t be broken from where he stands. Honestly comes from integrity. When a person meets another, he does not want a false name. He would like to be given his true name. Integrity makes a person who he is, and he is either truthful or deceitful. A truthful person is more reliable, he gets things done, and he is respected more, and feels better about himself. “It is easier to succeed than to fail,” says Barry. A person with integrity would find it easier to succeed than to fail because he believes in himself.

All individuals need to have compassion for others. If a person has nothing else, he needs this. It does not matter how young or old, rich or poor, or famous or unknown a person is, he can have compassion. Compassion for others doesn’t have to be some great act of kindness. It can be just something small. If an individual can just share knowledge with another individual, he is showing his compassion for another to do well. A good example of this is of a man named Roger Duba. Mr. Duba retired to play golf, but said, “It wasn’t enough.” Mr. Duba decided to become a National Committee Volunteer Advisor, which has made it possible for him to be an advocate for many things from land conservation to the preservation of Social Security.

Second, in order to have a good community, a person must be a responsible family member. In a family, responsibility is a must. When it comes to a family, both the parent and the child must be responsible.

In order to be a responsible individual, a person needs to be responsible parent. When a person decides to get married, he takes on a large responsibility. But when he decides to become a parent, it is not only a decision of happiness. It is the responsibility of another human life. From the day a person becomes a person becomes a parent, his uppermost concern is how to raise a well-rounded and good individual that will make good decisions in life. The parents will decide the outcome of their child’s life. A parent must be a good example for his child because his actions will reflect on his child. A parent should make sure that his child has a strong inner core. A child should not have to worry about his day-to-day life but feel secure in his environment. That is why a boy by the name of Chris says, “he is lucky”. Chris is lucky because not every child grows up in a stable environment. In order to have a stable environment for children, every parent needs to be responsible.

In order to be a responsible individual, a person needs to be a responsible child. As a child, a person’s responsibilities can grow to be more and more as he matures. A child’s responsibilities can go from taking care of their toys to getting a job and making car payments. If a child is brought up to be responsible, when he will find the harder tasks in life to be easier. It is stated that Chris is expected to “pitch in with dishes, do yard work, and walk one of the dogs”. A child needs to have these responsibilities so when the real world comes knocking at his front door his is not scared to answer the door and step out bravely.

Third, in order to have a good community, each individual needs to be a responsible member of society. To be a member of society is to show companionship or the association with one’s fellows. An individual can be a good member of society by either doing community service or being a political leader.

In order to be a good member of society, an individual can help by doing community service. By doing community service, each individual not only helps himself but also the people around him. A community service does not have to be something extravagant but can be something very small. A person can pick up trash, visit other in the hospital, make greeting cards for the elderly, or even raise money for someone who has lost his home.

When a person does a community service, he should think of how much, if he were in the same position, he would appreciate it. When a person does something good for his community, it not only helps the community come together, but it makes a person grow as an individual. A person should be part of his society because the well being of his society reflects back on him. If a person lives in a crime-filled society, when the people in that society are seen as bad people. If a person in that society really cares for himself, then he should think of others before he thinks of just his individual self.

In order to be a good member of society, a person should become politically active. When a person is politically active, everyone looks to him for the right answer. The power politically active people hold can be used for the good of the society or the bad. As long as politically active people are thinking of the society as a whole then all will go well. Politically active people often have political fund-raisers that bring in money to help their society. With the money from these fund-raisers, communities are able to build parks, help the poor, and help community projects. President Bill Clinton helped out the people who have great poverty. President Bill Clinton passed “an array of anti-poverty measures”. With caring political leaders our societies will run smoothly.

Finally, each individual makes up his community. That is why each person must be a responsible individual, family member and member of society.

References

Barry, J. (1998). Doing good by eating chicken. Philanthropy, 3 (96), 5.

Hersch, P. (1998). A tribe apart. Balantine Publishing Group, p. 137.

The pockets of poverty world tour. (1999, July 10). Economist, p.23.

Squires, P. (1999). A retiring nature. Secure Retirement.

Wingert, P. (1998). I do, I do-maybe. Newsweek, 133 (19), 58.

Answers To Questions For Required reading

Q1) How does society invest in marriage in the USA and in Manus?

Society invests in marriage by paying for certain things that contribute to that marriage. For example, the children from the family must have an education.

Q2) Interview 10 married people. State the length and number of marriages and a line of advice from each on how to maintain a long, happy relationship.

1 marriage lasted 10 years. Be good to one another.

1 marriage lasted 1 year. Always be faithful.

1 marriage lasted 20 years. Be devoted.

1 marriage lasted 6 years. Have trust and faith in one another.

1 marriage lasted 3years Love each other unconditionally.

1 marriage lasted 40 years. Take care of each other.

1 marriage lasted 15 years. Think of each others feelings.

1 marriage lasted 22 years. Communication .

1 marriage lasted 8 years. Be there for each other.

1 marriage lasted 6 months. Listen carefully.

Q3) According to Richard Eckersley, what should our collective goal be?

Our collective goal should be to live a healthier and happier life.

Q4) Write a worthy goal for you local community.

Our community should make a place to help the less fortunate.

Q5) Comment on the experts from “Tomorrow’s Child”.

Children are too dependent on their parents and need to become more independent.

Q6) How does the fact the USA is a democracy make lawyers particularly helpful, according to Kathleen Sullivan? They can keep wrongly accused men from being punished for a crime he did not commit. Because of our country’s growing populatin, we need lawyers to help the innocent.

Q7)Mrs. Sulllivan claims bad practices are changed by either regulations or by punitive damages. Which do you prefer and why? Regulations to keep damage from happening.

Q8) Briefly describe three ways society would benefit from the coming retirement of baby boomers, according to the required reading.

They could start businesss and employ younger people, they could make elder care and daycare available, and they could leave their jobs open after retiring.

Q9) Evaluate the likelihood of President Clinton’s anti-poverty program making a real impact. Give at least three reasons to back up your conclusions.

I do not think his plan is very likely to happen because in order to make something work , a person must have dedication. I also feel that it will not change quickly.

Q10) Name three things Truett Cathy and Tom Lewis have in common.

They both had dedication, skill, and ambition.