There are millions of problems plaguing the world today. It would be impossible, yet an extreme miracle, for us to resolve each and every one of them. So, for now, we must tackle the ones we can to make some type of improvement in the world.  The 3 major problems that we need to focus on are crime, teenage pregnancy, and poverty. In order for us to “promote a more just and humane society,” we, as a society, need to recognize these problems and take the right course of action in improving them.  In doing so, we can make the world we live in a better place for ourselves and generations to come.

Of the 3 problems stated above, crime is the most prevalent in society; thus, it needs the greatest amount of work. According to Martha Carr, a staff writer for NOLA.com, there was a total of 209 murders in the city of New Orleans as of New Year’s Eve. Ridiculous I’d say. Crime is so bad, not in just New Orleans, but everywhere, that childhood games are close to being extinct. Children can no longer go outside and play dodge ball, hopscotch, or IT because their parents fear for there lives. Anything can happen at anytime is a phrase that continuously travels through a parent’s mind. Little girls playing jump rope in front of their door could be abducted at any moment. There is no such thing as a targeted crime anymore; you just may be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many people feel they can’t go on, what use to be,  routine morning runs because anyone may be lurking in the near-by scrubs. Nobody wants to see the next person doing better than they are. Take your neighbor’s excess, whatever it may be, and bring them down to your level is the new motto. People kill, rob, and rape for personal pleasure. As of 2007, the Disaster Center reported a total of 11,251,828 crimes for a population of 301,621,157 people. This has to stop.

The second problem I want to examine is teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy is the new phenomenon sweeping the nation. From 16 year-old Jamie Lynn Spears to my 14 year-old cousin, babies having babies and not being able to rear them has taken a toll on society.  When these babies feel their parents can not adequately supply their every need, they look to society for what they lack. These children and, sometimes, parents steal what they need in order to get by. They go to supermarkets to get a five finger discount on necessities and shopping centers to pick up the latest trends. The parents look to the welfare system and taxpayers tax dollars to take care of their children. Some teens choose adoption as an option, if they know they are ill fit. Many times these kids enter the foster care system until adoptive parents are found. Now, the foster kids may, and many times do, feel unloved and look to society for comfort. They terrorize the cities and its civilians trying to make everyone feel the way they feel: hurt and distraught. Thus, contributing to those 11,251,828 crimes we faced in 2007.

The third major problem in the world is poverty. Poverty may not be the chief issue for Americans because it hasn’t really hit home. On a daily basis, we don’t see starving families searching for scrapes in the trash or malnourished children sitting on the corner because America is not a poverty stricken area. Accordingly, Americans don’t see poverty as a serious issue, but it is. All around the world, people are living in poverty; without food, clothes, or shelter. Many are dying from diseases contracted from insects, scrapes of food, and the unsanitary water. Some of the infections and diseases these people contract may be curable, but due to the lack of medicine or medical attention, people die. Five member families are living in huts made of mud and grass, and when a strong wind blows it collapses. Now, this family is left homeless. Many of the children in these areas lack education simply because they don’t have the means to get to a school. Sometimes, they are denied an education because of their medical history. Since, this doesn’t happen in our backyards, we can’t really relate to the real problem of poverty.

Personally, I think I can do most about the poverty issue. Though my efforts may not reach the poverty plagued areas of Africa, I think I can do a lot about the poverty in New Orleans. I feel I have enough help to create a major project that will incorporate many New Orleanians. Together we can fight poverty in our own city. We can implement some type of city wide drive or something of that sort to help the homeless and hungry around the area. Maybe we can get sponsors or team up with others and improve the homeless shelters. In some way or another, I can have an affect on poverty.

I fully understand the course’s plagiarism policy. In order to receive the best education I can get, I need not plagiarize. It inhibits my ability to effectively learn and prepare myself for further course work. To create the best learning environment for myself, I will follow this course’s plagiarism policy to the fullest extent. I vow to not plagiarize.

There is no such thing as “The Bible” for two reasons. The first is that “The Bible” is a composition of books. There is no single manuscript called “The Bible.” What we know as “The Bible” is simply many books written by different authors complied together with a single binding. Another reason why there is no such thing as “The Bible” is because the words the bible mean different things to different people. When a Protestant thinks of these words he may think of the Old and New Testament. However, when a Jewish person hears the words the bible he may refer to only the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 11:26 pm and is filed under Class Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.