American Voice

The results of a study posted by the New York Times show that life after foster care is a disaster, to word it lightly. Individuals that turn 18 and have aged out of foster care, have shown on an overwhelming scale that they are unable to succeed with the tools, (or lack of tools), that are given to them.

Here are some of the numbers according to the NYT:

• Only half of the youth who age out of foster care are employed by their mid twenties. 
•  Six in ten men have been convicted of a crime.
• Three in four women receive some form of public assistance (many of these women have children of their own.)
• Only six in 100 have completed even a community college degree.

These are extremely disturbing statistics, especially when many of these foster homes were set into place for the improvement of the child's well being. However, there is already work being done to solve this dilemma.

There are programs that are being set up to mentor and assist these young people after they leave foster care. These kids often need a sense of direction and guidance, but have no one to turn to. But these mentor programs that are being set up are already having positive results.


The foster families shown in these pics are just one of thousands of foster families in the country. However, once many of these kids leave foster care they are virtually helpless.

(Please continue reading below...)

The NYT  reports that one gentleman recently aged out of foster care is now doing quite well on his own, because of the mentor ship that was provided. The gentleman is attending a community college and works at a printer cartridge company. This is outstanding compared to the fate that many other foster children before him have met.

Mentoring these kids after leaving foster care is the first of many steps that need to be taken to ensure that our youth succeed. Remember, it not only hurts them if they fail. It hurts us as well. Think about it.

Without a doubt, lack of  education is the overwhelming and dominant reason why so many of the inner city youth do not succeed in life. Crime and the level of a person's education can and should be linked together.

But, of course, a number of issues including low income or poverty can all be attributed to the degree of education that an individual received. This is a known fact within inner circles, but as of yet nothing has been done to resolve this problem. Real legislation has not even been set into play.


This type of statistical information needs to be shown to the public. This is exactly what I intend to do. I will post extremely eye-opening information as to why there HAS to be a change in our education system in the inner city. Or else the progress will be extremely slow. Slow as in it taking 4 generations to get from high school to a college level. Remember, we as Americans should be improve each generation both educationally and financially.


Obviously, many in poverty stricken areas have been poor their entire life, as well as their parents and grandparents. So it is very much a generational aspect to this that needs to be solved.


Currently in America we have individuals that are born into wealth and others that are born into poverty. This is the same thing that happens in other countries, similar to a king and royalty, and the low down peasants. The difference is that in America, we have the opportunity to change what is not fair and just, whereas other countries never get that choice.


I will post part III of the poll results tomorrow which will include statistics to prove the correlation of lack of education and the inner city.  A new poll will be posted tomorrow as well!  
    

What is it that contributes to the plight of the inner city youth? Why are these children using and selling drugs, committing petty thefts, and committing violent crimes?


Many of these youth have so much anger inside and have no care for anyone at all, not even themselves. Many of these kids have witnessed violent crimes ranging from domestic abuse to persons being beaten down in the streets to the horrific act of murder.


Some have lost family members to violent genocidal crime or have lost their loved ones to police crime. These children are sometimes void of emotion. They feel as if their situation is hopeless.


The reasons listed above may be considered as excuses to some. So, let's get to the root of the problem.


What contributes to this plight that these young kids find themselves in? There are a couple of reasons that have been tossed around and the reasons all appear to be valid.


One reason usually given is parenting. Where on earth are these kid's parents? Why don't the parents discipline their children or show their children how to love? Why are these girls becoming parents at such a young age? Why do these girls continue to have so many children, even when it is obvious that they cannot afford even one more child?


These are all honest questions that should be asked. And when all of the question asking has been done, what is left? Obviously asking questions change nothing. The parent is still no where in the child's life. The young kids are still having children of their own.


The glaring fact remains that the inner city youth are still in danger. There is no way to force these parents to to take care of their children. Sure, there are laws on the books that protect the child. But no law in the world will give a child the attention and love that he or she needs and craves.


Indeed, parenting would definitely help these children through the absurd lifestyle that they face on a daily, almost minute to minute basis. But if the parent doesn't step up, (as in 90% of the situations of kids in the inner city), what happens to the child?


Do we just write the parentless child off as a statistic? An extremely high amount of these kids who have no real guidance in their lives end up as either perpetrators of violent crimes, incarcerated, on government assistance, or a combination of all three. This means that every single taxpayer is affected by this inner city plight.


Another reason given regarding the damage of our inner city youth is the failure of the inner city education system. There is an incremental percentage of predominantly minority filled schools that are actually succeeding. For that matter, there is a small percentage of these schools that successfully graduate most of their students. A minimal amount of these schools are able to keep their students from dropping out or even deter young ladies from becoming pregnant.


Children in these schools are fighting amongst each other and fighting with the school staff. School staff have been known to abuse some of these kids, both mentally, physically, and sexually.


Many of the teachers have given up on trying to reach these kids and teach the kids properly. The morale amongst teachers is as low as the money that they are being paid. There are many teachers that actually took the job of teaching because they wanted to make a difference in a child's life.


Amongst all of this negativity, the children are learning absolutely nothing. Education is huge for a child that has nothing positive to face. Even when a child's situation is dire at home, education gives them something to look forward to. The proper education is tremendously beneficial to a child.


So, the situation and plight of the inner city can be detrimental to a kid. However, the revamping of our education system in these inner cities will save taxpayers money and save a child's life in the process.

It is obvious that our inner city children need education in order to improve their current living conditions and escape the unfortunate likelihood of failure. This is a glaring fact. So why is there not much being done to reform the inner city education system?

Firing a few teachers because of poor student test scores may suffice temporarily, but this is definitely not the permanent solution. Many times, when these kids go home there is no parent waiting. Often times, these children have to be parents to their younger siblings. These kids are raising themselves.

Sure, we can easily point to the fact that it is the parent's responsibility to raise their own child. Indeed, this is very true. However, if a parent is not there for a child, what happens then?

Do we simply write that child off as another statistic?

This is where education reform comes in. These kids in our inner cities need to a mentor as well as an educator. The children need to be treated on an individual basis. They need someone to listen to them when they speak. Even if the kid does not speak, someone still needs to be there.

Teachers will have to be put in place that will take the time and effort to deal with "troubled" kids. Remember that each child that does not get the proper education, that is another child that is likely to remain living in poverty. That is another child who is probably going to be in and out of the prison system. An uneducated child does not benefit society, instead that child could be considered an endangerment to others around them as well as an endangerment to themselves. 

Facts don't lie. Our inner city education system needs drastic reformation. 

I'm sure that most of us would agree by now that lack of education is the primary source of lack of success for individuals in the inner cities. The statistics below simply provide visual evidence to support the argument that education is needed to bridge the gap between inner city areas and the rest of the nation.

• 16% of Americans have not completed high school.
• 75% of state prisoners have not completed high school.
• 67% of jailed inmates have not completed high school.

In my opinion, the three bullets listed above are painfully revealing.


Now think about this:

• 84% of all Americans have at least completed high school; the violent crime rate for the U.S. is 469 per 100,000 individuals.
• The ten states with the largest percentage of population with a at least a high school diploma is a high 91.5%; the violent crime rate for these ten states is  305 per 100,000 individuals (below the national average.)
• The ten states with the smallest percentage of population with at least a high school diploma is 80.5%; the violent crime rate for these states is 488 per 100,000 individuals (above the national average.)

The nation spends an average of $9,644 a year to educate a student. The average annual cost per inmate is $22,600. The U.S. spent almost $50 billion dollars in incarceration costs in 2004. The Coalition for Juvenile Justice reports that high school dropouts are three and a half times more likely to be arrested than high school graduates. Can you say wasteful spending?


Here is the financial status of those that lack in education:

• Women who did not finish high school make an average of $10,786  a year.
• Men who did not finish high school make an average of $18,990 a year.

Any questions?