(Eighth grade Amie Howard took second place in the annual Joplin Elks Lodge Essay Contest. She will receive a $50 savings bond. This year's topic was "What is an American?")
By AMIE HOWARD
Sometimes when I close my eyes and think about America, I can see Betsy Ross, just a young woman, sewing your first American flag, pricking her delicate fingers every now and then. I see an old man with his right hand placed over his heart, tears trickling down his cheeks as he looks up at the flag, remembering how he fought so we could keep it and remembering his dear friends who died in the process. I see two astronauts, solemnly placing our flag on the moon. These people are true Americans.
Americans should be the kind of people whom other people would risk their lives to be with, just so they can call themselves Americans. But in my modern day American life, I do not see these things in people my age.
On Mondays, when we say the Pledge of Allegiance, most students mumble the compelling, inspirational words written long ago. Some kids don't say it at all, just because they don't feel like it. When I see these kids doing this, I want to ask them, "Don't you know what these words mean?" I am not afraid to show pride in being an American. Most people would die to call themselves Americans.
Another thing that is contributing to loss of pride in our country is that we don't say the Pledge of Allegiance every day. Why would anyone oppose giving just that small amount of time for something that expresses what it means to be an American?
No comments:
Post a Comment