White Hats Program

White Hats is a program to honor and encourage volunteers and to publicize the many good things that are going on across the country in our schools and local communities. Some schools are doing a terrific job; not all kids use drugs and belong to gangs, and relatively few American workers are lazy and unqualified. Everyone knows how hard family members and acquaintances are working, but most believe "everyone else" is uncaring and incompetent. White Hat student-members would discredit this widely held belief by providing local TV, radio, and newspapers with White Hat examples. We depend on our student White Hats to locate these examples. The Foundation provides suggestions and direction in a manual, as well as pins and national exposure for local efforts.

Anyone who has performed community service through an established national agency such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Scouts, or through local efforts to help children, the elderly, the homeless, aids victims, the environment, and so forth, may be eligible to wear a White Hats lapel pin. Identification and recognition is the idea behind the lapel pin. The pin is a symbol. Wearing the pin is both a duty and a privilege.

The White Hats program also reaches out to elected officials and government employees. Our student White Hats seek out praise-worthy programs in the public sector in order to publicize them. We encourage members of the public as well as students to nominate public sector white hats, and counter the popular perception of incompetence. Too many citizens have gotten the message that the bureaucracy is too large and too costly, but they haven't heard about all the corrections and adjustments that are taking place within many government agencies. Legislators and other government workers who have implemented innovative and cost-effective procedures earn the right to wear what we hope to make into the prestigious White Hats lapel pin. The pin signifies that these public sector workers are part of the solution, not the problem.

We noticed, in reading essays this year, that many students already see the need for our national White Hats program. Those whose excerpts are printed below expressed our feelings so accurately we wonder if they eavesdropped on a Singer Foundation board meeting!

"The solutions to all of America's problems cannot be solved with acts of goodwill. Or can they? Getting involved with goodwill projects is at the heart of saving America. This is not hard to do. Have you noticed how good it feels to know another cares about you? Have you noticed how nice it is when someone is helpful and courteous to you, instead of rude and uncaring? Have you noticed how goodwill spreads? If I stop and help a woman pick up her spilled groceries, hopefully she'll stop for the next person who needs a hand. It is a kind of repayment. It happens all the time on America's roadways. Joe stops to help Sue change a spare tire. So, when Sue's husband sees a person stuck in a parking lot with a dead battery, he is the first to offer his jumper cables and truck for a jump. All the program needs is a little bit of faith, and a lot of concern for the future of America. My solution may not be very original or complicated, but it's the easiest, and only God knows how far the network will reach."
Jennifer Artemis Carr, Aubrey High School, Aubrey, Texas

"Let's start a rewards program where people (regardless of age) are rewarded for helping other people."
Rebecca Reim, DeForest High School, DeForest, Wisconsin

"Setting up a club to get things done would be a step in the right direction. Working with the community would help a lot so it is not just the school-aged kids who do things, but the community as a whole. I think that these things would bring our community much closer together. If everyone in the United States takes pride in their schools, communities, and their country, then this will be the best country ever!!" Stephanie Tritt, Kiona-Benton High School, Benton City, Washington

"If we could get volunteers to start in another state and keep extending this program, we could have a nation-wide organization of everyone working together. This cooperation and building of trust, and talking about problems, could eliminate some of the irresponsibility of our nation."
Ramona Lazanis, Freeman High School, Rockford, Washington

"If more people were recognized for being responsible, then society might have more people acting responsibly. All types of media should give examples of responsible behavior for others to model, instead of always telling people about the irresponsible behavior of others."
Brian Toon, Lexington High School, Lexington, Illinois

"I believe if the young people today would see positive things around them they may start to have positive attitudes towards life."
Roxane Wentzel, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota

"What you find at most places is that there is a core group of about 20 people who do everything for their schools and community. These select few get everything done---or try to. At our school, now, more people are getting recognized for their efforts. [Seeing] their names in the bulletin, receiving thank-you cards, or even a warm thank you in front of the student body, makes [students] feel special. Service projects have varied from cleaning yards, grocery shopping, doing errands, to just spending time with or cleaning up the community. [They] give [students] a chance to meet [and work with] alumni, neighbors, and senior citizens. I think we should let people know better about what is going on. Sometimes their excuse has been that they are not informed. I also believe that if students were given credit for so many hours of cleaning the city or for helping the elderly, many more students would help out."
Stephanie Tritt, Kiona-Benton High School, Benton City, Washington

"There are many other American's doing a service for the nation, so we need to start focusing more on them."
Shane Comer, Freeman High School, Rockford, Washington

These students might be pleased to know that we are asking the school chapters of White Hats to seek out good deeds in their communities and feed it to their local media.

Robert and Jenny drew attention to the media's role in publicizing good deeds as seen in the following excerpts from their papers:

"Many people in the community are more than willing to help people that need it but simply don't know how. I believe that the only way that we will be able to take care of the poor is to let the comfortable people know how they can help. Some organizations already use newspapers as well as TV and radio to promote their programs. If the opportunities to serve are made readily available to the general public, I believe that the response would be overwhelming. If we work together with obtainable goals in mind, nothing can stop us."
Robert A. Braxton, Armwood High School, Seffner, Florida

"Every week my local newspaper selects the persons of the week, usually one adult and one youth, based on the things they have done to make a difference in the community. This is a very motivating article. It gives everyone the message that they can make a difference and gives them ideas of what they can do."
Jenny Deppen, Conrad Weiser High School, Robesonia, Pennsylavania

Chris suggests offering a tax break as a reward for community service. Chances are if Chris (below) lived in California instead of Texas, he might support Congressman Huffington's proposal to give tax breaks to volunteers who donate time to good causes. Tax deductions have been allowed for donations of money for years.

[Chris's idea:] "Implement a new government program where a tax break of five to ten percent, depending on the type of activity, would be used to reward people involved in major community service activities. We all know that money is an important driving force in America and if such a program were instituted, we would undoubtedly see a tremendous change in America's attitude towards responsibility."
Chris Lyles, Hereford High School, Hereford, Texas

Maggie, too, wants our government to acknowledge that citizens have someting important to contribute besides money:

"We should realize it is not our possessions that make an impact on our world, it is our person; our talent. We live in a democratic society where we are supposed to be served by our government, not conned. Sometimes we the people have to stand up and say: this is who we are and we have something to give to our country not our money, but our intellect."
Maggie Jackson, Danville High School, Danville, Kentucky

"Responsibility is so much sweeter when it's free will that causes one to help people."
Steve Pietila, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota

Referring to National Service, or any form of mandatory service as voluntary service may be an oxymoron. In advocating National Service, some claim it will appeal to the "sleeping angels in one's nature."On the other hand, to pay those angels could lower the heights to which they might otherwise soar.

There is no need to resort to force. Americans are among the most generous people in the world and most do not care whether a person is in distress because of his own weakness and lack of effort, or because of circumstances which would have been beyond anyone's control. The mere fact that a need exists is reason enough for many Americans to take action. Citizens in America, in larger percentages than anywhere else in the world, help one another. But as Steve says, the results are better, if the motivation is desire rather than obligation.

This unprecedented generosity is part and parcel of our political system. The American ideal flourishes when accompanied by a peculiar brand of freedom; a freedom that entails risk. The American political system anticipated citizens living with uncertainty. Because America's political structure was not a planned economy where security was offered in exchange for regulation, ordinary Americans often found themselves living on the brink of disaster. This bred sympathy for one's fellows; a sympathy unparalleled in the history of mankind. But that was before the emergence of the now co-existent welfare state and its "goodwill by mandate". The old American goodwill cannot be mandated. It is the natural outpouring of sympathy by those who have themselves lived with insecurity and can appreciate its peaks and valleys.

I cannot agree more with Steve Pietila's statement above.

We were distressed by the number of students who felt it was so much easier to find the evil in society than the good. The sampling that follows shows how important it is to recruit members of the media to our cause:

"It's so hard to find good things happening in cities and towns. It seems that the cruel and wrong doings are more glorified and publicized."
Becky Britton, Colby High School, Colby, Kansas

"On the other side of life is the violence and evil that outweighs the good of life today."
Clint Goff, Knoxville High School, Knoxville, Illinois

"Everybody knows that fifteen years ago there were bad things happening in the same or even greater quantities then they are today. Back then they weren't made out to be such big stories. The average American citizen really didn't want to know all the gory and never-ending details. The media needs to start reporting stories that are positive. I found that I could find fifteen negative events to only one positive example."
Colby Walker, Prairie High School, New Rayman, Colorado

"Looking for bad things that the media has written about was really easy, but the worst thing was trying to find all the good things that people had done."
Aria Hoekstra, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois

"Although there are many organizations and clubs that are run by responsible people, and help others in need, I think one will always hear about the bad and irresponsible acts over the good acts."
Erin Sweeney, Valhalla High School, Valhalla, New York

"People lose sight of the important things in life, caught up in trying to make a profit and moving up the business ladder, or simply trying to get the mountain of bills paid. Slowly but surely our families are deteriorating and our society is crumbling. Evidence of this corrosion is everywhere: in the news, on the radio, and in the newspapers. Headlines scream of disaster, gossip, murder, and chaos. With a million and one things going on at once, it's easy to lose sight of what's meaningful in life."
Nina Tang, Pioneer High School, San Jose, California

"The media does not want to know what an average family had for dinner last night or how much their electric or water bill was. That is what I think is wrong with society today. Many times people are so bogged down with bad news that they do not even want to hear the good news. The truth is, today's society would be much better off without all the printing of bad news, and they could use more good news."
Brian Toon, Lexington High , Lexington, Illinois

"In our nation there is so much bad that we as teenagers rarely get to see any good on the streets, or even in our schools."
Emily Wiatrek, Falls City High School, Falls City, Texas

"In this paper, there are many more good examples than bad ones. Too bad that's not how it is in real life."
Jenni Tarner, Big Spring High School, Newville, Pennsylavania

"I found throughout the course of my writing that it was very easy to depict examples of irresponsibility, yet it was very hard to find examples of someone making a difference in this society."
Ryan L. Moore, Carbondale High School, Carbondale, Illinois

"We need to stop splashing out news of the unfairness and cruelty of our world, and put more stress on the events that are beneficial to us. We can't ignore our problems but we have to stop focusing on them alone."
Jaime Black, Colby High School, Colby, Kansas

"We cannot see a news headline without noticing an irresponsible or immoral act."
Jenni Williams, Freeman High School, Rockford, Washington

"I feel that the media only shows the bad in the world, when there is a lot of good in the world. When I did this half of the assignment, I realized that there are a lot of good things that happen every day in this world along with the bad."
Aria Hoekstra, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois

"It is wonderful to see so many great stories of people helping each other out, but why are these stories in the minority, overshadowed by murders, lawsuits, and tragedies?" Amy Deehr, Freeman High School, Rockford, Washington

"I think that there are a lot more cases where people do not take responsibility, than where they do take responsibility."
Sherri Utley, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee

"Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of people in this country who are very responsible and who do very responsible things, but it seems to be harder and harder these days to come up with acts of responsibility."
Mike Ervin, Richmond High School, Richmond, Illinois

"Examples of irresponsibility can easily be found in government, the media, business, medicine, and everyday life. If you dig a little deeper, however, you can also find many good examples of responsibility in all of these areas."
Mara Bergeron, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota

"Even as there are many idiotic irresponsible actions and people, there are almost as many good consciously responsible people. These are harder and fewer to find because they, for the most part, do not make the front page."
Cecil Boyd, Freeman High School, Rockford, Washington

"While few and far between, there are some examples of responsible behavior that are achieving some good in this county."
Russell Mason, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas

"It was much harder to find examples of good thing happening than it was of bad things happening. That is a little bit sad. It shows how dysfunctional our system of government is, when there are so many examples of situations where people get away with things that common sense tells us are definitely not right."
Kenny Curtis, Kiona-Benton High School, Benton City, Washington

"There are many other people in the world that are doing good things, but it seems that the bad things in life seem to be more publicized and emphasized."
Jeremy J. McCord, David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas

"The United States in decline is a frightening concept to face for a person of my stature."
Brian Preston, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas

This is a sad commentary. Just look at the last excerpt for a minute. Brian's fear should make all of us adults feel ashamed!

There is no doubt the current state of affairs has Ty (above) thoroughly confused. At the same time the older generations have made a negative impression on Robert in South Dakota:

"Society today is self-centered. All that people in today's society care about is themselves. This is shown to be the main objective in life care for yourself first."
Robert Keith Preheim, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota

Although Robert seems to give society little credit, Cory in Oklahoma is even skeptical of charitable impulses:

"Since most people do not want the public to remember them as a Scrooge, they donate money to local charities here and there."
Cory Poplin, Broken Arrow High School, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Tim and Christopher point out some consequences of irresponsibility:

"The person who tends not to obey the law may create problems ranging from a handicapped person not having a place to park, to causing the death of a person by disregarding the law and passing on a hill or on a double yellow line."
Tim Moore, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

"If the people of a democracy do not see reason in having responsibilities, then how can one rule itself with full capacity and also compete in a global economy?" Christopher Shawn Crow, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

We found many students groping for solutions:

"Oh, so many problems, and not enough solutions."
Martha Yeahquo, Aubrey High School, Aubrey, Texas

"It would be nice if there was an answer to this problem of irresponsibility, but the sad truth is that the world is simply gone downhill."
Josh McFarland, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon

"Society as a whole must suffer when the deeds of a few are looked upon as normal occurrences. In a Nazi death camp, a sign containing the words of Adolf Hitler explains what America may someday become: 'I want to raise a generation devoid of conscience.' " John Espinosa, Aubrey High School, Aubrey, Texas

The students above are obviously demoralized. Scott in Montana may have an answer:

"I'm trying to suggest to the public that if we want the government to be responsible, then we as individuals also have to take a stand against irresponsibility."
Scott Crain, Froid High School, Froid, Montana

Scott is making sense. Mike Wieman, while pledging to be a model hog raiser, pretty much echo's Scott's sentiments:

"Since I raise and sell market hogs, I will not sell any diseased, recently vaccinated, or treated hogs. I will learn new feeding techniques so that antibiotics and growth hormones will not be needed to increase my profit margin.

I will isolate ill hogs and treat them as instructed, and if I have to use antibiotics, I will not sell them until the vaccines have been eliminated from their system.

I will cut down the use of pesticides and insecticides on my hog farm. In addition, I will be responsible for proper handling and cooking of all the meat I will eat. I will thoroughly wash all vegetables and fruits that I eat.

I will read packages and follow storage directions and "use by" dates. I will not defrost any foods at room temperature, and I will wash hands, utensils, and work areas after handling uncooked foods.

I will avoid eating raw eggs, uncooked meat, and any other food that will cause harm to my health. I will also continue to read and keep informed of new guidelines and suggestions to preserve my health, since my health is the most important thing to me.

I will participate in the food safety for my health. So even though I feel the government has responsibility for food safety for it's citizens, I also have an individual responsibility for my own health, and cannot expect the government to do everything for me."
Mike Wieman, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota

But, judging by the excerpts that follow, Mahasin and Heath need to hear the idea expressed again:

"In our day and age societal problems are at an all time high. We are surrounded by a world full of crime, brought on by [the] need to achieve the American Dream. This has resulted in crime stemming from greed, lust, anger, revenge, and a sickness that there aren't words to describe."
Mahasin Haqq, Carbondale High School, Carbondale, Illinois

"If something isn't done now about this country's moral, ethical, and legal decay, we, as a nation, will fall."
Heath Stevens, Plainview High School, Ardmore, Oklahoma

Heather in Arkansas repeats Scott's idea and adds an admonishment of her own:

"High responsibility as a citizen carries with it the obligation to understand the ideas and ideals of constitutional government."
Heather Michelle Ramsey, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

Kimberly quickly picks up the theme:

"Pericles once said that in order to hold society together it is the responsibility of the citizen to respect authority and the laws set down. Aristotle once wrote that respect for authority is also to be taught in the home. Machiavelli later wrote that a society must keep old traditions, otherwise you lose stability in the society. Democritus once wrote that the ultimate welfare of everyone depends upon the state, but that it is also reasonable to hold that the welfare of the state is man's first concern. So, as you can see, philosophy from all times and places supports the notion that both the individual and the government have major responsibilities to ensure the preservation of society."
Kimberly Knutson, Broken Arrow High School, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Brenner reminds us that:

"In earlier times it was easier to distinguish the role of the individual and the government."
Brenner Farr, Broken Arrow High School, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

"Perhaps Americans could comprehend their responsibilities better if they studied ancient Athens [where] people were punished for neutrality or apathy. What right does a person have to complain if he does nothing to improve the situation? Congress people come and go, but the power of the people remains, if exercised. When a citizen replaces apathy with action, then and only then, can he rightfully criticize."
Rebecca White, Broken Arrow High School, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Heath, in the excerpt below, tells us about someone who took action:

"Doreen Coleman painted her graffitied apartment house white. She was sick of seeing the ugly gang names so she painted over them, but she didn't get permission. So Chester Housing Authorities fined her $300.00 and are initiating her eviction notice. When Doreen painted her apartment the neighbors made nice comments on it, and it even made people take pride in their lawn and neighborhood. The case hasn't yet been resolved, but it looks like Doreen is going to lose."
Heath Frye, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota

I have a special interest in what happens to Doreen. My diary entry of 1/28/93 may explain why:

As I walked on Bay street in San Francisco this morning, the demoralizing effect of all the nasty graffiti on the walls of low-income housing hit me especially hard, and I got the idea for another project for HSF. The White Hat Brigade could erase this nastiness and install uplifting mottoes on walls (on metal plaques which can be cleaned), pick up bottles and papers, and plant flowers, etc., all on a weekly basis. It could be modeled on the "Adopt A Highway" programs that are springing up all over the country. The White Hats could adopt low income neighborhoods, tutor young students, provide entertainment and visits to nursing home patients and to elderly living alone or in groups. There is no end to the possibilities.

I'll try and find the old Gary Cooper John Doe movie of the forties. It might be interesting to see how the idea of caring about your neighbors spread in this fictionalized version of the White Hats. I think we could spread the idea today via radio and cable TV spots and among high schools and colleges as an adjunct to other HSF projects.

Government cannot keep paying for everything! The tab for the proposed national service program will be picked up ultimately by taxpayers. Who else is going to pay for the education promised to NS volunteer workers? I'm certain people will provide volunteer services without presenting a tab to the taxpayers. Instead of money, they would get the feeling that they are doing something worthwhile and making a difference!

The name White Hats came from a conversation with David (my 4th son and then an attorney) at Thanksgiving, 1993, where he traced his desire to be a policeman to the need to be a guy in a White Hat, rescuing and helping people. (David told me in a later conversation that he had referred to White Knights, but by then I had latched onto the concept of a White Hat.) By the way, David is now a teacher, and I'm sure you'll agree, a good teacher is entitled to wear a White Hat proudly.

I remember so well how I felt that morning when I saw the following scrawled on an entry wall on Bay Street, not far from San Francisco's acclaimed Fisherman's Wharf: "GATEWAY TO HELL, BITCH!" If reading this offends any of you, it should. It should offend all of us. It did me. I couldn't help thinking about the teenage girls who lived in that housing project. I could surmise what they must feel, perhaps subconsciously, as they made their way past such a degrading message day after day.

By painting over the graffiti, Doreen Coleman was doing just what I advocated in my diary when I first got the idea for the White Hats. You may find it hard to believe that, as Heath says, "Doreen is going to lose" in court. But remember Doreen Coleman lives in public housing and you've got to understand that government does not think the way you and I do.

Davis-Bacon legislation has always worked to the detriment of the poor and disadvantaged. The unions had their own self- interest foremost when they persuaded Congress to enact Davis-Bacon. (The law is named for the two politicians who sponsored the legislation.) Davis-Bacon mandates that prevailing wages be paid on all government jobs. This translates to union wages, and means government doesn't have any hiring latitude. Union labor has to be hired to perform repairs, even in public-housing projects. Texas Congressman Dick Armey has argued that public-housing tenants like Doreen should be permitted to fix up their own apartments "to put sweat equity into their own homes, just as you and I do." He has pointed out that private home owners quickly learn how to become part-time handy-persons and there's nothing but discouraging laws preventing public-housing tenants from doing the same thing.

Bruce Morrison of Connecticut was responsible for putting into law the provision that union workers must perform all work in public-housing across the country. A delegation of black public-housing residents asked the Black Caucus to vote against Morrison's law, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. If Doreen had asked permission before erasing the graffiti, it is likely she would have been told union painters had to be hired and funds were not available. In other words, "Live with it!"

The following is another example of self-help which got people into trouble. It was offered as an example of irresponsibility:

"Wayne Carden was on a plane, where, as we all know, [there is not a whole lot of leg-room]. Carden was trying to lean his seat back, but there was a taller gentleman sitting behind him. Carden and the man exchanged some words, then Carden summoned the head flight attendant. She resolved nothing. The confrontation lasted four minutes before the taller man exchanged seats with a shorter person so Carden could lean his seat back. The two men thought things were resolved, but later Carden received a summons from the FAA. He now faces [fines and possibly incarceration]. FAA regulations say that passengers cannot disturb flights or cause disturbances. The FAA sees these kinds of disturbances as terrorists acts."
Heath Frye, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota

Far too often students found government interfering with private lives. Even though the intention was to help, the "help" frequently caused more harm, as seen in Alice's excerpt below:

"Myron Guyton of the New York Giants left his Chevrolet Blazer in a parking lot, locked, and it was stolen. Nine months later he was notified by police that his car had been found and was parked in a storage yard. When he went to retrieve it, he was charged $11,969: the cost of towing the car, plus 288 days of storage at an average of $38.43 a day. Guyton later stated, "When I asked why it took so long to notify me, I was told that somebody didn't do the necessary paperwork."
Alice Elizabeth Juvenal, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas

Several students advocated less dependence on government:

"In my personal contribution to society, I make it a commitment to never in any way have to rely upon the government, or any other person, to maintain the well being of myself."
Saul James Horner, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas

"Many times we also ask the government for too much; we want them to do it so we do not have to."
John Gesick, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota

"The government has made this country a dependent society. The more the government does, the more society lets it do."
Nicci Bachand, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas

Nicci's statement is especially relevant in the light of the following suggestion by Carey:

"I think it is mostly the parents responsibility to get their children in for their shots. However, it is also part of the government's and media's responsibility to make sure they remind people to bring their children in. A solution to one of the problems might be, that for the children that aren't being vaccinated, there is an incentive for doing so, such as a tax break or so on. The other thing that could be done is that the media could inform more people that they need to get this done. If there is not a law, then maybe one should be introduced."
Carey Mears, Rolla High School, Rolla, North Dakota

I'm almost certain Saul, John and Nicci, above, would try and convince Carey that it is not the government's, nor the media's, responsibility to remind parents to get their children vaccinated. Many people, however, would agree with Carey. What do you think?

We were surprised by the seemingly hard line taken by both the Bens quoted below:

"Not everyone can succeed; not everyone deserves to succeed."
Ben Beneski, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania

"It is a shame that without money it is tough to live. But it is a fact of life that everyone has to face."
Ben Mills, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania

These students are talking about "justice": those who "deserve" and those who don't. This is a theme throughout the essaysÒmany students seem to be searching for a reason to work hard.

"By giving people 'too much' through welfare and other organizations, many people have quit trying to compete in life. They have quit trying for employment and for self-made success. Instead, they wait for unemployment or welfare checks. In trying to help people who really need help, our government has destroyed initiation[initiative]."
Willis Smith, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas

Matt in Oklahoma appears to agree with the analysis given by Willis above:

"My grandfather, who grew up in the Great Depression, once said, 'If we had welfare back, then we would still be on it, because we wouldn't have had the motivation to do anything else.' So by limiting the time a family can receive welfare, we will be giving them the motivation to become independent, and keep them from falling into the trap that is currently set."
Matt Cunningham, Plainview High School, Ardmore, Oklahoma

Dawn sees the same forces at work in Missouri:

"I work in a drug store and everyday I see [taxpayers'] money being grossly abused in the Medicaid system. People take advantage of Uncle Sam every single day. Most of the people we see with Medicaid cards have no real handicap that keeps them from supporting their own families, except the knowledge that they don't have to. Their welfare checks will support them. Sadly enough, the people we see who actually need federal help usually make just a little bit too much money to qualify for it, and not enough money to pay their hospital or medical bills."
Dawn Brown, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri

From South Dakota Tonya raised a question that is on the minds of a lot of people and is an especially hot topic currently in California:

"From my experiences at work, I've learned that even if a person, on their break, gets hurt, workman's compensation still pays for it. If somebody cuts [his/her-self] with a knife while they're peeling an orange, why should everyone have to take a cut in pay to cover the cost of workman's compensation?" Tonya Koutson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

Workman's compensation costs come to almost $10 billion in California. We have watched claims and lawsuits accelerate over the past ten years. In 1985 California had over 4,000 mental-stress claims. Awards were given due to stress caused by job expansion or job lay offs, for distress at being reprimanded, and even for depression caused by working with members of another race.

The subjective tests used turned almost any act of an employer into a potential claim for compensation. Unfortunately employers, especially the small ones, are finding the safest way to avoid claims is to abstain from hiring employees whenever possible.

"My dad is a 47-year-old male who was fired from his job because the business changed ownership. He found a new job at a seed company. There he did hard labor and was not used to it. He lifted forty pound bags of soy beans and corn constantly. Sometimes he even threw them above his head to stack them. His elbow, back, and groin began to bother him in his first week of work.

Later, when he had a half-day off he went to the doctor. The doctor told him he had tendonitus in his elbow, and had inflammation in his back and groin. The doctor prescribed some medication and also a leave of absence. While he was gone his employer claimed that dad had quit.

Now dad has to find a new job, pay his own medical bills (because workman's compensation won't pay for it), and he can't claim unemployment because he supposedly quit his former job."
Jana Cooey, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

What is the lesson here? Workers play by the rules. Because they count on government to be around in tough times, they willingly have money withheld from their paychecks. But like insurance companies, government sometimes finds it easier to collect than to pay. Unfortunately Mr. Cooey was a case in point.

The search for justice continues:

"Who is responsible for the crops getting ruined every year, the farmers or the government? If the government and the farmer both know that the land is apt to flood, then they shouldn't plant there. They should have it for set aside acres. But if the government and the farmers don't know that the land could flood, then the government should have to pay the farmer for whatever he put into the land.

This has happened a lot of times with relatives and family. They don't always get money from the government. If the farmers' land floods, then they should be able to get money from the government, just like people who are on welfare, and those that don't have jobs, get money and goods from the government."
Jackie Welsh, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

"My first example of irresponsible behavior is a true story of what happened to my father when he went into the hospital for a simple test on his back. A milogram is a routine procedure where dye is injected into the spine and pictures are taken, much like a catscan. Somehow the directions were mixed up and two different orders were combined.

The consequence of this was a severe case of chemical meningitis. My dad still suffers from short term memory loss, head aches, and if not given the right medicine, he has seizures.

The incident happened six years ago and we never received a dime. The medicine that he is on costs him from one dollar to five dollars a pill. Three times a day he takes a handful of pills; that's a lot of money. No one took responsibility for the accident and yet the patient, not the doctors, is the one to suffer.

I think the hospital knows what they did to [my father] and they know that it can't be reversed or fixed. So why don't they help him out a little? Pay for his medicine, or other things? In our court case we lost because we had no concrete evidence that the hospital was the one to cause the damage. They offered us a settlement, before the trial."
Kim Johnson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota

(Unfortunately, an offer to settle is not an admission of guilt.]

"Not everyone can afford to have insurance, because of its high cost. Everyone else then pays for the ones who do not have it. Some government programs such as Welfare give hospitalization at very low cost, and free medication. Everyone else that isn't on this program is left holding the bill. Hospitals and insurance companies take advantage of this situation and charge an "arm and a leg" for everything."
Joe Bowman, Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio

"In the Argus Leader, our area paper, a story was told [about] a woman [who] gave up her son's organs and then received a $41,000 bill for the removal of organs."
Angie Olsen, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota