Valley
Springs High School
Valley Springs, Arkansas
Teacher: Lavina Grandon
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Improving Communities: Where to Start
Lacy Horner
Grade 12, Age 17
Where does a
person start to improve the quality of life in communities today? This question can be
answered by the individual himself. By starting with self-improvement, a person will
eventually start seeing changes in the environment around him. Eventually these changes will effect other family
members and improve the quality of life within the family. As the quality of life within
the family improves, this will, in turn, begin to improve the quality of life in the
community itself.
To illustrate how self-improvement can improve the quality of life in a community,
consider the example of a person improving his moral standards. For example, a person who uses profane language
all the time influences other people and may cause them to become more susceptible to
doing this themselves. If this type of
language were not used at all, it would cut back on the use of profanities in the rest of
society. Another example is the use of
courtesy. When a person practices courteous
behavior, those around him notice and are more likely to return the courtesy to him and
others as well. This concept can be applied
to many other things and have the same effect. By
improving oneself, the person will change for the better and cause a noticeable change in
the people around him.
The quality of life in communities can also be improved by stronger family values. Take for example, “Amy and Bob,” in Pat
Wingert’s article in Newsweek. These
two people live together and have a daughter but are not legally married. They feel that there is no reason for getting
legally married if they are happy. This type
of behavior illustrates a lack of commitment for the family and weakens one of the basic
building blocks of society—the traditional family unit. This in turn causes turmoil
in our communities and our culture. When
children are born out of wedlock, their sense of family structure is distorted. They in turn may have a disregard for the family
and thus continue the cycle of dysfunctional families and social decay. Wingert writes, “Getting married used to be a
prerequisite for the most important decisions of life:
having sex, living together, and making babies.” Today people don’t even bother to get
married, doing all the things married people do and they are supposedly happy. When two people do establish a traditional family,
family life will improve and this will, in turn, improve the quality of life in our
communities.
The quality of life in communities
can also be improved by reaching out into the community itself. After the family unit has been improved, the
change will start to spread into the community since families do make up a community. When a community improves, it gets
“healthier, happier, more satisfying, and more interesting.” As a community improves, the people in it will
eventually become closer and get to know one another better. When the people of a community grow closer, a
concern for the well being of others in the community develops and eventually, all members
of the community reap the rewards of a stronger community.
For example, people with strong moral character who have respect for the values
that have been proven to build strong societies, can reach out to those who are victims of
the declining social structure and show them the way to a better life, so their lives can
be improved along with that of the community. Although
not everyone agrees that strengthening a community will bring good, it will
In order to improve the quality of
life in a community, the people need to be held responsible for keeping up with their own
actions. This can be accomplished first of
all by setting the examples in our own lives that represent good citizenship. Secondly, we can re-establish some of the old,
virtuous, time-proven social mores, which built this society and other strong societies in
the past. Traditionally, those who did not
comply with the values and mores of a society were stigmatized instead of rewarded. When strong moral values are the standard, this
helps keep civilized people civil. When moral
values and decent behavior are ignored. society and culture are debased and our
communities decline. By maintaining a sense
of decency in our own lives, and encouraging others to do the same, we can take the first
step toward improving the communities that we live in.
Q2-
- #1-married once, four years- The
key to a happy marriage is love and respect for one another.
- #2-married once, ten years- I
always trust my husband and love him with all by heart.
- #3-married once, fourteen years-
Have a good trusting relationship and involve God in every aspect of your lives.
- #4-married once, fourteen years-
The most important key to a happy marriage is God.
- #5-married twice, first
marriage-two years, second marriage-seven years- Be understanding and truthful, always be
there for the other.
- #6-married once, twenty years-
Just live each other and always try to find new and interesting things to do together.
- #7-married once, twenty-two
years- Just be patient with one another.
- #8-married once, twenty-two
years- One has to be loving and willing to go to the ends of the earth for the other.
- #9-married twice-first marriage,
three years-second marriage, Twenty-four years- Don’t leave God out of any aspect of
your lives.
- #10-married once, twenty-four
years- God is the key to all things even a happy marriage.
Q3-According to Richard Eckersley our
collective goal should be to dematerialize society without reducing the quality of life.
Q4- A worthy goal for my local
community would be to help out those who need items such as clothing or food when times
are difficult.
Q5- I believe that when there are
latchkey kids in the world, this means that the parent or parents of those children should
be around just a little bit more for the child’s sake.
Q6- The fact that the U.S. is a
democracy makes a lawyers particularly helpful in that they help protect individuals from
tyranny of the majority. And each individual
has a fair right to everything. Diversity helps in that it considers the respect for
religion, race, national origin, and with respect to women.
Th wealth helps because the U.S. is a very wealthy country through society and
historical standards and the law can help solve the problems of our environment. The size of the U.S. is very helpful in that it is
a vast, expansive territory where individuals can choose to work closer together or
further apart.
Q7- I prefer to use punitive damages
because each person or organization should have to admit to their mistakes and not just
make a deal with the plantiff, but pay for what has happened in a fair way.
Q8- Three ways that society would benefit form the coming retirement of baby boomers is that more jobs would become readily avaliable for younger generations, more businesses such as health care and home shopping would be needed, and the “gray wave” might start up businesses of their own.
Q9-The likelihood of President Clinton’s anti-poverty program making a real impact is not very likely. One reason is because it has been found that 35% of former welfare recipients can’t perform simple tasks such as finding a place on a street map. The second reason is that 41% couldn’t use a calculator to work out a 10% discount. The last reason is that the poor unemployed may be willing to work, but may not be useful.
Q10-The first thing that they have in
common is that they both have huge responsibilities to their companies. The second thing is that they both have an
interest in the education of our future leaders. The
last thing that they have in common is that they both volunteered to teach children in one
way or another.