from a book resulting from the 1994 Responsibility Contest Doesn't Anyone Care About The Children? *THE PROBLEM
*Reality
*In 1990, a commission of educational, political, medical and business leaders issued a report known as Code Blue which said,
*Never before has one generation of American teenagers been less healthy less cared for, or less prepared for life than their parents were at the same age.
*In California homicide is the leading cause of death among those in the 20-24 age group and homicide is the second-leading cause of death for teens. In the U.S. the arrest rate for homicides for suspects 17 years-old rose 121 percent in the six years between 1985 and 1991. Violence is epidemic. Drugs are a fixture. Adults may not like it; may deny it; but this is thereality many of our young people live with every day:
"My brother drinks at least twice a week and sometimes everyday. He drinksto get high or when he is really upset. My father taught him how to do this. A friend of mine has a cousin who got arrested when he was eighteen for drunk driving. Unlike my brother, he killed someone. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. Laws do not kill an addiction." Student in Wisconsin
"One example of irresponsible behavior involves a classmate of mine. He began drinking about a half year ago. It began as a way to social- ize and fit in with the others. His drinking gradually grew into a larger problem. He began drinking more and more often. One night he came home and passed out on the floor. His mother and father found him, and they were very disappointed in his actions. He is a very intelligent guy---he was just irresponsible getting drunk all the time.It finally caught up with him. He has stopped being responsible. He has become an alcoholic." Kimber Linn, Bondurant-Farrar High School, Bondurant, Iowa
"A few years ago a friend of mine's mom was killed in a deadly car accident. Accidents do happen, but this accident was one that could have been prevented if the other driver would have just taken some responsibil- ity for his drinking problem. You see, he had been an alcoholic for many years and was driving drunk that night when he killed her.If he just would have taken the responsibility of calling someone for a ride home or even walked, instead of getting behind the wheel, this accident would not have even happened." Justin Hron, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota
"At the school I go to there are many students who go out on Friday and Saturday night to get drunk. Many of these kids drive around in their own cars while they are drinking. I know at least twenty-five people in my class who have driven while intoxicated at least once in their life." Mark Hegbloom, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas
"The number of kids who use drugs in my school is increasing, while the number of kids on the honor roll is decreasing. This is just the basic problem of not taking the education offered to them on drugs seriously." Kelly Davidson, Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
"Alcohol can kill anyone. It doesn't matter if you are smart or popular, you can still die." Charity Persson, Lincoln County High School, Eureka, Montana
"Just this winter, there were two people on snowmobiles leaving two different bars. They collided head on at the top of the hill and died instantly. One of them was going the wrong way on a one-way trail. If drinking wasn't involved, this may have never happened." Jessica Moen, DeForest High School, DeForest, Wisconsin
*Responsible students ponder the irrationality of it all:
"Driving while intoxicated is very irresponsible, as well as dangerous. It takes responsibility to know when a person has had enough to drink. Driving drunk displays a lack of good judgment and character. Drunk drivers should ask themselves why they drive drunk. Do they drive drunk because they think it is cool, grown up, smart or fun?" Jeff Garner, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas
*A new law (AB4138) was proposed in California in the spring of 1994 which requires any unlicensed driver to surrender the vehicle he/she is driving to the state. A study by the state Department of Motor Vehicles found that 75 percent of DUI [driving under the influence] convicts continue to drive without a license and 15 percent of all car accidents in the state involve this group.
*We think Jamie (below) is on the right track:
"Drugs do something to the brain, to the mind, to the soul, from which many people cannot recover. If drug addiction were something a person could take a shot for, or a couple of aspirins and be okay, it would not be the calamity it is. Right now the government and the police have the responsibility. In Los Angeles County, the police make more than twelve thousand arrests in an attempt to disrupt the activities of an estimated 70,000 drug gang members. They are spending billions of dollars on trying to stop the problem, but it isn't working. The responsibility has to be shifted to the individual." Jamie Dorman, Concordia High School, Concordia, Kansas
*Violence
*Should we believe rehashed stories that assure us that crime is on the decline or newly released statistics? In a report issued by Princeton University and the Brookings Institution in the summer of 1994, property and violent crimes per 100,000 people amounted to 190 in 1960, 400 in 1970 and so far in the 1990s about 600. What we have here is another "decrease in the increase." Thirty years ago people were three times less likely to be robbed, raped or murdered. The report went on to state that 90 percent of all criminal cases are plea-bargained and that most convicted criminals are not sent to prison. Probation and parole are a joke.
*Personal knowledge of a victim always makes the crime more outrageous:
"Just last year, 1993, I myself lost a family member to a gun shot wound inflicted by a teenager. My 15 year old cousin from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was shot and killed by a 16 year old boy." Jay Salen, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota
"I know someone that is getting abused in my family and she has finally left her spouse, because it got to the point that he almost killed her by hanging her from her ankles out a two story building. He abused her so much that their three kids would take it out on each other. One time he came home drunk and started to abuse her again. When he passed out the kids took all the money out of his wallet and took it to school and handed it out. The kids were mad at him because of what he had done to their mother. So they just decided to take the money. Finally, she told him to leave and now everything is much better." Janine Bailey, LaCrosse High School, LaCrosse, Washington
"Two years ago my sister was on her daily walk just before breakfast. She had taken her usual route up Placer Creek Road and all was going fine. Out of nowhere a man emerged from behind some brush. He was wearing a ski mask and holding a rifle. In a muffled voice he told her to start climbing a steep mountain next to the road. They slowly made their way up to a little camp site the man had set up. Upon reaching the camp the man tied her to a tree and left saying he'd be back in a little bit. Thankfully my sister was able to free herself and race back home before the man returned. My sister was lucky to get away with only rope burns. Previous similar incidents weren't as positive." John Fleming, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
*Children are the victims and children commit the crimes:
"A twelve-year-old boy shot a stock broker on a street in Corpus Christi, Texas. As the victim watched, the boy blow the smoke from the gun barrel John Wayne style, then rode off on his bicycle." Shane Morris, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee
*In the summer of 1994 a 14 year-old boy killed two men; for food money. In August 1993, a 13 year-old New Yorker was charged with murdering a 4 year-old. Early in 1993 2 year-old James Bulger was beaten, killed and left on train tracks by two 10 year-old boys. This crime shocked England whose murder rate--1.3 per 100,000 people--contrasts to the American rate of 10 per 100,000.
"Arrests for murders for adults rose eleven percent from 1982 to 1991, while juveniles arrested rose ninety-three percent. Ten to seventeen year-olds who used firearms to commit murder during the 1980's increased seventy-nine percent." Carly Brant, Big Spring High School, Newville, Pennsylvania
*Monterey County, California has 84 inmates in juvenile hall---14 are awaiting trial for murder or attempted murder. To our north, Santa Cruz has 40 percent of its 29 juveniles facing murder or attempted murder charges. Most are gang-related crimes. But is it any wonder? Children learn what they live. ( See page 138.)
"Ten percent of the children visiting the Boston City Hospital last year had witnessed a shooting or stabbing by the age of six." Shannon Harrah, Meadow Bridge High, Meadow Bridge, West Virginia
*On June 28,1994 in Salinas, California, a 10 year old girl tes