This I Believe, by Tyrone

This I Believe

I believe that men should have more awareness about abusive relationships. When men hit women, it makes women feel bad, but it makes them feel hurt and bad. I have a relative who was abused way back. It was so bad she got her finger shot off. That’s why I’m writing about the abuse of women by men and trying to make them stop the violence on their women.

I learned that men abuse their women because somebody might have messed them up when they were younger, or they might not have had a father in their life. The people who want healthy relationships should have trust and have respect. There are three types of abuse: physical, which involves slapping and hitting. Emotional, involves teasing and bullying. Sexual involves a relationship where you are forced to do something that you don’t want to do.

People can get help if they need help on their relationships. They can get help by going to a teen crisis center of some where else that will offer you counseling. There is a show called Maury that shows where you can get help. When I see that segment, I get mad because they shouldn’t treat there women like that in the first place. They should treat them like they want to be treated, not like dogs. If my family member is being abused, I am going to say something and go to the police to get some help.

The reason I feel so bad for these women is because they are getting hurt bad and they are not supposed to. They should be treated like human beings and like women. You may argue a lot, but you should not put your hands on your girlfriend. I learned from this essay that you should always love your women and not put your hands on them. Just talk to them if they are getting you mad and talk about the situation. So, I encourage all the men to not hit your women and women take up for your self and don’t let them hit you. And especially, get counseling!!!

This I Believe, by Heather

This I Believe

Have you ever been in a situation where you did something that you didn’t mean to do? I have and it’s not a fun situation to be in. It can be heart breaking and cause a lot of pain. I feel like everyone should deserve a second chance depending on what they did.

My name is Heather Salmon. I am a junior at Orange High School and I am sixteen years old. I have had a lot of drama with boys and friends even family in my life this year at school and at home. I have done so many things that I didn’t mean to do. I have gotten second chances just because I told the truth, but that doesn’t mean everyone gets one.

I have many stories about given someone a second chance, one which wasn’t too long ago. It was actually just before my school got out for spring break! I had gotten mad at my best friend for doing something that I thought was wrong. I had heard that she was messing with the guy that I had been kind of talking to. I became very angry at her and I suddenly stop talking to her. This went on for about a week. Everyday after second period, she would come up to me at lunch and tell all the stuff that the boy was telling her. Her knowing that I liked him, I didn’t believe her. We didn’t talk at all. When lunch came, I sat there and ate my food and didn’t bother to look at her. We had never gotten into an argument of any kind or had been mad at each other. At that time I really didn’t care because I thought she had done something very wrong. Come to find out, it was the boy that I was talking to that was going behind my back and making me look stupid by telling her that he liked her and a whole bunch of other stuff. Over spring break we didn’t talk at all. Just a couple days before it was time to come back to school, she e-mailed me on myspace and asked me if we could just forget about everything that had happened because she hates not talking to me and hanging out with me. I wrote her back and told her that I would love to forget about everything that had happened because I miss being her friend also. We haven’t really spoken that much since this event occurred. I know from this experience, we will never be best friends again but we will definitely be friends and still hangout and do stuff we used to do. I had given her another chance because she deserved one.

Which comes to conclusion, I believe that everyone deserves a second chance. People make mistakes in life that aren’t meant to be made. I have made many of those mistakes just like everyone else. No body in this world is perfect. Like one of my friends said, “Things happen and we have to move on in our lives and forgive the person for whatever they have done.”

This I Believe, by Bianca

This I Believe
(based upon NPR's "This I Believe" series)

So many people are against gay people and I wonder, why? They are just like you: but, they just love the same gender. I believe very strongly in gay and lesbian marriages. I believe people should be able to love who they want to love, not who the world wants them to love. So many people are killed every year because of their sexuality and the fact that they don’t live the way others live.

Sometimes I don’t understand why the law makes it a big problem for people to marry who they want to. I’m angry because we have a book of constitutional amendments that states that we have the right of freedom to do basically whatever we want. But yet we can’t marry who we want. It makes me so angry when I hear people talk about how much they hate the gay community. The gay community hasn’t done anything wrong to them, only to be themselves.

I believe in gay and lesbian marriages because I am bisexual myself, which means that I very strongly support the gay community. I also support this belief because I have a lot of gay friends. I notice that in the South, people aren’t as open about the gay community as they are in the Northern cities. Even if I wasn’t gay, I still wouldn’t have a problem with the gay community. There’s nothing wrong with being gay. All it means is that you like the same gender: you’re still the same on the inside.

There’s this show that I watch called “The L Word,” which is about the lives of women who are lesbians. It shows how much love they have for one another regardless of the fact that they are the same gender. Gay couples have the same issues as couples of the opposite sex. The series is a very good example of what goes on in gay/lesbian relationships, their lives and the issuse that they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. This show reminds me why I believe people should be able to love who they want to love, not who the world wants them to love.

This I Believe, by Tracy

This I Believe

I believe in true love and second chances. Everyone deserves true love and a second chance. When I was thirteen years old and in the seventh grade, I thought that I was in love. I was so sure that I had found exactly who and what I wanted. Everything seemed perfect. Then my “true love” started treating me very badly. He called me names and he pushed me, he made me think, that I couldn’t do better and that I was ugly and worthless. Everyone told me that I deserve better, but I thought I was in love so I didn’t listen. I let him control my life. I did anything and everything that he told me to do. Finally, when I was sixteen years old, he ended our relationship. He wanted someone “better”.

I went into a huge, very bad, mental state of depression. I quit eating, I started cutting myself. My grades dropped. I didn’t care about anything, and I certainly didn’t care about myself. I started hanging out with the way wrong people, and doing very wrong things, but I didn’t care. I lost total sight of what was important in my life, and it was all because of some stupid boy. There were other reason’s involved, but he was the main reason. My parents, family, and friends were all very worried about me. My parents sent me to a doctor, who then placed me in a hospital for a week.

I went on doing bad things and hanging with the wrong people for about a year, until about four months ago. That was when a miracle walked into my life. His name is Robert Hill. He goes by, “Robbie”. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be who I am today. He helped strengthen me, and he helped me straighten out my life. He told me that he believes in me and that means the world to me. He helped me realize that the way I was living my life was no way to live. He encouraged me to see that I can be someone and make something of myself. He showed me what true love is and taught me that second chances happen.

He brought the good back out in me and so much more. He is the reason that I get up and can look forward to my day now/ he is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I don’t know what I would do without him. I can’t see myself without him. And the strange thing is, I don’t depend on him like I depended on the other person, he just guides me. In fact, we kind of guide each other.

I hadn’t had anyone treat me like he does. He reminds me of how much I mean to him every day, and that I am important, and that I can be somebody. He is so good to me, and that is why I love him so much. He is the reason why I believe in love and second chances. He has showed me that there is always room is your heart to love someone else, and when you think that you can’t go on without someone, you really can. You just have to be strong and willing to move on. You can’t dwell on the past, you have to always look forward to the future. There is someone out there for everyone, you just have to be strong and not stop looking until you find them. Don’t ever give up. You never know, that person might be standing right in front of you, waiting for you to let them in.