*Poor Role Models
Northern California kids attending a youth camp were able to witness five people being arrested by police and equipment used to manufacture drugs being seized on July 27, 1994. The suspects had been dumping cancer- causing chemicals into the creek bordering the kids camp.
*Role models are a powerful incentive to good and evil. We like the simple way Joel and Richard put it:
"The way that people act has a great impact on how we feel about our country. Those that do good make us feel proud, and those that do bad make all of us ashamed." Joel Alajoki, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota
"The children need heroes [to] look up to and say 'that is how I want to be when I grow up!'" Richard Espinoza , Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado
*Hao Duong interjects a word of caution from his personal experience with role models:
"I learned early on that role models don't always meet...the expectations we place on them. When I first left elementary school, I didn't know what to expect. In junior high we were exposed to new and exciting things. We heard stories of wild parties, we saw 'real' fist fights and we saw ourselves being the older, popular people with people looking up to us... In this day and age we need and we want good role models. People look up to people who are older, people who have been through the same situations. ...When we are young it seems so unrealistic that we could be adults someday. Adults seemed too old and being a grown-up never even crossed our minds. As we grow older our perspectives on life, our plans for the future and our role models change. As teenagers we begin to plan for the future. We have, for the most part, decided what we plan to be and what kind of people we would like to become. We have made these decisions using the knowledge that we have acquired and the influences that we have been exposed to. We now look to adults to help us grow and mature into the people that we want to become. They don't always behave appropriately... In 1993, River Phoenix, a popular young actor, died outside a bar due to this use of drugs. Mike Tyson, the former Heavyweight Champion of the World in boxing, was stripped of his title and sent to prison because he was convicted of rape."
*Hao is wise as well as cautious:
"(But) there are some positive stories in the celebrity world if we are willing to listen...Chris Webber, a rookie star in the NBA and a former All-American on the college and high school level, used his money and fame to start the Time Out Foundation to help under-privileged kids get a better start in life. Role models aren't bad to have, but we must learn to distinguish which we will follow. Who we choose to admire is our decision, but at an early age parents should begin to guide and educate their children so that when the time come they will make the right choice based on what they have learned. When children are older it is much harder to get through and make an impact on their opinions." Hao Duong, Antietam High School, Reading, Pennsylvania
*Others spoke their minds concerning role models:
"I saw a Nike commercial with Charles Barkley where he states,'I'm not a role model.' In the same light, the creator of MTV's Beavis and Butthead can't understand how anyone could watch the show and see the two cartoon teens as role models. Wake up guys!! People believe what they see on TV. Every little kid wants to be a big basketball star, so what message is Charles Barkley sending when he talks trash in games and spits on little girls? He's telling every kid who's watching that it's cool to be rude to others. And what about the little kid who lit a fire, which resulted in burning his three-year-old sister, after watching Beavis and Butthead playing with fire on TV. They aren't role models, huh?" Sandy Gunther, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota
"All parents want their children to respect them, but they [parents] must first be respectable." Jo Haun, Kensington High, Kensington, Kansas
"If parents cannot accept responsibility, then how can we expect our children to accept it?... When parents have difficulty interacting with each other, it can have a serious effect on children. Children adopt their parents' values." Jeremy Hoffpauir, Walters High School, Walters, Oklahoma
"Children look at their parents as role models so therefore our parents have to show us responsibility before we can learn it." Angie Gillispie, Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio
"People are at their most impressionable time when they are children. From birth until children are finished their schooling is about the time span where good role models are important." Leah Wilkerson, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills,Pennsylvania
"Parents, teachers, and any other adult can preach until they're blue in the face, but it won't help one bit until adults start living by their own standards."Heather Stearns, Carbondale High School, Carbondale, Illinois
*The following excerpt may show the reason for those nasty lawyer jokes:
"While taking the bar exam, two young would-be attorneys were faced with a situation; one of their fellow law students had a seizure and collapsed. One student, a lifeguard, and the other, an RN, jumped to the victims aid. For 40 minutes they administered CPR until paramedics arrived. All of the other students continued working on the exam, yet when the two rescuers returned to work they were denied any more time because it was against the legal rules. This example shows that it doesn't always pay to help someone in need, yet isn't that a lawyer's responsibility?" Angie Guthrie, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota
*The students did not forget the politicians:
"Representatives promise all they can to ensure being elected, but their promises fall apart when it comes to fulfilling them. They go into office with all kinds of problems facing them, but put them off. They propose many changes that sound good to the public but do nothing when it comes to fixing preexisting problems. They do not take responsibility of their duties and the trust that has been given to them by the American people. Part of the responsibility of their office is to set an example of leadership, wisdom, fairness, and honesty. Officials with this kind of responsibility are becoming extinct." Jeff Garner, Blue Ridge High, Blue Ridge, Texas
"When House Speaker Tom Foley attended a U.S. British meeting last summer, he decided to take time for a bit of cycling in the English countryside. Fine. But he wanted to ride his own bicycle, so the Air Force had to pick up his and Mrs. Foley's cycles at their home and deliver them to Andrews Air Force Base for the flight. In a case like this, the dollars are usually small, but they can add up." Anthony Gonzales, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas
"Only a person of good character deserves the public's trust. Because public officials should be role models." Trang Le, Central Islip High School, Central Islip, New York
*Despair