Richauna's Questions About Teens Today

Why are teens so out of control (with drug use, alcohol abuse, violence) this day and age? How should parents gain control of their teens? When is it too late to intervene in a teen's life? Do you think teens being out of control is a problem in our society? In our community? What examples have you seen or heard of? In general, what do you think can or should be done to deal with out-of-control teens?If you think it's mainly a parental responsibility to monitor their teenagers and step into their lives as necessary, consider how difficult it is to do this for many parents (especially in single-parent households). Think of your own life as a teenager--isn't it easy for you to hide things from your parents? What could your parents do help you stay in control and not get into trouble that will haunt for you a lifetime?

Thanks for your input!

Edwidge's question on Homeless People

Estimates of the number of people without homes in the United States vary from 230,000 to 3 million, including between 50,000 and 500,000 children. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated in 1999 that "there are at least 600,000 homeless men, women, and children in the United States on any given night," adding that roughly one-third of this population is composed of families with children.

What is your opinion on the homelessness issue? Should people support homeless people? How do you know if a person is really homeless or not?Do you give money to homeless people? Why or why not? What can be done about the problem of so many people in this country, including families and children, having no where to live?

The passage at the top is from the site below. Please read more about homelessness before you respond, if you have the time.http://www.answers.com/topic/homelessness

Driving While on a Cell Phone

Should talking on a cell phone while driving be banned? Even though some places are banning talking on a cell phone, they allow using hands-free devices. Does just the fact that they are still talking interfere with the person's driving? Should there be some sort of punishment for people who
have accidents and kill people because of talking on a cell phone? Do you personally talk on your cell phone while driving? Do you think this interferes in any way with your degree of attention to your driving? If you think that cell phone use while driving should be illegal, is there any other kind of potential driving distraction that you think should also be illegal? Is it illegal to use headphones while driving? Do you think most people are more dangerous driving after having a few beers or while talking in a long talk on a cell phone? Any other input on this subject?

Jeremy Lamb

The success of Iraq

Should we begin to withdraw troops out of Iraq? Was the war in Iraq justified? Is the War in Iraq asuccess? What do you think would be the consequences of pulling out ofIraq right away, just bringing nearly everyone home within a month or so? Is that too fast? What would be the advantage of staying another 6 months? Of withdrawing more slowly and gradually? How many people have died since our occupation of Iraq? Is that too many considering the progresss that has been made? Or do you think the loss of life so far has been worth the end that's being pursued? Do you think it's possible for the United States to achieve their objectives in Iraq? How long will it take? Will the new Secretary of Defense do a better job than Donald Rumsfeld? With a Democratic majority in the house and Senate, will there be an immediate withdrawal? Any other thoughts on this issue?

Thanks for your comments. Dan

Sonja's Abuse Topic

Is spanking bad for kids? Does spanking border on being child abuse? If you're okay with spanking, at what point do you think some parents cross the line and take it too far? For instance, is it okay to hit your child with a belt or paddle? Is it okay to leave a mark? Why do you have these views? If you have kids, do you spank them? If you plan to have them, do you plan to spank them? What purpose do you think spanking serves that can't be achieved in another way? Thanks for your help!

Illinois Driving Age & Responsibilities (Debra Porter's questions)

According to Cyberdriveillinois.com,(http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/drivers/programs/gdl.html)on June 22, 2006a law was passed to increase the amount of practice time to obtain an IL DL. Teens are now required to have 50 hours of training behind the wheel, with that 50 including 10 hours of night driving.

My questions about this subject are (please read above link before responding, it will help you to create your answers):

1. Do you think it was fair to raise the amount of behind-the-wheel training needed to get an IL DL? Why or why not?

2. Even though the behind-the-wheel training has increased, the age to obtain a DL has not. Do you think that the age should go up? (for example, to age 18) Why or why not?

Some things to think about when answering these questions... maturity of teens, responsibility, school attendence (see under "effective july 1, 2007" on link mentioned above), and the different age-related restrictions for teens and adults (also on website link).

Ben's Question about serving your country

Do you think everyone should have to do some stint in the military--also called called "Call to Service"--where everyone does at least two years to serve the country they live in? What do you think are theadvantages and disadvantages of this idea? If such a program did get implemeted, would you want requirements on when people would have to serve their two years? Right after high school? After college? If you don't support the idea of mandatory military service, why don't you? Would you support some other kind of mandatory service toward the benefit of the country? Thanks! Ben