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Bipartisan Agenda for America's Children
| Article
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18802 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1991 |
1,023 Words |
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Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-West Virginia) is chairman of
the National Commission on Children. |
Today, gunshots kill more teenage boys than do all natural causes combined. Half a million youngsters drop out of school each year, and half a million bear babies while still children themselves. One in four American children lives with just one parent, and one in five grows up in poverty.
These facts may seem hard to fathom; most children you see are basically healthy and happy, their families strong and stable. But too many are not. Over the past two years, as chairman of the National Commission on Children, I have met more than a few--from all races and income groups, in every region of the country--who desperately need the nation's attention.
In a Chicago hospital, the commission saw two-pound babies born to mothers who had no parental care. In Los Angeles, we met foster children with no place to call home. In West Virginia, we spoke with working parents struggling to make ends meet in a declining economy. As we traveled the country, we asked ourselves how a nation so captivated by youth could leave so many of its young behind.
Poor children are not the only ones at risk. Even children who are shielded from poverty attend inadequate schools. American students lag behind their foreign counterparts in math, science, and reading. Too many drop out, and too many graduate without the skills to succeed in college or the workplace. Many children of all income levels lack the attention they need from caring adults, starting with their mothers and fathers.
The commission met many children whose lives are a daily struggle against poverty, illness, and abuse. We marveled at those who are able to sustain hope and optimism amid conditions that most of us would find dehumanizing. But we also met too many who have already succumbed to a deadening loss of hope.
For much of the recent past, the nation has been locked in a futile debate over solutions. At one extreme were those who sought remedies solely from government; at the other, those who called solely for more responsible behavior by individuals (especially parents) and a broader adherence to basic social values. Caught in the middle were millions of American children and their families, whose problems continued to mount.
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