*No Responsibility
*Harn-Jen's prescription (below) for controlling crime--a large dose of responsibility--was recommended repeatedly by students:
"It is every person's responsibility to restrain themselves when under great pressure. When they lash out and resort to violence they are being irresponsible." Harn-Jen Shiue, Carbondale High, Carbondale, Illinois
"The responsibility for getting this problem under control lies first with the students and teens of this country. I think that the parents and schools share the next biggest burden of responsibility. Students definitely need more discipline from both places. There is not much that lawmakers can do. If a student desires a gun badly enough, he will get one; but it should be made as difficult as possible. If the teens themselves and [their] parents do not take responsibility for their actions, pretty soon every school in America will have had a murder and everyone will be toting guns and killing each other over stupid things like sneakers or a girlfriend." Jory Wipf, James Valley Christian High School,Huron, South Dakota
*But does the primary responsibility fall on the shoulders of our youth, as Jory claims in his excerpt above? Perhaps adults have confused priorities. Rebecca suggests as much in her excerpt below:
"As a whole, members of today's society are unwilling to take time to admit their fears and weaknesses, or even share their experiences. They are neglecting to teach values to the young generation. They don't want to sit down and talk with some 'stupid,immature,out-of-touch-with-reality teenager.' Most kids today feel like they are at the bottom of the list of national priorities, and it's no wonder when you look at the average American child's day. They wake up at 6:30 am and are rushed out the door to an impersonal day care center where they are dealt with 'en masse.' Now, that is no way to instill 'family values.' How can we expect kids to take pride in themselves when their own parents place more value on earning money than on raising their kids. There always seems to be some bigger dilemma on our nation's agenda. But while we are trying to make peace, pay off the national debt, nationalize health care, save the environment and keep our own citizens from killing each other, a generation...is left to raise [itself]. " Rebecca Reim, DeForest High School, DeForest, Wisconsin
*Isn't protection the primary obligation of government? Andy Chen thinks so:
"The fourth definition for responsibility [given in Andy's paper] indicates an involvement of duty or obligation. Well, it is the government's obligation to make its own nation safe to live in. However, it is a fact that the crime rate in the United States is one of the worst in the world." Andy Chen, New Providence High School, New Providence, New Jersey
*Obviously government is losing the battle and we are seeing more and more children without hope. The results of a study concerning child rape and conducted by the Bureaus of Justice and Statistics was made public in June, 1994. Although only eleven states and the District of Columbia have kept data concerning the age of sex victims, the study extrapolated the findings to the entire nation and reported that in 1992 17,000 girls eleven years old or younger were raped and invariably by someone they knew. This does not consider unreported rapes. The percentage of rape victims under age 18 that actually reported the crime to police are as follows: Rhode Island=70 Alabama=38; Arkansas=44; Delaware=71; Florida=46; Idaho=35; Michigan=68; Nebraska=42; North Dakota=57; Pennsylvania=42; and Wisconsin=42.
*More and more teens are taking their own lives:
"Almost 1 in 3 people I know can name someone they knew who committed suicide. I myself can name about four off the top of my head....If someone's child commits suicide, or runs away; maybe it wasn't 'that evil music they listen to.' Maybe it was the parent's own fault in raising the kid badly, or possibly the social scene at school. It could be a number of things, things people don't like to accept, things that hurt, but things that are nonetheless the truth. Music and lyrics aren't going to do it, and they shouldn't be seen as an easy way to dodge your responsibility." Lindsay Lifrieri, New Providence High School, New Providence, New Jersey "A survey was taken in 1991 of United States high school students and results were very surprising. An admitted twenty-seven percent said that they had 'thought seriously' about suicide at least once in the past year. Also, eight percent revealed that they had actually tried to kill themselves during that period." Tricia Camp, LaCrosse High School, LaCrosse, Washington
*On July 26, 1994 a 20 year-old top-ranked ice skater took his own life in Palo Alto, California.
"We want to stop death, not [encourage] it. I feel there is a solution to every problem and death is not the solution." Tiffany Wagner, Kensington High School, Kensington, Kansas
*We need to find a solution to teen suicide that will satisfy Tiffany and her peers and their younger brothers and sisters. According to Cindy (below) adult researchers are working on the problem:
"Researchers believe that the breakdown in the American family is one of the leading causes of teen suicide. ...Up until the late 1950s, most families lived with or close to their extended family. This would include grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. This gave many young adolescents the opportunity to talk to someone about their problems. Today most of these relatives live far away and many parents aren't home so teens keep their problems to themselves. Today's teens are in trouble and they feel they have nowhere to turn. They are desperately crying out for help, but no one listens. When society finally hears their cries, it may be too late." Cindy Fuerstenberg, Iowa-Grant High School, Livingston, Wisconsin
*Teen Pregnancy
*As if violence were not enough for teens to worry about:
"It is like just one big circle; kids getting drunk, shooting up, and having sex. Some kids do it just to be 'cool'. Others do it to run away from family or friend problems. Since these kids are high when they engage in these activities, they feel wrong or 'dirty' afterwards, if they even remember it, and some get saddled with a bigger problem-- unplanned pregnancy or a serious sexually transmitted disease, like Aids." JoEllyn Cordes, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois
"Sex is almost accepted, and probably expected from today's teens. When talk of sex comes up, rarely is contraception included in the conversa- tion." Danielle Bngowatz, DeForest High School, DeForest, Wisconsin
"In support of the teenagers today, I don't believer our parents'gener- ation can actually understand how treacherous the waters have gotten since they were at sea. ...For the teenagers of today, responsibility has become more of a threat than a promise... Now, with the AIDS virus looming over the heads of all sexually active teens, as well as the many other STD's [sexually transmitted diseases]which are present in the world today, both partners have a responsibility to each other to be sure they are untouched by any of these diseases before becoming intimate." Benjamin E. Debiec, Antietam High, Reading, Pennsylvania
"A study done in 1987 said that in America each day 3,000 teenagers become pregnant which results in one million a year. Four out of five are not married and over half of them get an abortion to solve this problem. These statistics should tell people that we need to start educating everyone a lot more."Trisha Olson, DeForest High School, DeForest, Wisconsin
*A 1994 Roper poll of 503 students in grades 9-12 found that 75 percent of the sexually active teens were using birth control regularly, 72 percent had sex in their parents' home, 60 percent thought their parents were aware of this activity and 54 percent of the teens who had sexual intercourse wish they had waited.
*A report issued by the Alan Guttmacher Institute in June, 1994, found that teens who have learned to use contraceptives are doing a better job of not getting pregnant than are their less informed counterparts. Actually the number of teen pregnancies has held at about one million a year for the past 20 years. What has changed is the percentage as the number of sexually active teens has increased. According to the same report, over 50 percent of girls and 75 percent of boys under age 18 are not virgins. Seventy percent of the babies born to teens are born out of wedlock and only two percent of all illegitimate babies are offered for adoption.
*Unfortunately responsibility is learned and takes discipline:
"Many of my other friends are sexually active and do not use birth control because it is not as convenient. They sometimes get worried that they my be pregnant, but they say they'll simply get an abortion. ...If someone feels that she is old enough to have sex, she should be old enough to do so safely. ...I am not pro-life or anti-abortion, but I am against the reckless lifestyle it may involve. I worry that this irres- ponsible behavior could end up hurting people I love." Tresssa Bell, Antietam High School, Reading, Pennsylvania
"In a survey conducted by myself I found that 8 out of 10 high school students ages 15 to 18 who answered the survey have had pre-marital sex. Many are not with the same partner now. Five out of 8 teenagers have had more than one partner and 2 out of the 8 have had many partners (more than 3). Still 4 out of 8 do not use any means of birth control or protection. One out of the 8 use only birth control pills and condoms and 1 out of the 8 use only use condoms. These teenagers are not taking into consideration the risk of sexually transmitted diseases or even worse the fatal HIV virus and then aids followed by death." Angie Gillispie, Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio
*Here again adults are being asked for help:
"Sex is very important in the production of movies. In the movie Porkies, sex seems to be the only important item about being in high school.I feel that the movie makes young people feel that if they are not having sex, then they are not important and aren't cool, but if they do have sex, then they are cool and are important... Peer pressure in dating is very common. Guys seen to pressure the girl into having sex on the first date. The guy will usually say that he fell in love, and he wants to show her how much."Danna Hines, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri
"Teenagers are a prime target of alcohol advertisers and drug dealers. Advertisements portray beer drinkers as cool, popular, life-of-the-party people. It's easy to see why teenagers can get caught up in the peer pressure of wanting to fit in." Nicole McConnell, Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado
"Friends have a very important role in sex. When you're around them, most of them will talk about having sex. It will sometimes make you feel that you don't fit in with them because you're not involved with sexual activities." Danna Hines, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri
"Teens get this false impression that sex is something everyone is doing and that it's great. Many of the movies that have sex in them never show the characters using birth control. In fact they sometimes have multiple partners and, of course, they never end up pregnant, unless it is in the storyline." Dawn Eddy, Iowa-Grant High School, Livingston, Wisconsin
"If you look through a magazine or watch television you see teens having sex and it is no big deal. They should be showing that if teens are going to have sex then they should use protection, but they just avoid the issue all together." Tracy Poknifke, DeForest Hig