English 1301

Is America Getting Lazy?

Delilah Pinon

September 12, 2007

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This is a question that I've often wondered about. I am a big supporter on all the help and programs the government has to offer.

I have a friend who is a mother with three kids, has a fulltime job, goes to school and is single. I can completely see were she would need and deserve extra help. Now for example, if there is a mother of three children did not attend school, did not have a job and often experimented with drugs while her children are around, and also had the father of her children living with her who is supposedly not in the picture. That is were the line should be drawn, and were action needs to come into play. A lot of people do not have goals for themselves. I know of a girl who lives rent-free, gets help with food and gets extra money. She was trying to coach another girl on how she could have a free home and food and extra money. I think that there are a lot of people who depend on the programs the goverment provides. I have heard were people don't want to get jobs because they will no longer qualify for the help that they are getting. Even though it may be impossible and may cost a lot of money, I think it would be a great idea if a lot of these teen parents would get drug tested when trying to apply for help. I also think that there should be random test so that way the parents will take it serious and not try to cheat there way out of it. I think that this would filter out the parents who just try to scrap by and don't really take this opportunity of free help serious. I think that the number of unemployed parents is growing. I think that with all of my suggestions, it could possibly lower the number of unemployed, drug users who rely on these types of programs.

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Delilah Pinon

September 17, 2007

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      This is a question that I've often wondered about. I am a big supporter on all the help and programs the government has to offer. I have a friend who is the mother of three children, attends college, and has the best work ethics that I know of. In her situation, I can completely understand how she would need and deserve the extra help. Now let's just say, for example, there is a woman who has three children, does not have a job, does not attend college, and often experiments with drugs in front of her children. We'll also add that she has the father of her children staying with her in government housing and he also is unemployed. This is were I believe the line must be drawn. In order to prevent these parents from taking advantage of the system, I think they should be randomly drug tested. This, in my opinion, will force the parents to ,at least ,stop the abuse of drugs.

    Another issue is that people seem to rely on the government a lot more now. I know a mother of two who completely takes advantage of the social services. She went as far as stating that she did not want to get a job because they will take away her help. Instead of embracing the fact that she can get a job and better herself , she would rather be unemployed so that way her services won't be taken away. I'm sure she is not the only one that thinks this way. They can't afford health care and need all kinds of assistance but they can afford the biggest and latest big screen and everyone in the family, including the kids have cell phones. I think that this is the mentality of a lot of people. I also know of parents who sell their food stamps for money to buy drugs, beer, or money to go out to a club. This is were I think the random drug testing will do justice. It would definitely filter out the parents who just try to get by and don't really take this opportunity of free help serious.

    Like I previously stated, I agree with the government helping out people in need. I also believe that you can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves. In this case, if the parents who are on these programs don't want to better themselves, the programs can only do so much. This is where a lot of our tax dollars are wasted. The reason I say wasted is because, there is nothing physically wrong with these parents, and they can get a job. They simply choose not to because they want to take the lazy way out. I also believe that people who are physically and mentally capable of working should be put on a timeline for the assistance that they receive. If that is not possible, I think they should have a deadline to either get a job or become a full time student. This will motivate them and also show them that they must do for themselves. This could possible lower the number of people who take advantage of our tax dollars and the system.