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Challenge: President: What message would you like to send to the next president of the United States?
(To read all responses to this writing challenge, go to youngwritersproject.org/node/9240)
Although the U.S. does not make all the pollution in the world, we play a big part. Global warming is a terrible thing and it’s going to affect the U.S.
People from other countries are bound to sneak into the U.S. Building a wall and deporting people is not the best way to fix the problem.
Hunger in America is a real thing. If you are just $2 over the limit, you can’t get help with food stamps or anything else, and I think that’s wrong. You can’t buy much fresh produce for $4 but you can buy four bags of chips.
Children’s education is another thing that needs to be reevaluated. Although I don’t have a problem with homework, sometimes it gets to be a bit too much. When teachers give homework I don’t think they think about the time it’s actually going to take to do the work and other things that need to be done at home.
I think climate change is the biggest global crisis we have faced. The United States has faced many challenges and all of them were difficult to overcome. Climate change is different; it is threatening to destroy all of us and can only be stopped through immense, world-wide cooperation. Whoever the next president is, I would like to see them act on climate change and shoulder the responsibility that being a leading power requires.
Currently, the U.S. uses tons of fossil fuel and we do very little to make up for it. The U.S. will suffer from the effects of climate change. Parts of New York City, including the street I once lived on, will be underwater due to rising sea levels. As much as we have to lose, small island countries are going to pay even more; some of them are already flooding more and more frequently and if we don’t do anything they will flood completely and be under the water. On top of that, they have done very little to invoke climate change and they are the ones that will be paying dearly! My message to the next president is: let’s act on climate change now, before it’s too late, and set an example to other countries. Let’s stand up for what’s right and make the environment great again.
I would like to inform you that we don’t need a wall. The United States is not about keeping people out; it’s about letting people in. If you build a wall, then we are no better than what people think of Americans.
If there are people here illegally, then legalize them; don’t kick them out.
People should feel welcome when they come to the U.S., not feel like they are under inspection and certainly not feel like the president of the United States is a rude person.
This country was not built on putting up walls and being cowards. This country was built on doing what is right and standing up for what we believe in.
You don’t know me and I don’t know you in person, but I’ve certainly heard a lot about you from the media. And I can’t help but wonder, what is the real you? Are you really as terrible as everyone makes you out to be?
I have to be honest, I’m starting to believe it all. I can’t help it; there’s never anything good about you. I understand the media does it on purpose. But they also can’t be making it all up. There has to be some truth behind their words. So, what is my new president, my new leader, like? What is the truth behind all the promises no one can keep?
If you can, I’d like you to save our country. Bring America back to what it’s supposed to stand for. I love this country, but I’m afraid. I hear everyone around me say they are going to move to Canada or some other country. I admit that I am one of them. But, in reality, I don’t want to move from this country, because America is my home and it always will be. I fear where this country is heading. More and more murders are happening, especially in schools.
But taking away guns from everyone isn’t going to stop the shootings, because criminals can still go through the black market, which is all over the country. I don’t know the solution to the violence, but I do know it needs to be solved.
It isn’t the only problem America has, though. The ever-widening gap between the police and the public, especially African-Americans, is a huge issue in this country. My stepfather is a police officer, so that issue hits a little closer to home than gun violence. Even though it isn’t as much of an issue in Vermont as it is in some other states, it is still present.
If you get nothing else from this letter, take this away: the citizens you have sworn to protect are afraid. Some hide it under anger; some hide it under indifference; and others hide it by making jokes about leaving the country. But when you take away all those covers, it comes down to one thing, and one thing alone: we are afraid. We need you to relieve this fear from us and put faith back into the country’s name.