April 9th, 2010 High School Student,
Thank You
Natalie
How is a criminal created?
Today I listened to a man talk about what makes a criminal. A former gang member, he spent thirty three
years trying to figure out what made him become a person who didn't merely survive violence but thrive in it. I listened to him talk about his almost non-existant childhood and the incessant beatings and abuse he had to endure. By the time he was fifteen, he was on the streets selling drugs. At seventeen, he was in jail and was apart of a gang of bikers.
What changes a man who has known nothing but hate, torment, and ridicule all his life? Four acts of kindness that were embedded somewhere in his memory. I was empowered by his speech. I realized that everything we do or say has an effect on everyone that lives around us. Even a single comment has the power to either push someone over the edge or bring someone back to life.
The minute a child knows pain or anger, they lose their innocence. Evil, after all, is not innate in man; it is a product of experience. Children live by example: they watch you, study you, learn from you and eventually, they imitate your actions
and words. Your childhood and the environment you lived in shouldn't determine your future, but it does. The root of every decision, every mistake, every action originates in your childhood. We remember every tear we've shed. We
remember the first time we felt hatred. We remember the moment in which we realised that there is no way of escaping our pasts. We remember. Every one of us has the power to change our society for the better: with a smile or a kind
gesture. The good always has a way of overpowering the bad even though it may be greater in immensity.
Jim Mandelin didn't have to change, but he did. His memories of his teacher helping him when no one else would and of the one child who stood up for him while he was being bullied forced him to become a person he could be proud of.
Those actions- no matter how insignificant they may have seemed at the time- gave him hope and allowed him to believe he could change. We should not live our lives in vain; instead, we should give people reasons to believe they are better than their pasts.
Natalie
Anthonisz
Thank You
Natalie
How is a criminal created?
Today I listened to a man talk about what makes a criminal. A former gang member, he spent thirty three
years trying to figure out what made him become a person who didn't merely survive violence but thrive in it. I listened to him talk about his almost non-existant childhood and the incessant beatings and abuse he had to endure. By the time he was fifteen, he was on the streets selling drugs. At seventeen, he was in jail and was apart of a gang of bikers.
What changes a man who has known nothing but hate, torment, and ridicule all his life? Four acts of kindness that were embedded somewhere in his memory. I was empowered by his speech. I realized that everything we do or say has an effect on everyone that lives around us. Even a single comment has the power to either push someone over the edge or bring someone back to life.
The minute a child knows pain or anger, they lose their innocence. Evil, after all, is not innate in man; it is a product of experience. Children live by example: they watch you, study you, learn from you and eventually, they imitate your actions
and words. Your childhood and the environment you lived in shouldn't determine your future, but it does. The root of every decision, every mistake, every action originates in your childhood. We remember every tear we've shed. We
remember the first time we felt hatred. We remember the moment in which we realised that there is no way of escaping our pasts. We remember. Every one of us has the power to change our society for the better: with a smile or a kind
gesture. The good always has a way of overpowering the bad even though it may be greater in immensity.
Jim Mandelin didn't have to change, but he did. His memories of his teacher helping him when no one else would and of the one child who stood up for him while he was being bullied forced him to become a person he could be proud of.
Those actions- no matter how insignificant they may have seemed at the time- gave him hope and allowed him to believe he could change. We should not live our lives in vain; instead, we should give people reasons to believe they are better than their pasts.
Natalie
Anthonisz