| CRISES AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE In small towns and metropolitan areas, our nation’s youth are struggling to create a bright future. Crime, substance abuse, low fitness levels and high dropout rates are impairing our children’s ability to succeed. Crime, drug and alcohol use are among the most serious problems affecting America's young people. Every 24 hours, more than 15,000 teens use drugs for the first time. Every two hours a youth is murdered. Every four minutes a youth is arrested for an alcohol-related crime and every seven minutes a youth is arrested for a drug crime (Crime Time by Safe Place). And in the next 24 hours, 3,506 teens will run away from home (Teen Help). Another obstacle for our young people is the high dropout rate in America. In 2006 alone, 1.2 million teenagers did not graduate from high school in the United States -- that's 30 percent of the class of 2006. The number increases to an astonishing 50 percent among some minorities. According to a survey by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 88 percent of those surveyed (ages 16-25 in 25 urban, rural and suburban communities nationwide) had passing grades when they dropped out of school and 91 percent of those dropouts said they knew that graduating was vital to their future success. Obesity and lack of physical fitness is also a serious issue affecting today's youth. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control, 16 percent of adolescents in the United States are overweight. This figure has nearly tripled in the last 20 years. Some 25 percent of young people (ages 12-21) report that they do not participate in any vigorous physical activity and 14 percent report that they don't even participate in any light to moderate physical activity. This lack of physical fitness and abundance of obesity means that 16 percent of our teens are at risk for heart disease, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Type 2 diabetes has also increased dramatically in teens as a direct result of adolescent obesity. These issues concern all of our children, but for some ethnic groups, the future is even more grim. According to a 2006 New York Times article by Erik Eckholm, the problems affecting many African-American males have become an epidemic. Eckholm states that about one-third of black males are awaiting trial, in jail or prison, or on probation or parole. In their lifetime, nearly one-third of black males will spend some time in jail or prison. Black males are more likely to drop out of high school, be placed in special education classes, and be suspended or expelled, but less likely to be placed in gifted and talented classes. More than 50 percent of black males in inner-city schools do not graduate from high school. |
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