The Responsibility Project^®. Exploring what it means to do the right thing

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• July 23, 2008 by Ryan Littman-Quinn

  This video shares inspirational stories of young people doing the right thing. It sends a wonderful message that responsibility has no age limit, which I wholeheartedly agree with. However, can we maintain this feel-good perspective on responsibility when it is applied to the other end of the spectrum- when young people instead choose to do the wrong thing? Our society says no. Young people who commit crimes are not held as RESPONSIBLE for their actions as an adult in our society. They are given lighter sentences and a chance to learn from their mistakes. Does this societal double-standard take away from the heart-warming stories in this video? Absolutely not. But it should open one's eyes to the fact that not all 'feel-good' beliefs are as absolute as they may seem when incorporated in our society.

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• July 25, 2008 by Pasquale Bottiglieri

  In times of great stress, war for instances, it has not been uncommon, even here in the United States, for people who were very young at the time to be sent into battle. It is equally common for young people to simply choose to be responsible at a very young age. The norm is however a very different matter. What is probably more the rule than the exception is the 30 year old perpetual student still residing with their parents? I'd like to think that good example from a responsible parent will produce youngsters anxious to accept responsibility at a young age but I have to think that particular choice is based on the totality of input the child has received in their life, which brings us back to another discussion, that being informational overload. In the final analysis, I think we are all about what we experience at all stages of our life, especially as children. Does the axiom "Garbage in ... garbage out" fit here? I think the best analogy I can come up with is the semi-permeable membrane we all studied in Biology. We experience the world as it is but we let into ourselves only what we choose. The only other comment I feel a need to make on this subject relates to the needy parent and the "parentification" of a youngster by that parent for the sake of that parent thus, in the worst case, robbing the youngster of their childhood. In short, while I enjoyed the film, especially the idea of caring deeply for needy kids, I simply express the caution that this is a multi dimensional issue and needs to be considered carefully.

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• August 8, 2008 by Lilli

  This is the easiest kind of responsibility because you have no choice and it is what you meant to do.

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  • August 8, 2008 by Pasquale Bottiglieri

    If, at any age, a person senses and believes that they are answering to the call of their unique existence, and if they derive the comfort, satisfaction and sense of completeness that belief engenders, I have to say that the age that decision is made probably has little bearing. I don't agree, at least not in our culturally diverse society, in mandating growth inhibiting role assignments at a young age, ie: selecting one child out of a family to be the parental care taker for the life of the parent, sometimes to the exclusion of marriage. If a person has choice and they knowingly choose to accept a responsibility which affects their life in some way, whether they are young or not, I think it might even be insulting to question it.

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• August 20, 2008 by Margarita Morales

  I was given the responsibility of caring for my baby sister at a very early age (8 years old) and I did what was required of me because my parents had to go to work to take care of their seven children. I was not the oldest child, but I was the one that the baby bonded with and I cared for her with great joy. A week after my 13th birthday, I made a life-altering decision: I became a Christian and with that took on the role of a youth minister. Having worked as a youth minister since I was a teenager (I am now 50 years old) I have witnessed the full spectrum of responsibility and irresponsibility. Most of the young people who demonstrated responsibility at an early age were those who learned it from their parent(s). As the years progressed, I noticed a shift in a lot of our young people -- it appeared they went from caring about others to caring only about themselves -- not all, but most. These young people in the video have renewed my hope. I have 4 grandsons living with me and am teaching them responsibility at a very early age. They must clean their room every day -- not because they want something, but because it is their responsibility to do so. The oldest one has to take the trash out every day. We've reached the point where we don't have to ask him to do it -- he automatically does it when he sees the trash bin is full. When they do ask us for something special, we sit with them and review their "account." If they have been responsible for the majority of the time, they get the privilege they ask for; if not, then they don't. Simple as that. I believe that if we want our children to be responsible, we must entrust them with responsibilities.

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• October 11, 2008 by someone

  Wow, these children know responsibility better than most CEO's. (I did give some CEO's the benefit of the doubt here.) I don’t think it’s an age thing but more of wealth issues. The more wealth you have, the less responsibility you feel you might have. You break something no problem "hey you, here’s money fix it" to family matters where you can hire a shrink and say fix us, or even hire a lawyer and say "get me out of trouble!!" Well. CEO's are the people at the top so can it be any wonder that they possibly don’t live on the same planet as us normal people and see responsibility in a completely different way? I can also agree some people in this world weren’t raised to take responsibility for their actions ... or simply don’t care.

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• December 22, 2008 by Anita

  After seeing this film on "Growing up”, it makes me see that as a soon to be grandparent that I have taught my children well but no matter the age how can I ask them to grow up when I just grew up. We all have to be understanding and helpful to each other.

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• April 8, 2009 by George Smith

  If there is a responsibility issue in today's society in regards to our children, it is that they have too little responsibility, not too much. Of course, this is not true in all cases but all too often parents set pretty low standards for their children. When we were still a culture primarily based on agricultural endeavors, children had some pretty demanding responsibilities, just so the family could survive. Even today, many of the great leaders learned hard work at an early age, many on farms.

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• September 17, 2009 by Allesandro Forte

  I find it odd how many people enjoy pontificating about what it means to serve their country, especially during a time of war, when the fact is that the most opinionated of them, the ones who enjoy hearing or reading themselves the most, are most likely the ones who ducked that very responsibility and never had the spine or the courage to take that voluntary step.

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• October 16, 2009 by Vic

  reading what has been posted, I agree with some, disagree with most, and have no clue what the rest of you are talking about.

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• October 16, 2009 by Vic

  You nailed it in one.

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• November 14, 2009 by Madison maclain Benton

  This is a good ,proper film that needs to be seen.

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• December 8, 2009 by denzel blake heyward

  is it a good name?

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