Everyone has heard about responsibility. We all know that some people are responsible, others are irresponsible. Each of us at least once in a life time has heard such a phrase ¡°You are irresponsible!¡± or ¡°You don¡¯t have a sense of responsibility!¡± and so on. But what does it mean? Not everyone understands the meaning of the words ¡°responsibility¡± and ¡°responsible / irresponsible¡±.

What is responsibility?

Responsibility is one of the traits of our character which means that a person is able to response for his actions, is able to take some duties and to face certain consequences of the actions that may occur. Oxford dictionary defines responsibility as the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone.

Definitely people are not born with the sense of responsibility and it does not appear at once by magic clasp of the fingers. Responsibility is something every person should cultivate in themselves; it should become a part of one¡¯s personality. Lack of such a trait of character or even its absolute absence was never considered to be a positive feature. When you are responsible it is easier to gain respect of the people and to take decent place in a society.

Importance of responsibility

Someone¡¯s irresponsibility can be not only irritating, when a person does not cope or does not want to cope with the duties, but in some cases it can be dangerous. There are certain kinds of jobs which demand from a person responsibility, jobs where lack of responsibility can lead to tragic consequences or even to a catastrophe.

Let us imagine a situation when a student was to write an essay but he did not manage to complete this task in time. A professor would definitely call the student irresponsible. In this case there is no damage from irresponsibility, except for the student¡¯s personal harm. But let¡¯s also imagine another situation. An employee of a Nuclear Power Plant was not attentive enough, pushed a wrong button and it led to an explosion. This catastrophe caused by lack of responsibility as terrible consequences, it can damage not only environment but also can take people¡¯s lives. Of course these examples are exaggerated but the last one shows how much important responsibility is.

To be or not to be responsible

Some people claim that responsibility in not in their nature. They say that they try to be responsible but nothing works. I don¡¯t think it is fair enough. I believe that for someone responsibility is more natural, for others it is not. That is why for someone it can be easier to be responsible, while for others it is rather hard. Honestly saying, judging from my own experience sometimes it is so difficult to stay responsible, especially when you want to relax and to have a little rest without thinking about the duties you have.

It may seem that people who are too much responsible very often are too serious, and tensed, they can not enjoy their lives. Someone can even say that they are unhappy. Partially it can be true, but not necessarily. You can be responsible and joyful person at the same time. Responsibility does not exclude happiness.

Nevertheless asking ¡°To be or not to be responsible?¡± the answer is definite: to be! But you should always remember that everything is good in moderation.

Social responsibility

Everything we were talking about is in the main so-called personal responsibility. So, I think, it is important to mention social responsibility as well. Previously we discussed the meaning of citizenship. Now we can say that social responsibility is one of the components of citizenship, of relations between man and man in society. According to Wikipedia, social responsibility is an ethical framework and suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems. Social responsibility is important and plays a great role in every sphere of our life. So if we want to live in a prosperous and developing society, we all should be conscious not only about personal but also about social responsibility. Each member of a community has his own responsibilities and duties towards himself and towards others which he has to fulfill to keep cooperative spirit and to keep a balance not only between people, but also between people and nature.

Since the very childhood everyone has certain responsibilities: responsibilities in a family, at school, university, at work and so on. Everyone is expected to implement these responsibilities and their non-fulfillment proclaims disapproval and indignation. So each of us more or less understands what responsibility is, what we need it for, and why it is very important.

Every parent tries to raise the sense of responsibility in their child. While we are children, our parents are responsible for us and our personal and especially social responsibility are not that clearly visible or shown. But when we grow up, we take full responsibility for everything we do and for every our action. We can not just call our mother or father and make them solve our problems. So being an adult means being responsible for yourself. Of course there are many levels of responsibility and they differ from person to person. Only you can decide what your level is, whether you are responsible or not. Everything is up to you!