Citizenship is a very important lesson because it teaches us about being a good person, how to take care of others, be responsible, and other things one will need to succeed in life. Without learning citizenship, people will become oblivious to the basic aspects of life and how to act in the public once one is of age. “What is a citizen?” you might ask. Citizens can be either global, national, in communities, or nation-state officeholders in any community. Citizens are parts of democratic governments that make the government work for them. Citizens are producers that have the initiative to work or be in control. It sounds like too much to describe the one term “citizen”, but citizens can certainly play many roles at once!
To define how to be a “good” citizen, we have to choose one community first. For this, I will use the school as an example community. They have to follow the rules, as in any other community. A good citizen of a school respects others in the community, including teachers, other students, and other staff. They have to follow the rules, as in any other community, such as doing homework, respectfulness, talking only when you are supposed to, and concentrating on work. Of course, these are only basic rules for school, but if I could list all of them, I might as well start another essay. In any community, you have to do your job. In school, my job is to do my homework, learn, and prepare for for life once I grow up. Of course, there are often issues in school, such as stereotyping and social barriers.
Stereotyping happens everywhere, and is common in schools. A stereotype is an exaggerated belief or a twisted truth about a person or a group. It is a generalization that gives some people almost no social variation. Stereotypes also create social barriers that prevent people of different stereotypes to communicate, for example, “he’s a nerd, I can’t talk to him”, or “girls are disgusting, I can’t get close to her”. Often, stereotypes, gather in cliques or groups of people who have similar interests/hobbies, and sometimes age.
To define how to be a “good” citizen, we have to choose one community first. For this, I will use the school as an example community. They have to follow the rules, as in any other community. A good citizen of a school respects others in the community, including teachers, other students, and other staff. They have to follow the rules, as in any other community, such as doing homework, respectfulness, talking only when you are supposed to, and concentrating on work. Of course, these are only basic rules for school, but if I could list all of them, I might as well start another essay. In any community, you have to do your job. In school, my job is to do my homework, learn, and prepare for for life once I grow up. Of course, there are often issues in school, such as stereotyping and social barriers.
Stereotyping happens everywhere, and is common in schools. A stereotype is an exaggerated belief or a twisted truth about a person or a group. It is a generalization that gives some people almost no social variation. Stereotypes also create social barriers that prevent people of different stereotypes to communicate, for example, “he’s a nerd, I can’t talk to him”, or “girls are disgusting, I can’t get close to her”. Often, stereotypes, gather in cliques or groups of people who have similar interests/hobbies, and sometimes age.
Of course we could consider the word "citizen" in a broader, more general sense such as a citizen of one's nation. A good citizen of one's nation helps it, supports it, and does what is best for it. Volunteering is a good example of this. By volunteering, one helps his/her nation and demonstrates to others what they can do for their nation as well. Something as simple as picking up trash or donating money to a cause for orphaned children encourages other citizens to help as well. Citizens can also uphold their society by performing their responsibilities for the government, such as obeying laws, paying taxes, or serving in jury. Citizens can also help uphold and reinforce laws by working in politics. Remember, citizens are part of the government, so if you really want to help your nation, you can choose a career in politics and use your sense of justice within you to help your nation.(By the way, you do have a sense of justice, right? Right?)
Now to extend the term "citizen" to its broadest extent, and discuss ho to be a good citizen of one's world. As you think of yourself as a citizen of the world, what do you think you could do? Well, a good citizen of one's world gets involved. Help people in need, for example orphans, refugees, and homeless people. You have to care about what goes on in the world. What the news for any notices about natural disasters that happened somewhere else. Then think about what you can do to help! Good citizens always think of how to benefit their community. Even if there are social barriers, a good citizen will do anything to help. Examples of this in history are plentiful. For example, Harriet Tubman helped blacks escape from slavery; or Amelia Earhart, to be one of the first female pilots. Examples that happened recently are there too; for example, Obama becoming the first Arican America president, and the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen.
At this point, I would like to elaborate on The Climate Change Summit. Basically, citizens and world leaders from across the globe spoke up and said that global warming had to stop. Global warming, or the increase of temperatures around the globe, is getting worse. Citizens finally spokr up and by doing this, encouraged world leaders to form the Climate Change Summit. This is an incredible example of a group of good citizens speaking up, and in doing so, benefit the whole world.
Young people always think that they will not be able to do any good for their community until they are old and wise and boring. In fact, anybody can benefit the world by being a good citizen. Obeying laws and respecting people; these are simple ways of being a good citizen, and afterward you can think, "Well wasn't I just a wonderful citizen!"
No comments:
Post a Comment