Examples of Good Deeds: Programs for Children
"Mad Dads is a group that mobilizes men in the community to become role models." Keri Wiatrek, Falls City High School, Falls City, Texas
"In Connecticut there is a Community Renewal Team's Community Life Skills program which serves the communityin many ways. Part of the plan is to aid destitute children, and instill self-esteem and skills to do well in life. In this program a mentor is assigned to each child to personally help and guide the child. Such a pair, consisting of Barbara Wallace, a busy mother, and an anonymous eighteen year old girl who has lost her father and whose mother had resorted to drugs, worked together for the best. The girl's grades went from average to A's and B's, she participated in a hunger walk, and has joined Barbara's church. After having had a paved path to failure, she is now looking forward to going to college with a purpose in life." Jesse Callaway, South Kent High School, South Kent, Connecticut
"Dance Outreach, has opened new doors for disabled children." Kristy Foreman, Big Spring High School, Newville, Pennsylvania
"I myself have volunteered my services at a camp for mentally and physically disabled persons for two years. This camp is held for one week. All of the counselors are volunteers. The pay comes from knowing that you helped about 100 people have fun for a whole week." Kerri Knutson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"Our local Business Professionals of America chapter hasset up a program called "Chapter 1" to allow high school students to tutor elementary children with learning disabilities." Richard Blagg, Jr., Aubrey High School, Aubrey, Texas
"Corporate/Community Schools of America (C/CSA), located in North Lawndale, Chicago, a tough inner-city areais a private organization run strictly by corporations. Itoffers 300 school age children a tuition-free system with new teaching and management methods." Stephanie Brown, New Providence High School, New Providence, New Jersey
"Little Tikes has also contributed to the improvement of childcare by designing and building stimulating childcare centers on-site of their company. Little Tikes discovered that the care center was not only needed, but was also good for business." Kirsten Sinkola, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota
"In Valhalla, New York, at least 75 students, including myself, volunteer at Blythedale Children's Hospital. We work with children ages two to the teenage years. Every Saturday I spend three hours playing games with the kids and watching television with them." Larry Weingarten, Valhalla High School,Valhalla, New York
"The Caring and Sharing Store is an annual event that allows children to take home Christmas presents for their parents." Erika Grossell, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota
"Kids Against Crime offers a hotline and a center with child fingerprinting, graffiti cleanups, and crime prevention training. The leader, Linda Warsaw-Champin, also organized a crime busters group of junior high students who created posters, attended trials, and put on plays concerning drugs and gangs." Leann Fleming, Falls City High School, Falls City, Texas
"A prominent rock video displayed hundreds of pictures of runaway children, urging them to call or return to their loved ones. At least half a dozen of the children featured either called or returned home. This occurrence was not nearly as noted as the negative things." Kristy Wanner, Conrad Weiser High School, Robesonia, Pennsylvania
"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 on life." Hao Duong, Antietam High School, Reading, Pennsylvania
"[Examples] Drive by Shooting (DBS) drills that teach children to hit the floor when gunfire breaks out. There are other organizations being developed to help promote safety for children; like SAFE: Schools Are For Education, which was started in 1990 by George Sams. NSSC: National School Safety Center, which is a developed training program in crisis prevention, management, and resolutions was also formed to better the safety in our communities." Jacqueline Jensen, Luck High School, Luck, Wisconsin
"Froid also has problems with kids being bored during the summer. Froid has no swimming pool because there aren't enough kids to keep it open, so the organization, Gals in Action (GIA), pays for a school bus to take the kids to Medicine Lake five times a week during the summer." Scott Crain, Froid High School, Froid, Montana
"At our local mall at Christmas there was a huge tree called the angel tree. On the tree were hundreds of cards [each bearing] the name of a [needy] child. People came and took the cards off the tree and later returned a present to the tree for that particular child." Angie Olson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"The Big Buddy program in Queens, New York, pairs a college student with a homeless child. One day each weekend, the two spend the day participating in a wide variety of mutually chosen educational, cultural, and recreational activities. The children benefited by having someone who cared about them and their education, and it was good experience for the college student as well." Jeremy Wyatt, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee
"The New York Yankees are also deeply involved in volunteer work. Yankee players and personnel, such as Don Mattingly and General manager Gene Michael, are very active with children. Michael is the founder of the Gene Michael Fund, a chapter of the Tomorrow's Children's Health Fund, a service which provides mobile medical care for homeless children in New York City." Craig Sjostrom, Central Islip High School, Central Islip, New York
"A recent action of responsibility was Westchester's [New York] Invest-In-Kids fund. The Fund focuses on 'preventing problems,and preparing young people to become productive citizens. The Fund wants to set up programs for kids who aren't getting the care and guidance they need." Amy Torchia, Valhalla High School, Valhalla, New York
"Borden, Incorporated, gives funds to develop programs in three cities that will help parents protect their children from the effects of homelessness, and try to help the parents cope." Teresa Woodard. Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee
Examples of Good Deeds: Environmental Issues
"Knowing that oil could pollute the groundwater, people in the community got together and had an oil collecting facility put in at the landfill. Now people can take their used oil there instead of dumping it in an unsafe manner. This kind of program shows that we are beginning to take responsibility for our environment." Michelle Berens, Colby High School, Colby, Kansas
"I feel that despite the general apathy of the nation towards conserving the earth, Austin has accepted the responsibility and tried to stay ahead of the national standards. We have campaigned against all types of pollution, and in favor of conservation and recycling. I don't think that this means that we are more responsible people, only that we understand how to accept responsibility, and act upon it as individuals and as a community." Lesley Bitting, David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas
"In Ashland, Oregon, a group of Girl Scouts took on the task of reminding citizens that it is the responsibility of everyone to keep streams safe and healthy for people and wildlife. This group of girls spray painted the silhouette of a fish and a warning not to dump hazardous waste by city street drains, which emptied directly into a local creek." Mike Godfrey, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon
"The students at Cook-Wissahickon Elementary School in Philadelphia are doing their part to help the environment and at the same time their community. They have worked collecting cans and paper, and used them to build a house to be donated to a recycling company that has a project for the homeless." Kristi Meyer, Seaman High School, Topeka, Kansas
"In 1987, 25 students at Coral High School in Coral Springs, Florida, formed a club. They called the club Save What's Left. Today they have more than 200 members, and similar programs have been started in six other area schools, including junior high and elementary schools. Students have cleaned up canals and beaches, developed local tree-preservation laws, and created a nature preserve on land next to the high school. They've applied for a municipal grant to design a nature park and education pavilion in the preserve." Nick Dixon, Freeman High School, Rockford, Washington
"The ecology club at Petaluma High School in California cleaned up Adobe Creek, which contained ten tons of junk, and built a fish hatchery. By doing this the group learned the importance of not polluting and keeping the Earth clean." Jennifer Waddell, Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio
"The school I attend is one of the oldest educational institutions in the area. Originally as a boarding school, a nearby spring was used for doing laundry and other purposes. The desire of our school to restore the original site was combined with the city's need for a park. My local FFA Chapter has worked after school, on weekends, and during the summer to restore the area to its original status, and at the same time provide the city with a useful park. In my opinion, this is truly an example of responsible citizenship. Tax dollars were saved, a service was provided to the community, and students learned the joy that comes from helping others and being a responsible citizen." Tim Moore, Valley Springs High School, Valley Springs, Arkansas
"My dad told me about a Christmas tree farm that takes trees back after Christmas to turn them into mulch to use as fertilizer. They then give you a tree sapling to plant in your own yard." Laurel Wess, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
"Another example of a good thing that is happening deals with the people of New Mexico, who get together every spring to clean out the irrigation ditches in their area. These people have been doing this for the past three centuries, and have never once received help from the government or taken money to help them with the clean up. This goes to show that if people put together a community operation, they can get much more done without the help of the government." Cheril Sundheim, Froid High School, Froid, Montana
"Another excellent example is when the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council in Washington decided to donate over 10,000 hours and spend thousands of donated funds to help wildlife conservation. Some activities they did included assisting the Washington Wildlife Department in capturing elk calves in the spring so they could be fitted with radios for a study on elk calf mortality. And in Lincoln County, they helped restore vegetation, stabilize banks, and increase the waterfowl nesting habitat in Wilson and Crab Creeks. They hand-carried a water tank into a roadless area on Chewelah Peak for wildlife." Nick Dixon, Freeman High School, Rockford, Washington
"Last year, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a seventeen-year-old girl was seen walking down a nearly deserted highway, trash bag in hand. It was a Saturday afternoon and the girl was voluntarily picking up roadside litter just to beautify our environment. She could have been out with friends, at a party, or simply driving around. But she responsibly chose to do something that would benefit everyone, not just herself." Kristie Chaney, Plainview High , Ardmore, Oklahoma
Examples of Good Deeds: Health Programs
"If someone in our town has been sick and has expensive medical bills, the community of Froid puts on a big supper, and it costs so much for each family to eat. The money raised from the supper is given to the family to help them pay for all their medical expenses." Holly Waters, Froid High, Froid, Montana
"My community has pulled together [through] many tough times. Cancer and other sickness have struck many people in our community. Sadly enough it recently took the life of a young man. To cover hospital costs, we have had benefitsto raise money." Angie Olson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon has raised millions of dollars in the fight against muscular dystrophy. Every year Mr. Lewis pushes harder and tries harder to receive more money for the disease stricken children. He puts time, energy, and money into this 24-hour event." Willis Smith, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas
"This country has hotline organizations such as Briarpatch, to help troubled persons, yet the suicide rate just isn't diminishing. It is not that people aren't trying to help people deal withproblems, it just is that it is almost impossible. It really makes you think. We can't get rid of suicide, until we change the mind set of those craving suicide." Amy Holler, De Forest High School, DeForest, Wisconsin
"Another group that is helping others is Health Care for the Homeless. This is an organization of doctors across the country who treat chronically sick homeless people." Josh McFarland, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon
"Anne Brown paid her doctor's bill despite having no money or health insurance. She spent three hours volunteering in a school cafeteria, thanks to a program that uses the age-old practice of barter to ease the modern day expenses of health care. The program is the brainchild of Dr. Timothy T. Jones, a family practitioner in Whitney Point, NY. For two hours on Friday afternoons, Jones offers medical care to anyone who comes in. Patients, in return, agree to do two or three hours of community service, such as washing school buses, sorting cans, and packages at a food pantry or volunteering at a day care center. They also get credit for work with churches or community organizations." Erica D. Gholson, Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio
"My second example comes from our community. We get together to raise money for families who really need the money for medical bills. I'm sure communities all over the country do the same type of thing. This is another important example of how people help when they really need to. This also shows the kind of love and support one can find in a small town." Adam Fordyce, Froid High School, Froid, Montana
"Good things are happening all over the place. For example, in Broward county, Florida, two mobile clinics visit 22 neighborhoods to provide free health care to patients whose average income is under $4000 a year. All 15 physicians and most of the staff are senior citizens who volunteer their time and expense." Serenity Aliffi, Armwood High School, Seffner, Florida
"I work at a hospital as a housekeeper. Every once in a while there will be a week or so when the hospital is really busy. When this happens, we sometimes get volunteers who come in and help with whatever they can. One example might be answering call lights. When a patient wants something he will turn on his call light. Sometimes all the patient might want is water, and if the volunteer can get him water it saves the nurse a lot of time." Tonya Koutson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"The Alzheimer's Associationraised money for victims of the disease by holding a 5 mile walk. This earned several thousand dollars." Stephen Vakil, Carbondale High School, Carbondale, Illinois
"In hospitals around the country there is always a familiar figure that stands out, the candy striper. Ladies of all ages donate their time each week to make someone's day a little brighter." Chris Hare, Plainview High, Ardmore, Oklahoma Examples of Good Deeds: Community Action
"Colorado sports teams have started a program called Operation Cease Fire. This program is to get guns off the streets and out of the hands of children. The Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rockies, and Denver Broncos have all participated in Operation Cease Fire. The program exchanges two tickets to a game for each gun turned in." Jamie Sue Bellis, Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado
"There are also Crime Watch Zones in most neighborhoods. If there is a sign in the window of a home, and you need help, the people who live there can help you. There are volunteers to help anyone in any kind of trouble." Jamie Tesky, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"Deer River is a small community with a population of about 1,000 inhabitants. From these 1,000 inhabitants $250,000 had to be raised to finance a new community playground. They community held countless fund raisers; local organizations such as churches and businesses donated their time, effort, and money; and even the students helped by collecting recyclable trash and making cookbooks which they sold in the local grocery store. putting my time and effort into building the playground helped me to learn the importance of responsibility. To me this proves that men and women, young and old, can be responsible members of society." Marvin Scott Verbeck, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota
"My family, as well as the other families in the neighborhood, have decided to adopt a neighborhood watch program so that if something strange should occur, our neighbors would call the police. This is a responsible solution to crime. If people all over the country would do the same, crime would drop increasingly." Jeremy J. McCord, David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas
"In my community a group of women formed a program for unwed mothers, which takes pregnant women into a peaceful home so they do not have to go through their pregnancy alone. The home provides counseling, job training, health care, and tries to keep the women off of welfare." Devon K. Smith, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
"In Froid the town has formed a community watch program. This program will have more of the town people on the watch for minors drinking, rodding their cars around town, stealing, and vandalizing houses and such." Scott Crain, Froid High School, Froid, Montana
"When my grandpa had a heart attack back in 1974 all of the people in the community took time out of their schedules to finish his farm work along with their own." Kristen Hoozee, Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado
"People are always willing to give of their time. When someone's family member dies in the Stoneham/New Rayman community, a dinner is put on for that family to lessen their burden. This is very helpful to the family and it also shows respect for the dead." Robert E. Willich, Prairie High School, New Raymer, Colorado
'These people in the community have a responsibility to each other. If they didn't I don't think the town would have that bonding that a lot of other communities [lack]." Darrick Brown, Deer River High, Deer River, Minnesota
"Another thing my community has done is every year just before the Holiday Season the business association along with the local bank has offered loans that are interest free, if they are paid back before July. Instead of getting cash as a loan, the loan applicant gets Marion Bucks which is money that can only be spent in Marion. This way people can get an easy loan so they have a little more cash around Christmas, plus the community's businesses benefit from the business." John Gesick, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota
"The Sunflower Community Action, Inc. in Wichita, Kansashas accomplished things such as cleaning up neighborhoods, shutting down crack houses, and creating youth programs. This has turned out to be a very positive crime deterrent program." Mitchell Gerstenkorn, Kensington High, Kensington, Kansas
"Citizens on Patrol (COP) is a non-profit organization made up of volunteer citizens who report or stop crime in the streets if they see it happening. They meet every two weeks to talk about their experiences." Jason Thenhonen, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"About six years ago my youngest sister found out that she needed a liver transplant. The moment people heard about it and about the sort of funding that is needed for an operation like this, they took the responsibility of starting numerous fund-raisers for her. One fund-raiser that was exceptionally helpful was started by my sister's teacher. "Pennies for Elana", as it was called, asked children and their parents to donate pennies to build a mile of pennies around the school. This fund-raiser spread quickly throughout the entire community and soon people who had saved pennies their whole lives were giving them up to help my sister. It is nice to know that I live in such a supportive community that I can count on in times of need." Erika Grossell, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota
"In one particular area of Dallas, citizens have formed an alliance to combat gang violence and drug sales. They work in union with the police, searching for evidence of drugs, breaking up gang activities, and making their neighborhood a better place to be." Keli Crane, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas
'In Des Plaines, Illinois, there has been a serious problem with drunk drivers. A group of people have organized a team called the Drunkbusters to prevent any further incidents of drunk driving. These Drunkbusters fight with a dashboard video camera, a cellular phone, a CB, and a police radio. They report anything that looks suspicious to the proper authorities to investigate. When this system had just started one person could call in as many as five drunken drivers. It is now down to where two amounts to a busy night." Neal Bobzin, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"In Los Angeles, CA, Danny Bakewell started a group called the Brotherhood Crusade Black United Fund. Bakewell launched a campaign where he and his members would go up to crack houses and confront the dealers." Laura Winchell, Luck High School, Luck, Wisconsin
"The goal of Northwest Neighbors for Community Improvement is to make their neighborhood a safer and healthier place in which to live and work. Current projects include a clean-up drive for trash, a crime watch, fixing up the park for children, and improving street lighting. All of these activities reflect an increased sense of responsibility among inner city residents." Kevin Speicher, Conrad Weiser High School, Robesonia, Pennsylvania
"The City, Inc. is a non-profit organization working with inner city kids and their families. The City Inc. also works for economic development. The group already offers security services and may try to design a line of clothing representing peace." Scott Arthur Grabe, Barnesville High, Barnesville, Minnesota
"Hired Hands is the name of a program that gives mentally and physically handicapped people jobs." Erika Grossell, Deer River High, Deer River, Minnesota
"A new approach to preventing violence has occurred in Boston, Massachusetts. A new group known as the Boston Streetworkers has begun to work the streets. The leader of the team, Tracy Litthcut, explained that all members carry beepers. When a problem in the community occurs, the teenagers can call the Streetworkers to come and preserve the peace. Apparently, the system is having a positive affect." Brandon Kahler, Garnet Valley High, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
"The Good Disciplesgo around policing the suburbs and take charge of the streets. They are granted some authority by the state to arrest and imprison gangsters who break the law. The group members are aged eighteen and upwards; it is in effect a gang trying to stop a gang, without the guns and violence." Justin Lewis, DeForest High School, DeForest, Wisconsin
"St. Jude's Youth Group spent a week in the inner city of Fort Worth making it a little more pleasant. They spent the week cleaning out alleys, tearing down dilapidated garages, and painting buildings that could be used." Sara B. Sheaffer, Big Spring High School, Newville, Pennsylvania
"To make our community grow and our school better, a library was built. To make this happen, a lot of people had to donate money and time." Randy White, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"Crime Watch.helps to organize the citizens of an area to fight crime themselves. If children are in danger, they can run to one of these houses for protection." Keith Parker, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"AAIM (Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists) gives a $100 savings bond to anyone whose tip to police leads to a DUI arrest." Michael Gammon, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois
"CATS is another local organization doing good for the community. This program has been around for three years and the main goal of the program is to reduce the population of stray cats in the Rogue Valley. The program gives medical check-ups, shots, behavioral checks, and social training for a bargain price of $35." Erik Russell, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon
"Another community activity that got everyone involved was the building of a Kids' Dream Playground. Funds were raised, and many community members actually built the magnificent wooden playground. This activity was designed to unite the community and also give the children a safe place to play." Melissa Shepanski, Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
Examples of Good Deeds: Motivators/Motivational Programs
"Local television station KDRV makes it easy to help in time of need. Coats for Kids is an organization where barrels and drop-off points are assigned to collect coats and money to buy new coats for children in need. Over 3,000 coats were collected and $1,900 was donated to the effort." Erik Russell, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon
"[The] Scholar of the Week program sponsored by WAKA, a local television station, [accepts entries] based on academic averages and leadershipstudents are rewarded for their good deeds with an interview and a short television spot. In each issue [of the Tuscaloosa News] someone is honored for his contribution to the community." Beth Swanzy, Demopolis High School, Demopolis, Alabama
"The Harvard Campus Outreach Opportunity League branched out to 250 schools by having its oldest college service organization dream up projects, and write detailed proposals on how to operate and fund them. The reward was a funded contract for the best project." Danielle Johnson, Valhalla High, Valhalla. New York
"America Works gave him [Mr. Williams] the opportunity to get office education by borrowing [for him] the money he needed, and by finding [him] the school he needed. They also helped him to get a job. After Mr. Williams had the job for about one year and his job was secure, he paid back the money America Works lent him." Sebastian Ullrich, Rolla High , Rolla, North Dakota
"A local television station (CBS's KENS-TV in San Antonio) newscast (Eyewitness News) also has several projects they use for good intentions. One was a pilot project that started about one year ago, called "The Wall of Shame". It shows pictures and footage of rundown, vacant buildings that are not only eyesores, but also are hangouts for vagrants, and places that run rampant with crime. After showing the area, if the problem is not taken care of, the owner is identified and later interviewed. This has been a very successful program. Another project is titled "Eyewitness Wants to Know". This one tackles a wide variety of topics around the city, like several tons of old tires stuck in a field, or a public baseball park being vandalized, and many other things similar to this. Both projects have brought about lots of changes and are extremely successful and popular." Tim Pawelek, Falls City High School, Falls City, Texas
"I think that one of the best things we can do is to publicize more of the good things happening in our school, government, and communities, and put less emphasis on the bad things." Libby Douglas, Phoenix High, Phoenix, Oregon
"There could be a small section in the local newspaper to promote good things that are happening, and about those people who are making it happen." Meralee Jones, Kiona-Benton HS, Benton City, Washington
"One radio station in Dallas, Texas, KDGE, got a letter from a mother wishing she could get her son his Christmas wish. Her son wanted a bicycle, but the mother couldn't afford food, much less a bicycle. The radio station not only sponsored a food drive for the two, it also bought a bike for the boy." Shaine Jenkins, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas
Examples of Good Deeds: Programs for the Elderly
"They [students] decided to start this trend of visiting senior citizens at The Atrium in San Jose, in September. They go the third Saturday of every other month and just visit with them." Kerri Franklin, Pioneer High School, San Jose, California
"Another valuable contribution to our community is the volunteer help at the Ardmore Public Library, for the elderly and other less fortunate people who cannot afford to have their income taxes filed. Every year at tax time, these caring individuals give their time and effort to help those in need. These volunteers fill out the needed tax forms free of charge, and help the individuals file their returns." Kraig Lee Hodge, Plainview High School, Ardmore, Oklahoma
"The chorus class from Rock Hill High School, a group of about thirty students, prepares several jolly Christmas carols to sing to senior citizens at area nursing homes." Angie Gillispie, Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio
"As an employee of a Good Samaritan center, I have noticed one woman voluntarily coming into the nursing home to visit with the residents, paint fingernails, and fix the ladies' hair, etc. This really gives the elderly people a boost and brightens their day. She is not related to any of the residents and of course does not get paid, but she just feels that is her way of filling in where family members neglect." Sarah Hanson, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"In Baltimore, a program called Magic Me unites middle school students with nursing home residents and the handicapped. The children play games with the residents, talk with them, and work on special projects such as crafts." Erica Haines, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon
"A group of students from a high school in East Northport, earlier this winter went around their town and shoveled driveways and walkways for senior citizens and other people who are maybe incapable of handling this task themselves." Linda Cheung, Central Islip High School, Central Islip, New York
"A youth group noticed an elderly lady's yard was overgrown with grass and weeds. They found out she did not have enough money to pay for someone to cut it, and she was far too old and weak to do it herself. The group mowed her grass, along with painting, and fixing up the outside of her house. Their thoughtful work gave the elderly lady a completely different outlook on teens. She found out that they were trying to make a difference." Sarah Harvey, Plainview High School, Ardmore, Oklahoma
"Also in the Oregonian [newspaper] was Virginia Shea who is interested in helping senior citizens. Shea serves as a supervisor of volunteers for the Telephone Reassurance Program that matches elderly seniors with volunteers, who phone the seniors daily to check on their condition."
Lisa Burgess Phoenix High School Phoenix, Oregon
Have you ever been scared to watch the news because of all the negative and depressing things happening. I'm aware that destitution and devastation are always the top stories of the night. If it isn't that some girl got nabbed from her house while her mother was there, it's a psycho who takes out Nancy Kerrigan, a world class figure skater. And the scariest part is thinking about how this could have been prevented. But some things cannot be prevented. I don't care how careful someone is, we are all potential victims. You cannot be a paranoid schizophrenic because you'll kill yourself worrying.
Yes, Mom, it isn't like it used to be. You could do all sorts of stuff and not worry about weirdoes. But Mom, I'm predicted to live to be what, 79. If I get some serious disease or illness, I have a better chance of living. Heck, in twenty years maybe I could be cured for just about anything, and if not, they could freeze me and fix me later. But, could someone tell me my odds of making it to 20 with all the stuff that my generation is faced with. Someone is either murdered, raped, or killed in drunk driving accidents every hour or something like that.
Yes, grownups, I need to be more mature and take responsibility for my actions. I'm 17 years old here and not to blame for the ozone layer depletion. I'm just trying to enjoy my youth. Oh, but you tell me that all the time, too. All the problems you've put before me, though, to put it bluntly, are the ones that you "adults" have created for me. "Thanks!" I think that it is time for you "adults" to take responsibility for what you have or have not done. Don't get me wrong. I'm not some teen trying to shift responsibility. I am just a teen that would like a few "grownups" to stop creating problems for me. You know what makes life bearable for me? The fact that I have a chance to make a difference; the feeling that I, Lisa Burgess, may be able to do and be something important. What would it feel like to be a cancer researcher that makes an important step toward a cure, not to be glorified, but for so many other reasons. I read of how Jack Nicholson tried to donate 60 acres to conservancy in California anonymously, but it was publicized because too many people knew that he owned the land. There are so many people, though, that are not in the spotlight that do things anonymously and are successful.
People who could donate blood have no idea that something that takes less than an hour can be so valuable. Debra Bellm never realized how important it was until her daughter Nicole needed blood transfusions. Debra's co-workers lined up at the blood bank the next day when they learned of Nicole's condition. You really never think much of something until it happens to you or someone around you and then it becomes important. Although it was always important before, people always need a reminder.
Then there's the social worker that helps hundreds of people for a little above minimum wage. They're affected because they see that day in and day out. Hats off to those who truly enjoy their jobs serving in their communities. Not like a crooked governor, that we elect, that steals money from us tax payers, but the decent human being who lives next door.
I realize that along the way I could have moderate to serious problems, but either you deal with it and go on or not deal with it and go on. Hey, it's that simple. People who take responsibility for their actions are the people with morals and a value system. That may be a bold statement, but there's no time for hinting around anymore. Now is, I believe, a time for action. People are too self-centered, egotistical, and too proud for their own good. All too many people complain about all their problems without trying to help find solutions, not only with many of societies serious flaws, but even with their own meaningless problems.
Excuse me for calling those, trivial little problems, that coincidentally they got themselves into, but I see no comparison with a lot of other things. You think you've got it bad, but believe me, there's always someone who has it worse. Have you ever noticed, though, how in times of true disaster that directly effects people, they become closer and stronger through it? I think that maybe it's a hint that you're supposed to learn from your mistakes and use them beneficially. A good example is Magic Johnson with AIDS, who is now speaking out and trying to educate others.
I believe that the solution is education. Now this is not my solution, it has always existed. In fact, there is really no new solution. At one time or another we have already found the solution, but not the courage, time, or resources to do it, I guess. To teach, you cannot be a hypocrite. The parent or teacher that says one thing and does another I cannot chastise enough. Personally my main problem is the curfew thing with Ma and Pa. Oh, well, I'm almost 18. That's when I'll be considered an adult no matter how immature I am. It's scary, folks, because for a lot of people I'm your future and you're my test subjects. I'm creating the future for my kids and hope that, like so many other people, I can make it better for them.
Melissa Mix Pioneer High School San Jose, CA
It seems today we live in a society that judges the value of a person's life by wealth. Success is not judged by what you have accomplished, but by accumulations. Consequences are not viewed as the direct result of actions for which you accept responsibility, but what happens when you are "dumb" enough to get caught and are unfortunate enough not to find someone to blame.
My parents own a construction company. While working on a hillside lot, they constructed a chute to transfer materials from the top to the bottom where they were working. One of the workers decided that he was going to slide down the chute for fun. When he landed he broke both ankles. It was my parents' fault because they should have told him not to do that.
Their company was also doing a driveway for another contractor. This man wanted color in the concrete of the driveway. My parents explained that in order to do this he would have to pay the additional fee for a sealer that would lock the color into the concrete. The man did not want to spend the extra money. When the driveway became discolored, he sued my parents because they should have insisted that he pay for the concrete sealer. After all, they knew more about it then they did.
An employee of my parents was making a delivery and he ran a red light. When he received a ticket, he wanted my parents to pay for it because his job supervisor always told him to hurry.
When growing up I was taught that taking responsibility for my actions and realizing that risks sometime come with consequences would be the best advice I would ever be given.
Between the years of 1989 and 1991, my family and I provided Christmas for several poor families. We requested the names and ages of all of the children and purchased a few gifts for each of them. My parents also requested that no one know who we were, so my dad dressed up as Santa and my sister and I wore elves' costumes. The children did not know that we were coming. All I can remember is their faces lighting up when they saw us and a grandmother of one of the families crying and kissing our hands. One boy my age came running out just as we were about to leave and hugged us and cried. This experience taught me priorities, perspective, responsibility to others, and the magic of Christmas.
During my Freshman and Sophomore years I worked at a soup kitchen, "Martha's Kitchen". I saw families, single parents, and children, many just victims of circumstance, but many victims of their own bad choices in life. Working there in some ways made me more judgmental, but in other ways less judgmental. Most of all it taught me the difference between wants and needs.
Because my father came from a poor and troubled childhood, he is sometimes overly sensitive to young people who maybe just need a break, or guidance and direction. He sometimes gives them jobs, money, a place to stay or even their first car. Sometimes he is successful, sometimes he is not. My dad does not ask to be repaid. Repayment is to come in the form of someday remembering this, and if circumstances permit, the person is to do the same thing for someone else. He has done this for my boyfriend, Adam. Adam was raised by a single mother, working minimum wage. While she did a fine job with her limited resources, he needed a strong father figure in his life to show him his good qualities as well as bad qualities, and how to work on them. My dad tries to show a different, more positive way of doing things and tries to help him see all that he can achieve. Repayment of money is easy. Repayment of time, caring, and commitment is the hard part.
In 1980, we moved into a typical middle-class neighborhood, planning to move on to bigger and grander things later on. During that time, we discovered the true meaning of the word neighborhood. It was not just people coming home from work and going into their garages and never speaking to their neighbors. It was people who knew each other and each other's children. They cared about people and their neighborhood. When I would ride my bike around the block and fall and skin my knee, someone would always patch me up, send me on my way and call my mom. When my sister and I rode our bikes right into the path of a car, the lady cared enough to get out of her car, scream at us and call our mom. Over the past fourteen years, one-hundred fifty families have worked to keep our neighborhood safe and clean. They have helped each other in need, and shared the joys as well as their grief. It has taught me the true meaning of the word "home" and helped me to realize that when my time comes, my own neighborhood will require my help and responsibility.
Both my parents work, so it has fallen upon my younger sister and I to assume responsibility for ourselves. I make sure that my sister gets to the places she is supposed to go. We both share the responsibility of us getting to appointments and activities. By being where we are supposed to be, doing what we are supposed to be doing, when we are supposed to be doing it, frees my parents from worrying about us. It allows my family to spend time together having fun rather than fighting.
Responsibility begins at home. If you are taught the value of it early, you see how it grows. By taking care of yourself, your family and your immediate surroundings, recognizing your debt to society and your responsibilities to those less fortunate, you can find the true meaning of success. "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Though these organizations and programs are able to help us in rebuilding our families, they are only a temporary relief to the real problem. There is another solution, but it is so simple that it seems hardly believable. It requires no government funding or law making. The solution is in the home. Parents and children alike must be willing to work to knit a closer relationship with one another. Finding activities that involve everyone, being with one another, and learning more about each other builds self esteem, awareness of evils around them, and how to cope, and empathy for rights and feelings of others. In my own family we have a family night every Monday. No one is to make other plans for that night and we spend it playing games, helping out others, and learning how to help ourselves. We each have assignments to fill like leading everyone in a song, telling a story, or teaching some sort of lesson. This has given each person in our family a way to escape the pressures and moral decay of In a discussion of housing, one student, Teri, wrote the following in her essay:
"My main fear is the homeless living in boxes. These people have a right to a home they can call their own." Teri Belgrade, Rolla High School, Rolla, North Dakota
Here is a response:
A New Right to Shelter
The first "Right to Shelter" lawsuit was filed in New York City in 1979 by the Coalition for the Homeless. They successfully established a right to shelter under the New York Constitution for New York City's homeless. Since then similar lawsuits have established rights in local jurisdictions around the country.
California's Welfare and Institutions Code requires counties to relieve and support indigent citizens. The Homeless Litigation Team, which consisted of lawyers from eight public interest law firms in the Los Angeles area, expanded the application of the code and in the process may have established a new right -- the right to shelter in California.
Prior to the 1984 identification was needed to obtain shelter. Indentification was something most homeless people don't have and even with an ID an application for shelter took weeks to process. In 1984 the Litigation Team won its first case which ended the identification requirement and mandated that benefits begin immediately. A series of cases followed including Ross v. Board of Supervisors in which the court rules that the previous housing allowance was not enough. In response the county began issuing vouchers for approved hotels. That practice led to Paris v. Board of Supervisors which required higher standards for homless hotels. In Blaire v. Board of Supervisors (1987) the court ruled that in determining "minimum subsistence needs what it actually takes to live in a given area must be taken into account. Blaire mandated a 25 percent increase in relief checks over a two year period, which translated into a $33 million increase in allotments to the homeless.
In the words of the Team's chief trial lawyer, Mark Rosenbaum: "The rights of the poor have freqeuntly been treated as largess by the government, or as charity by the public. This litigation has proved that indigents have significant and enforceable rights."
Some people wonder how there can be a right to shelter. They suppose shelter can only be acquired though purchase, rental, gift, or the force of government. They believe rights are right to action only, not to objects. For them rights are moral principles and impose no obligation on others. They view the significant and enforceable rights of indigents that Mr. Rosenbaum speaks of, as nothing more than a taking sanctioned by the government. When a beggar asks for a dolar in the street, a person can either say yes or no. When a non-profit organization asks for a contribution to set up out reach programs for the unfortunate, citizens can help or not as they choose. But government does not ask; government mandates.
Some would arue that individuals give tacit permission by electing legislators who records suggest that they will redistribute the income of producers. To an extent, that is true, however in more and more instances, lawyers and activist judges usurp the legislators' role as illustrated by the cases brought by the Homelss Litigation Team. Nobody gets a chance to vote for lawyers and often not judges.
Few people believe the federal government can serve the needs of the unfortunate better than local or even non-government organizations. As so man students showed us the in their essays this year, local communities are often able to provide something more valuable than money -- concern, participation of the citizenry, and some creative new approaches to our problems.
The Wall Street Journal (2/9/87) said:
Many Americans remember when congress thought poverty was caused by a lack of money, so it provided money. It thought unemployment was caused by a shortage of jobs, so it created work. Congress thought hunger was solely attributable to lack of food, so it made food freely available. But each problem proved to be far more complicated than originally thought. Three decades and more than a trillion dollars later we are seemingly further along on these social problems than we started.
In a discussion of responsiblity, one student, Aimee, wrote the following in her essay:
"We also need to avoid inventing things that will only make us more lazy. Things such as robots that clean the house, and things that are not necessary." Aimee Hunter, Aubrey Brights High School, Aubrey, Texas
Here is a response:
Embrace, Don't Avoid Inventions
It's almost impossible to measure the value of any useful invention. Increased industrial production is only part of the story; increased human efficiency may be the larger part. Consider the time wasted by people in daily living just 200 years ago. Just think how much energy was released throughout society with the wide spread use of electricity, telephones, engines, machinery, automobiles, airplanes, and on and on. American women had washing machines when women, just as intelligent and capable were still pounding clothes on river stones in other parts of the world. When automobiles were luxuries reserved for the elite in many countries, they were considered indispensable to all but the poorest American. The automobile allowed American citizens to get around faster and therefore gave them more time to put their energies into more productive endeavors.
The story of John Deere is one of the many inspirations which I found some years ago in a marvelous little book by Henry Grady Weaver called the Mainspring of Human Progress. I am sharing some of his ideas with you here. Deere's story is illustrative because it clearly shows how American ingenuity changed the nation. For centuries plows had been made out of wood. Land in the Mississippi valley was considered worthless because the soil was either too hard for a wooden plow to cut through or so soft the muck stuck to the plow and immobilized it. John Deere was the first to make a steel plow from an old buzz saw disc. As Mr Weaver put it, the new plow "cut through the prairie soil like a hot knife through butter." Deere's invention made worthless land valuable and opened up a vast area of virgin country. Of course credit must be given to those who put up the money to make the plows and to those who invented the reapers and other farm tools. The final ingredient was the hard-working, risk-taking farmers who hastened to use them.
Deere's story shows the wealth producing possibilities of new ideas. If John Deere hadn't been living in a free country where a blacksmith could aspire to own a factory, where mobility and dreams were possible, perhaps he never would have applied himself to solving the midwestern soil problem. Aimee, in her essay, said that we should avoid inventing "things that are not necessary." Aimee is not the first person to voice that opinion. The following story might change her mind.
Just before WW II an article was written about inventors and how so many inventions came about spontaneously. But, like Aimee, the author ended by categorizing inventions into useful and non-essential gadgets. He put automatic transmissions, which were seen as a novelty with little purpose, into the later category and chastised the automobile industry for wasting time and energy on foolishness when there were serious things to be done. About a year later the U.S. was in the second world war and we were taking a beating in the air. Experts agreed that what was needed was a hydraulic clutch in order to get the edge over our enemies in altitude flying. The Germans had tried to use a hydraulic clutch in their altitude engine but gave up the idea, never being able to get them to work properly. The Americans succeeded. Hydraulic clutches, frivolously perfected in American automobile factories, made it possible for our pilots to outfly our enemies. The clutches were also installed in tanks, making it possible to train the operator in hours instead of weeks. Tank operators no longer had to be weight lifters. The clutch allowed them to even divide their attention between driving and fighting in emergency situations. More importantly the new tanks didn't have to stop when gears were shifted and so were less of a target.
Mass production of hydraulic clutches could never have gotten beyond the experimental stage or even gotten started except for an open-minded dreamer-type American consumer always on the look out for new productsa consumer that failed to draw lines between necessities and luxuries. About a half a million of these hydraulic clutches had been built before we even entered the war. The difference between here and Germany was that Americans did not have to invent on demand. Americans built those clutches for peacetime use. The story illustrates how hopeless it is to choose what invention is essential and what non-essential.
No large bureaucracy could compile the information which flows naturally from millions of market transactions. No bureaucrat could begin to match the market's efficiency for regulating economic activity. It would be impossible, even with today's powerful computers, to coordinate the private plans of millions of decision makers making billions upon billions of daily decisions. The responsiveness of two hundred fifty million free people provides America with a better proving ground than could ever be set up by blue ribbon panels. Central planning, with commissions or board members of one sort or another always work at cross purposes to the development of independent thinking. No board is capable of picking the right people or the right project to work on. Personal freedom in this country allowed natural selection to work and provided fertile ground for inventors like Eli Whitney, Thomas Edison, Charles Goodyear and Luther Burbank. They were all self-selected. Who would have picked Henry Ford or John Deere as promising inventors and probable manufacturers? Genius is an unpredictable quality; it doesn't work according to fixed rules or patterns. Genius is found in the most unexpected quarters. Inventive or scientific talent of a high degree can't be produced by bureaucratic edict nor discovered by formalized procedure. You can't tell a researcher what to find outthe biggest part of his job is to find out what there is to be found out. You can't order a person to have an inspiration. Creative ideas spring from within; they can't be commanded.
We are in a new age. Forty years ago seventy percent of the labor force was engaged in manual work, now seventy percent ofthe labor force is employed in mental work. Carnegie and Rockefeller got rich cornering the steel and oil markets whereas Sam Walton and Daryl Gates got rich by providing service and new products that didn't exist earlier. In today's world, it is not enough to find a need and fill ittoday's entrepreneur creates a demand by developing something new and better.
The microchip has changed the world. I mowed lawns by using metal, wood, and elbow grease. My kids mowed lawns using gasoline and a little light direction on the power mower. My grandchildren will most likely plant seed that is genetically engineered to grow to a certain height and then stop. Knowledge and technology is the name of the game. Wealth based on the extraction and distribution of natural resources is finished. Scarcity today leads to conservation, substitution, or improved productivity. The United States produces one third more GNP today than ten years ago with the same amount of energy.
Twenty years ago old carburetors cost $300 and got 12 mpg. Today new computerized fuel injectors cost $25 and get 22 mpg. Not long ago a calculator weighed 20 pounds and today it weighs less than an ounce and does more. It used to take 165 pounds of aluminum to produce one thousand cans and now it takes only 35 pounds. Today individuals are working on new steel-making techniques which promise to use less energy and emit fewer pollutants than conventional methods. General Electric has a recyclable replacement for metal, wood, ceramics, glass, and traditional plastics in the works which can be used for floors, roof tiles, kitchen sinks, and plumbing fixtures. A form of cold fusionenergy that is non-polluting and self-perpetuating may be around the corner.
Our future is bright with unlimited promise. So quite to the contrary, Aimeewe should embrace, not avoid inventions.