What's Wrong With The World? Marie Hickey       © Copyright 2004 by Marie Hickey

This is a story about the moments I realized that there was something wrong with the world. I was but a child,
and still am but a child, and I know I still have a lot to learn about life but I'm going to tell you what I do know. This
story comes from my heart and I feel very strongly about it. I hope it opens your eyes to some of the horrors that children
see and experience every day.

At the age of five years old, I sat and watched the news with my parents. It showed people killing each other: bombs, guns and lots of
fire. 'Why are they killing each other?' I thought to myself. I didn't understand. These were people of the same race: the human race.
And yet they were fighting and killing each other. Why? I asked myself as a five year old. What plausible explanation is there for this
tragedy? Eight years later and I still don't know the answer.

At the age of eleven I sat in the car on the way home from school. My mother was telling me about a 'terrible thing that happened in
America'. She told me that planes had crashed into buildings. I figured it was an accident- a plane that had gone off-course. It was only
when I arrived home and my mother sat me in front of the news once again that I realized it was no accident. People had purposely
flown planes into the Twin Towers, into The Pentagon and into the ground. And all so that they could take revenge on people they'd
never even met. 'Why?' I asked myself yet again as I sat in front of the television and cried. 'Why are they still doing this? Why hasn't
anyone stopped them?' I never found the answer to that question either.

At the age of thirteen I was in P.E class, running around the gym. Suddenly I heard a yell, 'Ouch!' I turned around to see one boy lying
on the ground with another kicking him fiercely. Both boys were classmates of mine. No teacher stopped them. 'Why?' I asked myself
for the third time. This time I knew the answer. The teachers were afraid of the bully. They didn't want to punish him because they
knew how tough he was and they knew that nothing would stop him. What I didn't understand was how humans can treat other humans
this way, and how other humans can stand by and watch.

All through my life I saw advertisements, pleading for donations for the Third World citizens, who were, and still are, living in utter
poverty. Those adverts often made me cry. Then the subsequent ad would be for a car or an expensive computer. 'How?' I asked
myself. 'How can we have so much when they have so little? How can we spend money on such frivolous and pointless items when
they can't even afford food?' That was another question I failed to answer.

All these stories make me realize just how terrible this world is becoming. We are only human. We don't have the right to decide who
lives or who dies. Only God can do that. Yet humans are trying to take over God's influence. Ask yourself why. And see if you can
find the answer.

My name is Marie Hickey. I'm thirteen years old and I live in Ireland. My hobbies include reading, writing, dancing and music.  When I grow up I would love to be a journalist on a magazine. I love writing editorials on topics that I feel strongly about.
 
 

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