oration
A couple of months ago, I was sitting at my kitchen table with my father, searching for the daily Sudoku puzzle in the newspaper. I normally don’t read the newspaper, but my father handed me an article that I found very interesting. It was about a physically handicapped boy, who had a prosthetic leg. Several other kids were harassing and teasing him. An older boy decided to put a stop to this and stepped in. The attackers grabbed the prosthetic leg and started beating the older boy with it. When I was finished reading this, I couldn’t understand how some people could be so immoral. I looked at my father and saw in his eyes, that he knew I would never do something like this.
Although I had a solid upbringing and would never act in such a way, this event is evidence of a disheartening decline in the morality of teenagers in America. Parents are playing a huge role in this moral decline and they don’t realize it.
First, we must discover the causes, then we have to understand the negative effects of the moral decline of adolescents and finally, we need to learn some solutions to prevent this moral decline from getting worse.
Let’s start off by discovering how parents are contributing to the moral decline in teenagers. Parents are playing a huge role in two ways: allowing their children to grow up without responsible adults around and also allowing their children to get away with more and more.
Many children are growing up without reliable caretakers. Parents are spending increasing amounts of time away from home, working. Dr. Ron Tassel states that because of this, parents are desperate for babysitters and daycare providers and usually just pay for the most convenient ones. In his book, The Second Family, Tassel also states that some of these caretakers do not fully suit the needs of the child. However, children need to be understood from birth. According to Professor Susan Murphy, in her article Myth of the Family Decline from Newsweek of January 2001, if the caretaker does not devote their time and effort to understand what the child needs, there may be misinterpretations that can lead to problems in the long-run. For example, if the guardian tries to feed the child anytime he or she cries, this teaches children to sooth their distress through food, which causes eating disorders later on in life. Even worse, Murphy states in that same article, that if a child is ignored when they cry, psychological damage may occur, leading to vulnerability to drinking, drug abuse, and delinquent behavior.
Also, parents are allowing their children to get away with wronging others. For example, on May 8, 2003, there was a hazing incident between junior and senior girls at Glenbrook North High School. In the article, Criminal Charges Possible in Hazing, CBS Correspondent, Jim Axelrod states during a recorded powder-puff football game, the senior girls beat and harassed the junior girls leaving 5 injured. These girls were suspended, but when their parents found out, they sued the school because the suspension was against the girls’ rights. What I don’t understand is what rights of the girls are the parents protecting? The rights to injure and harass others? I know this may sound severe and that not all parents would allow this to happen, but there are minor things that are allowed. According to Shauna Robertson, in the book, The World of Parenting, parents have a tendency to protect their children when some type of accusation is put on them. When I was in 6th grade, I failed this science test that I hadn’t studied for and the teacher lectured me, of course. I told my mother and she called the school to complain to the teacher. My mom had blamed the teacher, even though it was my fault for failing.
After learning about the different ways parents are involved in the moral decline of teenagers, we now have to understand the negative effects. If children do not learn how to develop proper moral behavior, they may make unhealthy decisions and may have a difficult time dealing with important issues.
According to Margaret McCarthy, if children are not taught correct manners, they are more likely to make unhealthy decisions. In her book, Moral Decline of Students, McCarthy said her church group has surveying teachers throughout Massachusetts annually since the 1950’s. McCarthy said The difference between the students then and now, is that back in the 50’s and 60’s, the only real problems at the high schools were students forgetting homework and very rarely being late to class, but today the problems included chronic truancy, attitudes, drinking and sex. She believes this is a result of problems in the home because if teenagers are allowed to misbehave in the home, they will believe they can misbehave in all aspects of their life.
Also, according to Professor Patricia Hamilton, from the University of Iowa, if children do not have healthy relationships with their parents, they do not believe they can come to them with problems. For instance, if a teenage girl does not feel she can approach her parents with simple problems, like school, then if she has any serious problems, like dealing with rape or STD’s, she will look to her peers for advice and in cases, like these, teenagers don’t always give the best advice. By turning to her friends, this teenage girl could make a choice that could change her life for the worse.
Now, that we have discovered the causes and the effects of the moral decline, let’s try to prevent the future generations from morally declining even more.
According to Kristin A. Moore and Barbara W. Sugland, in the article Using Behavioral Theories from the January 2005 issue of The Psychology of Effective Living, in order to break someone of a bad habit, the person has to follow several steps. First, the individual must understand that everything he or she does has a consequence. Second, the person must be able to understand that they are capable of participating in or avoiding this behavior. And finally, they must understand that avoiding this behavior will have a beneficial outcome. Children develop their specific attitudes and feelings about behaviors by observing others and seeing the rewards and punishments. They then develop the necessary skills through practice that allow them to behave according to their beliefs.
So how can we, as a society, actually truly accomplish these behavior modifications? According to Professor Edward Buchanan, from Harvard University, adolescence is a very crucial time in a child’s life to develop different morals. In Volume 4 of the Parent/Teacher Handbook, Buchanan states that adequate preparation must be made to make life-changing transformation. I feel that a strong initial introduction into the risks of certain behaviors followed by reinforcement throughout a teenager’s high school career could be very effective. Specifically, require all freshmen students to take an Introduction to High School course that focuses on study habits but also introduces students to the consequences of risky behaviors.
In order to reinforce this behavior, schools could implement follow-up lectures and presentations by individuals affects positively and negative by certain behaviors. This course could also require parental participation, possibly night classes. By understanding exactly how to reinforce good morals, parents will have children that will develop good moral behavior. And this could possibly cause an incline in the morality of teenagers.
Although the newspaper article had shown the moral decline of teenagers, it had also shown how not all teenagers make bad decisions. The boy who had tried to help the situation had done a good thing. If he had not stepped in, anything worse could have happened. It’s a shame, though, that because he had tried to help, he suffered. It just shows that if children are raised correctly, they could do great things that will help others and could possibly make a positive difference in someone's life.
Although I had a solid upbringing and would never act in such a way, this event is evidence of a disheartening decline in the morality of teenagers in America. Parents are playing a huge role in this moral decline and they don’t realize it.
First, we must discover the causes, then we have to understand the negative effects of the moral decline of adolescents and finally, we need to learn some solutions to prevent this moral decline from getting worse.
Let’s start off by discovering how parents are contributing to the moral decline in teenagers. Parents are playing a huge role in two ways: allowing their children to grow up without responsible adults around and also allowing their children to get away with more and more.
Many children are growing up without reliable caretakers. Parents are spending increasing amounts of time away from home, working. Dr. Ron Tassel states that because of this, parents are desperate for babysitters and daycare providers and usually just pay for the most convenient ones. In his book, The Second Family, Tassel also states that some of these caretakers do not fully suit the needs of the child. However, children need to be understood from birth. According to Professor Susan Murphy, in her article Myth of the Family Decline from Newsweek of January 2001, if the caretaker does not devote their time and effort to understand what the child needs, there may be misinterpretations that can lead to problems in the long-run. For example, if the guardian tries to feed the child anytime he or she cries, this teaches children to sooth their distress through food, which causes eating disorders later on in life. Even worse, Murphy states in that same article, that if a child is ignored when they cry, psychological damage may occur, leading to vulnerability to drinking, drug abuse, and delinquent behavior.
Also, parents are allowing their children to get away with wronging others. For example, on May 8, 2003, there was a hazing incident between junior and senior girls at Glenbrook North High School. In the article, Criminal Charges Possible in Hazing, CBS Correspondent, Jim Axelrod states during a recorded powder-puff football game, the senior girls beat and harassed the junior girls leaving 5 injured. These girls were suspended, but when their parents found out, they sued the school because the suspension was against the girls’ rights. What I don’t understand is what rights of the girls are the parents protecting? The rights to injure and harass others? I know this may sound severe and that not all parents would allow this to happen, but there are minor things that are allowed. According to Shauna Robertson, in the book, The World of Parenting, parents have a tendency to protect their children when some type of accusation is put on them. When I was in 6th grade, I failed this science test that I hadn’t studied for and the teacher lectured me, of course. I told my mother and she called the school to complain to the teacher. My mom had blamed the teacher, even though it was my fault for failing.
After learning about the different ways parents are involved in the moral decline of teenagers, we now have to understand the negative effects. If children do not learn how to develop proper moral behavior, they may make unhealthy decisions and may have a difficult time dealing with important issues.
According to Margaret McCarthy, if children are not taught correct manners, they are more likely to make unhealthy decisions. In her book, Moral Decline of Students, McCarthy said her church group has surveying teachers throughout Massachusetts annually since the 1950’s. McCarthy said The difference between the students then and now, is that back in the 50’s and 60’s, the only real problems at the high schools were students forgetting homework and very rarely being late to class, but today the problems included chronic truancy, attitudes, drinking and sex. She believes this is a result of problems in the home because if teenagers are allowed to misbehave in the home, they will believe they can misbehave in all aspects of their life.
Also, according to Professor Patricia Hamilton, from the University of Iowa, if children do not have healthy relationships with their parents, they do not believe they can come to them with problems. For instance, if a teenage girl does not feel she can approach her parents with simple problems, like school, then if she has any serious problems, like dealing with rape or STD’s, she will look to her peers for advice and in cases, like these, teenagers don’t always give the best advice. By turning to her friends, this teenage girl could make a choice that could change her life for the worse.
Now, that we have discovered the causes and the effects of the moral decline, let’s try to prevent the future generations from morally declining even more.
According to Kristin A. Moore and Barbara W. Sugland, in the article Using Behavioral Theories from the January 2005 issue of The Psychology of Effective Living, in order to break someone of a bad habit, the person has to follow several steps. First, the individual must understand that everything he or she does has a consequence. Second, the person must be able to understand that they are capable of participating in or avoiding this behavior. And finally, they must understand that avoiding this behavior will have a beneficial outcome. Children develop their specific attitudes and feelings about behaviors by observing others and seeing the rewards and punishments. They then develop the necessary skills through practice that allow them to behave according to their beliefs.
So how can we, as a society, actually truly accomplish these behavior modifications? According to Professor Edward Buchanan, from Harvard University, adolescence is a very crucial time in a child’s life to develop different morals. In Volume 4 of the Parent/Teacher Handbook, Buchanan states that adequate preparation must be made to make life-changing transformation. I feel that a strong initial introduction into the risks of certain behaviors followed by reinforcement throughout a teenager’s high school career could be very effective. Specifically, require all freshmen students to take an Introduction to High School course that focuses on study habits but also introduces students to the consequences of risky behaviors.
In order to reinforce this behavior, schools could implement follow-up lectures and presentations by individuals affects positively and negative by certain behaviors. This course could also require parental participation, possibly night classes. By understanding exactly how to reinforce good morals, parents will have children that will develop good moral behavior. And this could possibly cause an incline in the morality of teenagers.
Although the newspaper article had shown the moral decline of teenagers, it had also shown how not all teenagers make bad decisions. The boy who had tried to help the situation had done a good thing. If he had not stepped in, anything worse could have happened. It’s a shame, though, that because he had tried to help, he suffered. It just shows that if children are raised correctly, they could do great things that will help others and could possibly make a positive difference in someone's life.