Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 5 June 1997 — Page 14

The Muncie Times, June 5,1997, Page 14

► TO BE EQUAL The U.S. must invest more in doing good works for children

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(Hugh C. Price is president of the National Urban League)

Some have derided the President’s Summit for America’s Future held last month in Philadelphia to emphasize President Clinton’s call for an army of 2 million volunteers to aid 15 million poor children. They dismiss it as just a “celebrity event.” They say the problems are too complex and daunting for volunteer work. Some even complain that the effort smacks of a “big government” scheme. But, as one who was at the summit, I came away from it cheered and grateful that the president used his bully pulpit and the drawing power" of an invitation from the White House to bring together the media and the well-known and the unknown there. It was a proper use of the power of his office to focus the country’s attention on something of vital importance--doing good works so that poor children have the best possible chance to get out of poverty. That such attention is needed was underscored for me by two reports about children made public last month. One, by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, found that one of every two welfare recipients were or are teenager mothers. It also found that three-fourths of the 500,000 teenage girls

who became mothers every year will need basic cash welfare assistance within 5 years. In addition, the study documented that children of teenage mothers, when compared with those bom to mothers in their 20s, are far more likely to repeat a grade in school, perform poorly on standardized tests, and-most heartbreaking of all--be victims of reported child abuse. The other report, made public at the White House Conference on Early Childhood Development, demonstrated the importance of the first 3 years of life to the healthy development of children. More specifically, the report discussed the newlydiscovered chemical and biological evidence that the nurturing children receive—or don’t receive-in the earlier months of life lays the groundwork for their social, emotional and intellectual development. Lisbeth B. Schoor, director of the Harvard University Project on Effective Interventions, wrote that the report’s importance lay partly in its scientific confirmation of widespread parental folk wisdom: “Whether babies are cuddled, played with and protected from harm,” she said.

“whether adults talk, sing, read and respond to them, actually determines the structure of their brains and the number of synapses they will be able to use in learning to read, do algebra, and feel sadness, guilt, and joy.” When I think of the implications of just these two reports, singly and compared one with the other, I have no doubt that the president’s call for a national mobilization of volunteers to help poor children is vitally necessary. In fact, they, along with myriad other studies on youth education and development, sjiow that the structure of support for young people is like a wedding cake of multiple layers. The bottom and most

that expose young people to new environments and new opportunities-such as visits to museums, summer internships and jobs that help youngsters know that employers really do want them in the workplace. But, if these and other initiatives are really going to be effective, America must make certain that parents and families are in the economic loop. Parents who are outside the mainstream because they are chronically out of work are not able to provide that “first layer” of support to their children. Marian Wright Edelman, of the Children’s Defense Fund, said during last year’s “Stand for Children Day” rally in Washington, that a society

provides for its future by investing in its children. We need to do what is right for America’s children. We need an unparalleled domestic mobilization of resources and will-one that will show once again the essential truth of voluntarism: doing good works.

Remember the Graduate

important layer is the love and nurturing supplied by parents, and close relatives who can guide their children to the right

path for development.

The next includes the essential things that society cannot leave to chance: quality early childhood education, health care, effective schools and constructive programs with caring adults after school, weekends, summers and while parents work. These supports are needed on a consistent, daily basis; they are what society owes children and must be financed

with public money.

The third layer is the army of volunteer mentors who augment parents and expose young people to new opportunities and horizons. They, in programs like Big Brothers/Big Sisters, build the needed relationship and fill in gaps that would otherwise

exist in children’s lives.

The top layer consists of V those enrichment programs

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