2008 – Seventh Grade Fourth Place:

Kaylee Gueltzow, Minnesota.

Is global warming the greatest challenge facing humankind?

Many people believe that global warming is a threat, an issue that needs to be taken care of now. I agree that it is an issue, but it is not our biggest. I think we have more things to worry about than this.

To me, humankind’s greatest concern is our inability to accept other people’s beliefs and differences. Some can’t accept that there are other people out there that share different thoughts than themselves. This, tied along with greed, causes wars between nations.

All war does is bring hopelessness to the two sides fighting for their glory. All it does is destroy. It destroys everyone involved, the aggressors and those trying to protect their families and homes. It destroys cities. It destroys the hearts of everyone who sits and waits for their loved one to come home and hold them tight. It destroys everything in its path.

Humankind just doesn’t know when to stop. They just keep going on and on until some one finally gets hurt or dies off. We start it all and keep it going until we finally put a stop to it. Our whole lives are spent knowing victory is ours and if we can weaken the ones not like us we are sure to get the prize in the end. Like a runner, we run our track of life and we leave all the rest behind. Once we reach the end, we shout to the heavens, “I’ve won, victory is mine”, however we don’t stop to think about all the others we have left in our dust. But, who really cares about them, right? They are not as powerful as me, so who really cares? We all should.

If everyone would just accept people for who they really were, there wouldn’t be any more problems. There would be no such thing as war, or a definition for the word mockery. Then we could all work together and make this a great place to live.

 

 

 

 

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