From staff reports
Clarion Free Library announces the winners of its “I Still Have a Dream” essay contest held in the month of January.
The winners along with their essays include:
Chloe Perkins a fifth-grade student from Perkins Schoolhouse won the contest for the elementary division.
I have a dream that everyone everywhere would love each other more than we do ourselves. Almost all our problems would go away and we’d all be united again as one nation if we would just love.
I learned about the Declaration of Independence and how everyone worked together to build a great nation. So I know it’s possible to build a country in love and accomplish great things!
Sometimes I wonder if our once great nation has forgotten what a difference the simple act of love makes and how great our country can be when we love. I dream of a world where people are kind to each other and say things that are nice and uplifting instead of negative.
If people didn’t say things that were hurtful to other people, we could get rid of bullying. When people treat one another the way they want to be treated, everyone wins. If we stood up for each other we would protect those who get picked on.
A lot of people are very lonely and sad and they don’t have friends to hang out with but we could take this problem away by inviting people over and loving them. We’d solve not only the bullying problem but also the loneliness problem if we loved more. I have a dream that people don’t ever hurt animals or other people and are so filled with love that they have no room for hate.
I dream of a world where no one is judgmental and people always give each other the benefit of the doubt; where all people know they’re created equally and love one another more than themselves. No one judges another person by their looks, color, culture, or what they are wearing.
I dream of a world where no one locks their doors. If someone wants or needs something, they don’t steal it, they just ask and it is given to them. No one is hungry and everyone is healthy because doctors help people out of love for free.
A lot of people are afraid. There’s fear of everything: getting sick, dying, and even other people. My dream is that no one feels fear and they feel love instead. It would be like Valentine’s Day everyday if people felt love everywhere they went!
You can’t be afraid if you are filled with love so I dream of a world overflowing with love. I dream of a world where people are kind to one another and everyone gives each other the benefit of the doubt where people love others more than themselves.
Fear and hate cannot exist in a world full of love. People can make this change for a better world like the founding fathers of our country once did (not some big unknown thing involving money, health, laws or technology) by simply loving others more than ourselves.
I dream of a world where people everywhere choose love and make history by doing so!
Eliza Datko an eighth-grade student from Clarion Area High School won the contest for the middle school division.
Essay: “Everyone deserves a chance”
I have a dream that one day people with all different kinds of disabilities will be treated equally like everyone else. I know some people view those with disabilities as “defective” or “less than human,” but in reality, all people, even those who are considered by society to be “different,” have wonderful strengths.
Some are very smart, some are artistic, some can cook, some are great dancers, some are beautiful singers, and others have athletic abilities. I personally know many people with disabilities that are super talented and can function very well, so everyone with a disability deserves a chance to prove themselves.
I think that people need to be more understanding and patient with them too because no one is perfect, and some people have to work harder to become successful in life. I believe that there should be more programs for people with disabilities to participate in to make them feel more comfortable around others which may improve their skills.
There have been many laws passed to ensure equal education for students with disabilities, but further progress needs to be made in our schools. For instance, there could be specific handicap sports teams and clubs at school.
However, if a disabled student would choose to participate on the school’s regular sports team, that should be their choice, and they should feel welcome to join. I feel that having a handicap team would allow more participation time for those who may not be able to keep up with the pace of a typical game.
Newspapers should be reporting on the results of these games or activities. Many times adults with disabilities are overlooked.
There should be more places where older people with disabilities can work and make money, so they can feel accomplished and contribute to society. Rather than sitting back and watching the world around them, they deserve the chance to be active and included.
Although it does not seem people have been discouraged from participating in typical activities, it just doesn’t seem that many do. Therefore, we need to do a better job of reaching out and encouraging those individuals with disabilities to become more active in the things that they may enjoy and the things that make them feel good about themselves.
Aoife Salusky a 10th-grade student from Clarion Area High School won the contest for the high school division.
Essay: I have a dream that one day women will no longer have to live in fear. Girls will not have to worry about being catcalled when walking down the street. Their clothes will not be used as justification for rape.
Women will be able to walk alone at night without being worried about harm coming to them. Girls should not have to avoid doing everyday activities because they are afraid someone will harm them.
With one in three women experiencing sexual harassment per year in the world, there needs to be something that changes. Your mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, grandmothers, friends, co-workers, and bosses could be a part of that fraction.
One in three of them are at risk of some sort of sexual harassment or they have already had it happen to them. Women have the “same” rights as men, but some people think that those rights are not as important or valuable. When at school, girls should not have to worry about their clothes being over sexualized by adults.
They should not have to worry about covering their shoulders and knees because a boy may get “distracted.” The schools want girls to cover their bodies so that boys won’t be disrupted in those classrooms, but when a girl doesn’t cover every single area she is pulled out of class, disrupting her education.
Why is this double standard okay? Why is the boys’ education more important and more valued than the girls’ education? Why is it acceptable for the boys to never be punished for fetishizing and over sexualizing the girls, but the girls who are the victims are the ones who get pulled out of class or get detention?
Instead of telling boys that it’s the girls fault for not covering her body, we should teach boys to respect women and their bodies. After graduating high school while being coddled, the boys are going to be in for a big surprise when they find out that women don’t walk around with a dress code.
School says that it’s preparing us for the real world, but we learn to shame and punish women for dressing how they want to. Boys will believe that they can shame and judge women in their lives for what they wear because that is what they have been shown in school.
It is what the boys have observed. With this way of thinking, men will never learn how to respect or properly treat women in the everyday world. Women have to be afraid and cautious of everything in today’s world in order to survive.
With all of the evils going on, women must fight to have the same rights as men. My dream is that girls will have a safe world to live in, feeling secure and comfortable wherever they may choose to be.
This essay cited information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website.