Citizenship

Our most recent writing assignment in Honors English II has this prompt: "Write a speech for your high school graduating class on the meaning of good citizenship."

Citizenship is defined as the status of being a citizen, that is, a person owing loyalty to and entitled to the protection of a particular state. Historic, honorable people such as Abraham Lincoln and JFK were huge citizenship-fans. Citizenship meant a lot to them, and showed a lot about one's character. In the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Consitution it states, "All persons are born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." We confront citizenship as a legal issue: whether or not you were born in the United States, and if you were not, if you took the test and became a legal citizen. But citizenship is about so much more than that. Take away the government, and you will still have citizenship. Because citizenship isn't just about respecting your government. In fact, have you ever reversed it? Maybe citizenship is about being loyal to what is true and just- not the government. People are afraid to say things like that. It depends on what you are being loyal to, but no matter what, citizenship is about morality. If your government is dwelling in idiocracy and hypocrisy, then I believe that it is your job as a good citizen to voice your opinion.