Youth in the News
Volume 3, Number 8, April 16-30, 2008
Contents
State Watch
Legal
Research
Government
STATE WATCH
- In Maryland, schools implement a cash incentive program to try and boost school attendance and the city's graduation rate.
- Racial bullying is a growing problem in Oklahoma City schools.
- The Bush Administration announces an effort to decrease the dropout rate across the country, while AT&T officials plan to spend $100 million on a four-year effort to study ways to combat the school dropout problem.
- Violence is claiming more youth in Chicago and observers suggest that black youth face high rates of youth violence and death.
- In Florida, youth advocate for more spending on after-school and education programs.
LEGAL
- In California, a state commission of judges and lawyers issued recommendations on how to improve the state's juvenile justice system.
- In New Hampshire, the House of Representatives asked the N.H. Supreme Court to consider allowing some 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections.
RESEARCH
- An Urban Institute study examines employment outcomes for youth who age out of foster care through their middle twenties in three states.
- In light of the increase of violence and suicide in schools, experts suggest that parents and schools pay close attention to the mental health of teens and take preventative action to stop violent incidents before they happen.
GOVERNMENT
- In Missouri, lawmakers appear poised to put an additional $1.5 million into state efforts against teen smoking during the next budget year.
- Legislators in Florida consider a bill that would provide harsher penalties for gang members and include gangs in the state's racketeering statutes.
- In California, an Assembly committee passes a bill that would help protect LGBT foster youth against harassment and discrimination at school.
- Congress debates if the federal government should fund abstinence education.
ARTICLES
MARYLAND
Schools Use Cash As An Incentive to Boost Attendance and Scores
April 29, 2008
By Sean J. Miller, The Christian Science Monitor
Asia Cole usually finishes the newspaper on the bus before she arrives in front of her computer in the morning. That way she knows roughly what to expect when she logs on to check her stock portfolio. Clicking the keyboard of her Mac on a recent Friday, Asia adjusts her glasses and scans the latest market fluctuations – then calculates where her investments stand as the country flirts menacingly with recession.
Asia's morning ritual could be the same as any broker in a cubicle at Merrill Lynch or Goldman Sachs. Except her office isn't on Wall Street – she's sitting at her desk at the Francis Scott Key middle school here.
Asia is part of an unusual experiment in capitalism-meets-education in the Baltimore public school system. She's learning about the stock market, even managing her own portfolio, in an effort to understand the all-important subjects of economics and finance.
But the program also has another purpose: to help kids earn money in the hope that it will improve their attendance and grades.
Almost since the dawn of the classroom, parents and teachers have tried everything from bigger allowances to gold stars to motivate the next generation. Now some districts across the country are paying cash directly to students to boost achievement – despite often vocal opposition.
The result is a budding moral debate about how far schools should go in trying to repair American report cards. Are we entering an era of school-sanctioned bribery, or just tapping a distinctly American tool to help save a flawed education system? "Some teachers give children candy, some teachers give them school supplies," says Kevin Burnett, who teaches the stock-market class here. "We have a new era of children coming through. For a lot of them, money is a motivator."
The Francis Scott Key Elementary/Middle School sits two streets up from Baltimore Harbor, across from a Marine Corps League hall and a factory that makes ingredients for glass. It is a squat brick building with a modern metallic sculpture out front.
Inside, students trickle in to Mr. Burnett's computer class on the second floor. Burnett, a tall, lissome man wearing a dark suit and open-collared shirt, tells his students to check out a website that displays stock performance data and recent business news.
His class is part of the "Stocks in the Future" program, a private initiative run in partnership with the school district. It is taught to some 400 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The students earn up to $80 a year, which they can invest in blue chip stocks and cash out when they graduate.
"We're dangling money in front of them as a way of getting their attention, and we've got it," says Pat Bernstein, who founded the incentive program with the help of Johns Hopkins University.
Baltimore school officials like the idea of cash incentives enough that they are now ambitiously expanding the concept. Starting this spring, the school district will pay up to $110 to students who improve their scores on the High School Assessment (HSA) exams. The tests are administered on the four core subject areas needed to graduate in Maryland: American government, algebra, English, and biology.
Once the HSA testing starts in May, the school board will determine if at-risk students – those who have already failed at least one of the exams – are making progress toward graduating. If so, they will receive cash rewards pegged to improvement in their scores.
The district has earmarked almost $1 million for the program over the next 18 months. The goal is to boost the city's graduation rate, which hovers around 60 percent. "It benefits the students as well as the schools," says Roger Shaw, the district official in charge of implementing the program, noting it can help schools meet mandates under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. "The ultimate incentive is they will pass the tests and earn their high school diplomas."
Other cities like the idea of cash rewards, too. New York has launched "Opportunity NYC" as part of a broader antipoverty effort. It pays students in fourth and seventh grades up to $100 for improved scores on English and math exams. The program, privately funded, targets schools in low-income neighborhoods.
Similarly, Fulton County, Georgia, outside Atlanta, has launched a Learn and Earn initiative that pays students at two schools up to $8 an hour to show up for after-hours science and math lessons. The eighth- and 11th-graders were picked for the program based on troubling attendance, grades, and test scores.
Still, critics of cash-reward initiatives argue that they instill the wrong values in kids – promoting a love of money instead of a love of learning. "The question isn't will rewards motivate kids," says Alfie Kohn, author of the book "Punished by Rewards." "The question is what kind of motivation do rewards create?"
Cash incentives often divide parents, too. Dennis Moulden, a former PTA official in Baltimore, worries about appearances. "I would prefer that it was grant money as opposed to tax dollars so it doesn't look like the [school] system is trying to pay these kids off," he says.
But Mr. Moulden also notes that middle- and upper-class parents have offered their kids monetary incentives for years – something not always available to poor families. "For a lot of these kids, parents don't have the resources," he says. "The [school officials] are supplanting the parents in that respect. It's kind of like an educational welfare system."
Underneath all this looms another question: Do incentives really work? One recent study by a Cornell University professor, who examined a Texas program that paid students in poorer districts for passing Advanced Placement tests, found that the rewards did help increase participation in the AP classes and improved scores. But the author has cautioned that other factors might have contributed to the improvements.
At the middle school, Burnett presses on with a discussion about the stock market and economy. He removes his suit jacket and rolls up his sleeves. The class stirs. One girl mentions her mom has stopped buying juice because it's too expensive. Other students point out high gas prices. Another boy puts up his hand and explains: "I was going to the store and I left the TV on and my mother started yelling that I didn't pay any bills."
The comment draws laughter, but Burnett links it back to the high cost of energy and asks how that might affect the stock market. After a few minutes, he tries a different tack.
"How many of you are buying video games?" he asks. He veers the conversation toward the performance of Sony and Microsoft stock. Then he segues into financial strategy. "We invest in companies that we know are going to be around for the long haul, so it's not like a game of Monopoly – you can't go two spaces and end up living on Park Place," he says.
So far, the class seems to be working. The students are absorbed, not because of any dividends they might get from their portfolios but because of the window into capitalism. "I don't really need money to come to school," says Asia. "I like coming to school because I want an education."
Classmate Nakia Lyna concurs. "Some adults think that we don't like coming to school, that we don't like learning," she says. "But in this class, we have fun learning about money."
Nakia, in fact, believes paying students may just confuse them. "If you bribe them with money, they're going to have a reason to come just for the money," she says. "They're not thinking about what they're going to learn in social studies the next morning or in computer class. They're going to think about how much money they're going to get and when they're going to spend it at the store."
OKLAHOMA
Racial Bullying On the Rise in OKC-area Schools
April 22, 2008
The Associated Press, TulsaWorld.com
Latino students have increasingly become targets of bullying in metro-area schools since Oklahoma passed a tough immigration enforcement bill, community leaders say.
Hispanic youth across the city are reporting incidents of bullying and racial slurs, said Rey Madrid, youth organizer for the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The head of the youth council told him she has been targeted because of her race at Westmoore High School, and Madrid said it's something all the children of the youth council speak freely about when they meet.
"These children are getting bullied and they are getting angry," Madrid said.
He said the problems are particularly difficult for many first-generation students. Many times these students have to translate and navigate cultural complexities for their parents, who are often unable to advocate for them at school because of the language barrier.
Madrid warned that for some kids bullying pushes them to drop out, join gangs or use drugs.
"Whenever kids at school pick on somebody, that child that gets picked on is going to look for security," he said. "Kids don't always know how to work things out for themselves, and they turn to gangs for security. They turn to drugs to ease the pain."
Mayra Sigala, a 15-year-old student at Edmond Memorial High School, said she first experienced race-based bullying within a week of the passage of House Bill 1804, Oklahoma's bill targeting illegal immigrants.
A fellow student, a football player, yelled a racial slur at her in the hallway.
"He kept calling me names," she said. "He kept telling me to go back to Mexico. I tried to tell him that I was born here, but he didn't believe me."
Other students laughed.
"I guess they all agreed with him," she said.
Mayra said she told her Spanish teacher. A few other Hispanic students were experiencing the same thing, she said. They were told by the teacher that something would be done. But the behavior continued, Mayra said.
School officials say the information was not passed on. They say if they had known, something would have been done. But they conceded there have been issues in the past.
"It's obvious there were some issues we needed to address, otherwise we wouldn't have started native speaker's class," said Brenda Lyons, associate superintendent with the Edmond School District. "Do we have bullying? Of course we do ... There's not any more than the norm with any other group."
NATIONWIDE
White House Announces New Reforms for No Child Left Behind
April 22, 2008
By Nancy Zuckerbrod, ABC News
The Bush administration sought to bolster its signature education law Tuesday, announcing new rules designed to address the nation's dropout problem and ensure close attention is paid to the achievement of minority students.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced that among the proposed changes being made to the No Child Left Behind law is a new requirement that by the 2012-13 school year, all states would have to calculate their graduation rates in a uniform way.
States currently use all kinds of methods to determine their graduation rates, many of which are based on unreliable information about school dropouts, leading to overestimates.
States will be told to count graduates, in most cases, as students who leave on time and with a regular degree. Research indicates students who take extra time or get alternatives to diplomas, such as a GED, generally don't do as well in college or in the work force.
While states will no longer be able to use their own methods for calculating grad rates, they still will be able to set their own goals for getting more students to graduate. Critics say that may allow some states to continue setting weak improvement goals.
The administration's proposed regulations would require schools to be judged not only on how the overall student body does but also on the percentage of minority students who graduate.
Nationally, an estimated 70 percent of students graduate on time with a regular diploma. For Hispanic and black students, the proportion drops to about half.
Critics of the six-year-old education law have complained that judging schools on test scores but not, to the same degree, on graduation rates has created an incentive for schools to push weak students out or into non-diploma tracks.
No Child Left Behind requires testing in reading and math in grades three through eight and once in high school. The stated goal is to get all kids doing math and reading at their proper grade level by 2013-14.
Spellings has been taking steps in recent months to make changes to the law from her perch, after efforts to rewrite the bill in Congress stalled. The proposed regulations amount to the most comprehensive set of administrative changes she has sought so far.
"The Congress, I guess because of the political and legislative climate, has not been able to get a reauthorization under way this year," Spellings said in an interview. "I know that schools and students need help now, and we are prepared to act administratively."
The regulations call for a federal review of state policies regarding the exclusion of test scores of students in racial groups deemed too small to be statistically significant or so small that student privacy could be jeopardized. Critics say too many kids' scores are being left aside under these policies.
The regulations also call for school districts to demonstrate that they are doing all they can to notify parents of low-income students in struggling schools that free tutoring is available. If the districts fail to do that, their ability to spend federal funds could be limited. The department estimates only 14 percent of eligible students receive tutoring available to them.
An even smaller percentage of kids who are allowed to transfer to higher-performing schools make that switch, in part because they aren't always informed of vacancies on time. The regulations require schools to publicize open spots at least 14 days before school starts.
The administration's proposal also would tighten the rules around the corrective steps schools must take once they've failed to hit progress goals for many consecutive years.
Spellings and others have said schools often take quick steps when reforming troubled schools, such as replacing principals, rather than taking more comprehensive action. "Real school restructuring is not a new coat of paint," Spellings said Tuesday.
President Bush said in a statement Tuesday that the regulations would "address the dropout crisis in America, strengthen accountability, improve our lowest-performing schools, and ensure that more students get access to high-quality tutoring."
The administration is seeking public comments before finalizing the regulations in the fall.
Regulations can be overturned by a new administration. Spellings said that's unlikely in this case, because the rules she is proposing have widespread support. She said she hoped the ideas would help shape any future debate on Capitol Hill.
"I think these things will help the law work better in the field ... and I think they are ways for the Congress to have a good jumping-off place when they start on their work," she said.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who chairs the Senate education committee, said the regulations "include important improvements for implementing No Child Left Behind."
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who chairs the House education committee, said the new rules fall short of what's needed. He said the Bush administration didn't try hard enough to get a revised law through Congress.
"The changes amount to tinkering with a law that needs significant improvements, as most parents, educators, and students know," Miller said.
Miller had sought changes that included a merit-pay program to reward teachers who boost student performance, which teachers' unions opposed. He also wanted to expand the criteria under which schools are judged, which drew criticism from the administration.
NATIONWIDE
AT&T Pledges $100 million to Combat School Dropout Problem
April 17, 2008
By Carlos Sadovi, Chicago Tribune
With high school dropout rates burgeoning, AT&T officials plan to spend $100 million on a four-year effort to study ways to stem the problem, while offering grants to schools and non-profits across the nation.
Officials are expected to announce the launch of the program, dubbed "AT&T Aspire," Thursday at the Economic Club of Chicago. It will be the largest education initiative in the company's 137-year history, officials said.
Officials at the company and its charitable arm see dropouts as the biggest long-term threat to the U.S. economy, said Laura Sanford, president of the AT&T Foundation.
"There are as many reasons for dropping out as there are dropouts," Sanford said. "Where the reasons really cluster is around students not being able to easily connect and find relevance in what they are learning in the classroom."
One aim of the program is to help students understand that by staying in school they face better jobs and a better life. Sanford said that many students don't grasp the importance of a diploma because they don't have strong examples.
The AT&T initiative will include a job shadowing program involving 400,000 AT&T employee hours.
The aim is to have 100,000 students across the country see what skills are needed to succeed.
"We've got to make sure that our kids are getting what they need not only to successfully complete high school but to go on to some post-secondary education," Sanford said.
The initiative comes weeks after a report by America's Promise Alliance which found that nearly one-third of U.S. high school students drop out before graduating. About 7,000 students drop out every day with about 1.2 million dropping out each year, the report found.
U.S. Labor Department numbers show that people who do not complete a high school education have an 8.2 percent jobless rate, three points higher then most recent national jobless rate.
ILLINOIS
Chicago Crime Wave Claims Youth
April 23, 2008
By Marcus Baram, ABC News
Whether because of gang turf battles, warm weather, reduced funding for outreach programs or teenage temper tantrums, violence is claiming more of Chicago's youth.
More than a third of the victims of this past weekend's explosion of murder and mayhem in the city were Chicago Public School students, although none of the incidents took place in school. Of the 38 victims of shooting and stabbing, nine of whom died, 13 were students, according to Chicago police.
The violence didn't end Sunday -- two teens were shot and two teens were stabbed, one of them fatally, Monday night.
With two months left in the school year, the 21 fatal shootings of young people is on pace to match last year's total of 24. That would mark the second year in a row of alarming levels of violence among schoolchildren - in the previous two years (2004-2005 and 2005-2006), there were only eight and seven gun fatalities, respectively, according to Chicago Public Schools.
"In previous years, we didn't get into the double digits like this," said a spokesman for city schools. "Last year was an anomaly and this year seems to be at the same pace."
Teenagers in Chicago are 10 times more likely to be the victims of gun violence than Illinois youngsters living outside the city, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. And more than 650 of them were shot and killed between 2002 and 2006.
Until this fatal weekend, the murder rate had declined slightly, with 87 homicides during the first three months of this year, compared with 88 during the same period in 2007.
To highlight its new campaign to stem the violence, the newspaper printed its Tuesday front page in reverse, with the bold headline, "Stop the Violence."
The police blamed both gang battles between competing factions of the Gangster Disciples gang and the warmer spring weather for the uptick in crime.
"You just have too many guns, gangs, too may weapons out there," Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis told reporters, noting that murders usually peak in the summer and drop in the winter.
In 2005, for instance, 108 were murdered in June and July compared with 47 murdered in December and January.
"What we're asking parents to do is know where your children are," Mayor Richard M. Daley told a news conference. "It's going to be a long summer, and parents better capture the responsibility."
The surge in violence is especially confounding to criminologists, because the city is one of only two cities, along with Washington, D.C., in the country with a ban on handguns.
"For five years since they enacted the ban, they've made this effort to limit the number of guns available, but it doesn't seem to have an effect," Chicago Crime Commission President Jim Wagner told ABCNEWS.com. "It has not stopped gang members from getting their guns out of state and bringing them back in."
Amid Cops, Shots Ring Out
The recent outbreak of violence did not surprise veteran officer Ron Rufo.
Five weeks ago, he was stationed outside Crane High School, the scene of rising tensions, when a fight broke out. Despite the presence of dozens of police officers brought in to stabilize the situation, the incident ended in fatal gunshots.
"We saw a jacket fly in the air, and while we were going over there, about 20 yards away, we heard shots ring out," said Rufo.
"All the kids ran and there was one young man shot in the upper chest who was lying by a fence. He was shallow bleeding, and he couldn't say a word. He died right there by the fence half a block away from the school."
What instigated the violence? A dispute over a $150 baseball cap decorated with a watch, according to Rufo.
After the killing of 18-year-old Ruben Ivy, the police began escorting students to and from schools, but it hasn't seemed to help abate the violence.
"It doesn't seem to be getting any better," Rufo said. "So many of these kids are angry today. While you used to have fights that involved verbal assaults or fisticuffs, now you're talking about a knife or a gun."
Outreach workers and youth advocates also blame a reduction in state funding for social programs.
Last August, state lawmakers cut $460 million from the budget, including $6 million for CeaseFire, which worked with gang members to prevent violence.
"We work the streets at night and interrupt what's happening just like you interrupt the transmission of any infectious disease," said director Dr. Gary Slutkin, a World-Health-Organization-trained doctor who worked on global epidemics for years.
Before the cutbacks, the group worked with 800 gang members, many of them teenagers, but now they have only enough staff to work with a few dozen, Slutkin said.
"Like in Iraq, where the Sunnis go one way and the Shiites go another, what you're dealing with in Chicago is a very dynamic situation," he said. "If the leadership of one group changes, it's not as relevant as the fact that the violence is normalized in a lot of these communities."
ILLINOIS
Black Youth in Peril
April 23, 2008
By Ashahed M. Muhammad, FinalCall.com
A day devoted to teacher training almost turned deadly for a 15-year-old boy, who was seriously wounded April 11 by a bullet when schools were closed. The youngster was an innocent victim of a turf war in a public housing development.
Twenty-three Chicago public school students have died this year, some in altercations in school parking lots or near places that should be safe havens. Others have died on city streets.
“Guns are accessible. Kids know where to get guns every day. What kind of crazy inhumane society do we live in today and we call it civilized America? It’s craziness,” said Father Michael Pfleger, of St. Sabina Catholic Church, a frequent and outspoken anti-gun activist. The “gun culture” of America and easy access to firearms are problems, but the lack of respect for human life is another key cause of deaths, he said.
“We live in a violent nation where war is something you see on television every day that’s part of it—but guess what—I still have to make a personal decision not to kill somebody,” Father Pfleger said.
“Everything that stands out throughout America and its history consciously or subconsciously programs Black youth that violence is the source of achievement, and the ultimate source of power. Black kids who spend any time in school are introduced to America’s history of ‘noble conquests.’ Europeans visited America, decided they wanted it and took it. America has subsequently used war and violence to achieve a power position throughout the world,” said Dr. Harry R. Davidson, an author and psychologist who has conducted extensive research into the effect of negative images of Black males.
“The American society celebrates violence, however, there is an expectation that Black youth should miraculously emerge out of a world that is pervasively violent in some angelic form. Despite our disapproval, Black youth, like all other Americans—essentially empower themselves by their acts of aggression and violence,” he said.
Phil Jackson, of the Black Star Project in Chicago, sees failing schools, an abundance of jails and media images that promote the destruction of Black boys. “Worst of all is the passivity, the lack of urgency, the disengagement of the Black community as our sons are being destroyed,” said Mr. Jackson, who wore a yellow sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan, “Educate or Die,” to an April 11 event held to recruit Black youth into preventive programming. He points to a movie by rapper 50 Cent as an example of society planting seeds of self-destruction. In “Get Rich, Or Die Tryin,’ ” 25 Black and Latino boys were shot in the head, heart, back and nobody went to jail, Mr. Jackson noted. It was open season and the movie was teaching that if you kill another young Black man nothing will happen, he said.
What’s going on?
What is the cause of all of this murder and mayhem surrounding Black youth? Is this a coincidence or is it by design? A root cause of the problem is the deliberate failure of government to correct conditions among Black people that were created by 400 plus years of servitude slavery. This knowing and willful neglect has resulted in a poor self-concept, a lack of economic opportunities, limited educational opportunities, as well as the worldwide portrayal of the Black male in the image of a violent thug. All of this works to prevent formation of a youth revolutionary force working for the best interest of their community.
The perilous conditions facing today’s Black young people prompted the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to ask the question, “What is going on?” during his Saviours’ Day 2008 message titled “The Gods at War: The Future is All About Y.O.U.th.”
Minister Farrakhan has been a consistent voice of warning and a reminder. Over 20 years ago, he went on a speaking tour called “Stop the Killing” and his record regarding intervention in disputes between warring street organizations—and even beefs within warring factions in hip-hop—is unmatched. Minister Farrakhan also called for the 1995 Million Man March in order to correct the image of the Black male, which had been beamed across the world in films as a menace to civilized society, setting the stage for our young Black men to be eliminated. He has warned Black on Black killing must end or those involved in the killing will meet severe consequences—at God’s hands. During his 2007 lecture series titled “Justifiable Homicide,” Minister Farrakhan addressed a mother who lost her son to senseless gang violence.
“When a young one dies, it grieves us especially, but I want you to know—that life was not taken in vain,” said Minister Farrakhan. “This is a mother aching because some young Black brother in a gang conflict with the mind and mark of a beast shot a gun and an innocent child died. This is why all of this violence and all of this blood shedding among us has to stop, because if you don’t, God is going to release the number one killer—which is the former slave master’s children—on us. … This is coming to (Chicago’s) south side and the west side, in Harlem, Brooklyn and Watts, but you will have earned it if you don’t stop this bloodletting insanity now!”
The Justice Department reported in 2005, the homicide rates for Black males 18-25 were just over 102 per 100,000, and only 12.5 deaths per 100,000 for their White counterparts. For Black males 14-17, the homicide rate was 26.4 per 100,000, and only 4.4 for White male teens. Black females ages 14-17 the homicide rate 4.0 per 100,000 and Black females 17-24 the homicide rate was 11.3 per 100,000.
Violence isn’t the only challenge Black youth face:
• An April report by non-profit America’s Promise Alliance found 17 of America’s 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent. Only 28 percent of Black male students in Detroit, 26 percent in New York, and just over 30 percent in Chicago will graduate high school, Mr. Jackson, of the Black Star Project, noted.
• The majority of Black male students in the United States do not graduate from high school.
• Almost half of Black girls had at least one sexually transmitted disease, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control. Teens were tested for human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, trichomoniasis and herpes. AIDS infection rates are also higher for Black youth.
• The rate of Black suicide for teens 15-19 more than doubled from 3.6 per 100,000 to 8.1 per 100,000 from 1980-1995. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among Black youth.
• One-third of Black children are in poverty and Black children are more likely to fall out of the middle class. In Washington, D.C, an estimated 85 percent of Black girls live in poverty.
• In 2007, only about 20 percent of Black teens nationally had jobs.
• A Black boy born in 2001 had a 1 in 3 chance of going to prison in his lifetime.
• Just 9 percent of D.C. students make it through both high school and college.
• Infant mortality for Blacks is more than twice the rate for Whites.
• Just 34.6 percent of Black children lived in a two-parent household in 2006.
Earlier this year, Marian Wright Edelman, of the Children’s Defense Fund, harshly criticized President Bush for putting forward a budget that cut programs that were beneficial to children. “In the richest nation on earth it is unacceptable for millions of children to suffer from poverty and hunger, lack of health coverage, low-quality education, and a juvenile justice system that each year puts thousands of youth at risk of being funneled down a pipeline to prison,” she said.
Ms. Wright Edelman blasted Mr. Bush for pushing permanent tax cuts for the wealthy and higher military spending “while nearly 13 million children live in poverty and 9.4 million children are without health coverage.”
Dr. Alvin Poussaint, an author and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said stressors Blacks face push many over the edge. Depression, incarceration, and school drop out are some of the things that can lead youth, in particular males, to take their own lives and even commit suicide-by-homicide, he said. Dr. Poussaint called his brother a victim of “slow suicide,” a downward, drug-plagued, self-destructive path that resulted in death.
“Oftentimes with young kids they don’t really understand what they’re going through. They don’t get that they are suffering from depression. It’s important for us to educate communities and educate parents so they will know and help their children through these periods they’re going through,” said Donna Barnes, president and co-founder of the National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide, who with Dr. Poussaint was a guest on NPR’s News and Notes program. Her son took his life in 1990, during a period in which suicide rates increased among young Black males.
Dr. Davidson agreed with that analysis and added another component leading to high rates of Black youth violence and death.
“Moreso than any other group Black youth experience an emotional and psychological void that results from their alien condition in America. Certainly, the absence of the Black male is a part of the creation of their sense of alienation, their lack of positive self esteem. In addition, the absence of any significantly positive Black images or references as a part of their so-called educational experience, or reflected in the media, or anywhere in their homes or communities all contributes to a profound sense of alienation,” said Dr. Davidson.
The plague of violence in inner-cities
After several teenagers were gunned down by other teenagers in the Chicago area, a large rally was held on April 1, with students from several city high schools speaking out against violence and calling for more stringent gun laws. Father Pfleger and others have called it a “state of emergency.” Solutions ranged from calls for tougher law enforcement and stiffer penalties for gang crimes, especially in schools, to calls for more prevention programs, jobs to counter the lure of the drug trade, and gun-buyback programs to get weapons off the streets.
Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich told The Final Call changes in federal gun laws are needed as is power to break the grip a powerful gun lobby has on Congress and the White House. “If this was a benevolent dictatorship with me as the benevolent dictator, we would have all kinds of laws on the books that would abandon all of these things, including the fact that we would be hammering those gun shops and the gun manufacturers who are making these weapons of mass destruction and taking the lives of children and the lives of honest people away,” said Gov. Blagojevich.
“In a way I do (feel safe) and in a way I don’t. I’m safe because I’m always looking after myself,” said Malcolm Junious, a 17-year-old senior at Crane High School. His friend was killed in a shooting outside the school. Almost for no reason, anything can “jump off” with youth trying to impress others or just show how tough they are, he said.
Interventionists with innovative ideas are working hard to make peace: Enoch Muhammad, of “Hip Hop Detoxx” conducted an anti-violence session for close to 200 students at Crane High School. Ceasefire, an anti-violence group, uses ex-offenders to reach out to gang members to intervene and resolve conflict. Its funding, however, was gutted by the Illinois governor this year.
“There is a silent war going on in the streets and young brothers need serious people to reach out to them. Not fakers or people scared of them,” said David Square, who has worked with Black youth at risk for gang involvement and violence for 13 years. His group, Project Gang Peace, operates in Houston, where he has worked to forge gang truces. Mr. Square, a former gang leader, is from Chicago.
Children as young as 10 and 11 are being initiated into gangs, he said.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley recently announced sociologists from the University of Chicago would interview victims, offenders and parents in an attempt to identify the root causes of youth violence, with hopes of embarking on new prevention strategies.
Father Pfleger plans to keep fighting for “common sense” state gun laws and believes schools and churches must do more. “There are 5,000 to 6,000 churches in Chicago. If every church offered one program, kids would be wondering which program to go to. The pastors, the educators, the community, the parents we are all responsible,” said Father Pfleger.
About 500,000 students attend Chicago Public Schools and school CEO Arne Duncan said experiments with keeping schools open later and after school programs in some hard hit areas are being tried. Some critics say the city school closings and an effort to revamp schools contribute to the problem by pushing youth into areas where conflicts are fueled by gang rivalry and neighborhood tribalism.
Alderman Latasha Thomas was at the early April anti-violence rally and was encouraged by youth who participated and called for an end to violence. “We are losing our future, literally,” said Ald. Thomas. “I have a teenage son, I’m afraid for him. They shouldn’t have to go to school and worry about safety, they need to be in an environment where they feel comfortable and be able to walk out of that environment and still be comfortable.”
At Saviours’ Day 2008, Minister Farrakhan pointed out the great challenge ahead of this generation of youth, warning them not to think less of themselves because of the way they are portrayed.
“Young people, you are the instrument that God is going to use to bring about universal change,” said Minister Farrakhan.
FLORIDA
Youths: Fund Education, Not More Police
April 23, 2008
By David Ball, JAXDailyRecord.com
Mayor John Peyton should forget about finding millions of dollars to fund more police officers and instead use that money to invest in better after-school and education programs.
That was one of the messages shared by a group of 11 local students in a sit-down with the mayor Tuesday at the Jacksonville Children’s Commission campus.
Most of the students were high schoolers and members of the JAX Teen Alliance, an effort started last summer to create dialogues among teens to foster social change and understanding across racial, ethnic, economic and physical boundaries.
Peyton said he would take the group’s comments into consideration when implementing the recommendations of the Jacksonville Journey anti-crime initiative and in preparing next year’s budget.
“I wanted to sit down with people experiencing Jacksonville from a different perspective, that is a perspective of a young person,” said Peyton. “The only way to change this culture of violence is to go for the root causes. We’re going to have to reach out to the children so they don’t choose a path of destruction.”
The group discussed causes of crime, the influence of the media and the positive impacts of education and youth mentoring. However, some of the most revealing statements and personal anecdotes came when the teens discussed their relationship with local police.
“I experience some forms of racial profiling,” said Wilson Navarro, a high school junior. “They see a Hispanic kid driving a big SUV, and they think ‘He must be doing something bad.’”
James Eco told a story of Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office deputies taking nearly an hour to respond to a stolen automobile at the Asian store where he works. His mother drove around looking for the stolen van only to find four officers at a nearby Denny’s.
“I really felt uncomfortable,” said Eco.
The rest of the group shared similar unease in their relationships with police, and most recommended better training of officers to learn to deal specifically with youth. However, they acknowledged much of the problem isn’t with the JSO alone.
“The music teaches us, especially now that hip hop has spread, they teach you the cops are bad,” said Lucy Malice, a student at Edward Waters College. “The sheriff’s officers need to understand what is being fed to the youth.”
Malice suggested a “field day” with the JSO that would allow young people to see officers outside of their duties and allow officers to better interact with young people. However, the group as a whole suggested making after-school and other programs more available, better funded and better advertised. Those programs, they say, would have significant impacts on youth and their outlook towards law enforcement.
Peyton asked each panel member to choose how he or she would spend $10 million in City funds — to increase numbers of police or to improve after-school and education programs. All said education without hesitation.
“I’d give some to police, but not to putting more on the street,” said Reylius Thompson, also from EWC. “I’d put it to training officers.”
CALIFORNIA
CA Juvenile Justice System Needs Mending
April 26, 2008
KCBS
A state commission of judges and lawyers has issued recommendations on how to improve California's juvenile justice system, which it says is not serving youth and communities as well as it could.
The Judicial Council of California received the landmark two-year study this week. It is the first of its kind in the state, and includes 58 recommendations on improving juvenile justice here.
Judge Susan Huguenor, who's co-chair of the state Judicial Council's Family and Juvenile Advisory Committee, tells KCBS that the study was the first true in-depth look at the state's juvenile court system.
”It looks at things that are going well in the courts and things that need improvement. The working group talked to judges and lawyers, probation officers, and the parents of kids involved in the juvenile court system, and victims,” said Huguenor.
Judge Brian Back, who was chairman of the group, which did the study, and is a Ventura County Superior Court Judge said that the juvenile court is at a critical juncture.
”It can really serve as a potential ‘feeder’ to the criminal justice system, or it can do what it’s supposed to do, and that is to rehabilitate while protecting the public, and try to redirect kids to become law-abiding and productive members of the community,” said Back.
He said problems include severe caseloads for courtrooms and lawyers, lack of knowledge about resources available for kids in the system, and rushed court proceedings which are often difficult to understand for youth, parents and victims.
Despite the findings, Back told the Judicial Council that he believed juvenile delinquency court is "truly a court of hope."
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Court to be Asked for Rule on Young Voters
April 24, 2008
By Kevin Landrigan, Nashuatelegraph.com
The state’s highest court will be asked whether it’s constitutional to permit 17-year-olds to vote in presidential or state primaries as long as they turn 18 by Election Day in November that year.
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday, 196-104, to seek an advisory opinion on whether the Senate-approved bill violates the minimum, 18-year-old voting provision in the Constitution or if it would lead to an unfunded mandate for cities and towns to carry out.
“The Election Laws Committee raised several rather weighty constitutional issues with this. We think we should get an opinion of the Supreme Court as to the constitutionality of the bill,’’ Pierce said.
Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, R-Manchester, said the bill is invalid and asking the court for permission to adopt it makes no sense.
“Quite clearly the Constitution says you should be 18 years old. In my mind it is not illegal. If it were legal, I wouldn’t support it,’’ Vaillancourt said.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Foster, D-Nashua, the bill’s prime author, insisted the bill would pass legal muster, but told the House panel he wouldn’t object to seeking the court’s advice.
In the meantime, the House is keeping the pending bill alive. House Counsel David Frydman said court officials informed him an opinion on the proposal could return before lawmakers are to complete the 2008 session in June.
“I was told they would be able to turn around a decision by the end of May,’’ Frydman told the House committee last week.
If this bill is judged to be valid, the Legislature could adopt it and apply it to the state primary this September.
New Hampshire would join nine other states that allow younger voters to take part in primaries and Iowa, which permits 17-year-olds to take part in presidential caucuses.
Connecticut lawmakers rejected the idea a year ago, and a like proposal is pending in Pennsylvania.
The House panel’s chairman, Rep. Jane Clemons, D-Nashua, said there’s time for the House to approve the bill if the court gives an OK.
“The intent is this committee is seeking the opinion from the court, and we will address this issue because there are young people and party people who want to hear what
the court has to say,’’ Clemons said. “We are not putting it in interim study to walk away from it.’’
The Legislative Youth Advisory Council urged Foster to author the bill, and his oldest daughter, Mikayla, 16, testified in favor of it, along with other student advocates.
Goffstown High School junior Brendan Bertagnoll said first-time voters often are in college, and it’s difficult for them to get permission to vote out of town, if not out of state.
To become eligible, this group would have to register to vote for the first time on the day of that state or presidential primary.
Jasper said this could raise costs for local election officials who might have to create two voter checklists, one with all those older than 18 and the other with the eligible 17-year-olds who could vote in primaries.
RESEARCH
Coming of Age: Employment Outcomes for Youth Who Age Out of Foster Care Through Their Middle Twenties
April 18, 2008
The Urban Institute
This Urban Institute study examines employment outcomes for youth who age out of foster care through their middle twenties in three states: California, Minnesota, and North Carolina. The study linked child welfare, Unemployment Insurance (UI), and public assistance administrative data to assess outcomes. Results suggest that youth who age out of foster care continue to experience poor employment outcomes at age 24 and generally follow one of four employment trajectories as they transition to adulthood. Please click here to view the report.
RESEARCH
Experts: Steps Can be Taken by Parents, Schools to Head Off Violence
April 22, 2008
By Jamie Durant, Individual.com
Violence in schools is a topic on the minds of parents across the country, but it's often hard for parents to know what to watch for or how to deal with a child who has a mental illness that could lead to violent behavior.
Fourth Circuit Solicitor Jay Hodge said Laurie Sittley, the mother of 18-year-old Ryan Schallenberger who is accused of plotting a suicide bombing at Chesterfield High School, told him they had tried to get help for their son, but were constantly told he was fine despite evidence to the contrary.
"There was some instance where he became angry at home and he rammed his head into the wall," the solicitor said. "They felt like that was a sign of a problem."
When they took Schallenberger to the hospital, they were told nothing was wrong with him, Hodge said.
"I think they did all that they knew to do," Hodge said. "I don't know that a lot of parents would have taken their child to the emergency room unless his head was open and he was bleeding profusely. They took him for a mental evaluation."
Ronald Murphy Jr., a clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Francis Marion University, has worked mostly with post-traumatic disorders and drug abuse.
He said a lot of seemingly innocuous things can add up in the mind of a person with mental illness to make them feel the need to act out in violent ways.
"They think that they've been mistreated by people and they deserve what they are going to give back ..." Murphy said.
Parents need to watch for small changes to their children's behavior and peer group in order to prevent tragedies like the Columbine school shooting, he said.
"I think most things you'd watch for are drug abuse, isolation, anger, grades dropping and not paying attention to physical grooming," Murphy said. "Also, peers are a big influence. If they're all wearing the long black trench costs, you need to worry. Those would be the kinds of things you would worry about in any kid."
Phil Purpura, instructor for the criminal justice program and director of the security institute at Florence-Darlington Technical College, said a multi-layered approach works best in stopping violent incidents before they happen, such as in the Schallenberger case.
"It includes special programs including prevention of bullying, diversity training for anyone connected with the school, conflict resolution and anonymous tip lines," he said.
Purpura said schools need to focus on emergency response plans that don't involve hiding from an assailant.
"They're going to have to use force to barricade doors and fight back," he said. "It's a terrible thing to say, but I'm afraid that's what needs to happen. You have to come up better plans for survival."
Below are a few facts from the National Alliance on Mental Illness on mental illness in teens that parents should consider:
--Research shows that early identification and intervention can minimize the long-term disability of mental disorders.
--Mental disorders in children and adolescents are real and can be effectively treated, especially when identified and treated early.
--Early and effective mental health treatment can prevent a significant proportion of delinquent and violent youth from future violence and crime.
--Four million children and adolescents in the United States suffer from a serious mental disorder that causes significant functional impairments at home, at school, and with peers.
--Twenty-one percent of American children ages 9 to 17 have a diagnosable mental or addictive disorder that causes at least minimal impairment.
--Half of all lifetime cases of mental disorders begin by age 14.
--An untreated mental disorder can lead to a more severe, more difficult to treat illness, and to the development of co-occurring mental illnesses.
--In any given year, only 20 percent of children with mental disorders are identified and receive mental health services.
MISSOURI
MO Lawmakers to Boost Youth Anti-tobacco Spending
April 28, 2008
The Associated Press, Examiner.com
Missouri anti-tobacco efforts for young people could get a threefold increase in money under a deal struck Monday by legislative budget writers.
Missouri has long ranked near the bottom nationally for the amount of money it spends on tobacco prevention programs. Meanwhile, its smoking rate generally has ranked among the highest in the nation.
This year, the state is spending about $500,000 on programs intended to prevent youths from smoking. Part of that money comes from the federal government.
House and Senate budget negotiators agreed Monday to put an additional $1.5 million into Missouri's efforts against teen smoking during the next budget year, which begins July 1. That legislation still needs final approval in both chambers.
State health director Jane Drummond describes the new funding as a substantial step forward. She said the state likely will use the money to contract with groups to run anti-tobacco programs modeled on those that have proven successful elsewhere.
Although increasing spending for youth efforts, legislative budget negotiators rejected a House-approved provision that also would have pumped more money into a toll-free phone counseling service that helps adult smokers kick the habit.
Senators noted the hot line already gets money through other services, including the Missouri Foundation for Health.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids ranks Missouri next to last nationally in spending for tobacco prevention programs. That's a slight improvement. Last year, Missouri ranked last.
FLORIDA
Anti-gangs Bill May Yet Draw ACLU Action
April 23, 2008
By Dwayne Robinson, PalmBeachPost.com
Bipartisan anti-gang legislation is cruising through the legislature with virtually no opposition, even from civil liberties groups.
Civil liberties advocates have questioned and threatened lawsuits over similar measures in states such as California, Washington and New Mexico that sought to create gang registries or bar suspected gang members from portions of town.
But here, complaints have been muted.
Senate and House committee records show no speakers or votes against the bill. And the House voted unanimously for the law last week, with few questions and practically no debate. The Senate is expected to follow suit this week.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, however, says the proposed law does raise questions.
The reason the leading civil rights organization hasn't campaigned against the measure is not because lawmakers crafted a perfect bill. To the contrary, it's because lawmakers have crafted too many bills.
"We're definitely concerned about some of the provisions in here," Florida ACLU Public Policy Director Courtenay Strickland said of a 96-page rewrite of the state's Criminal Gang Prevention Act and other statutes.
"This current legislative session, the legislature has been considering a huge number of bills with very important and high priority civil liberty concerns, so it's our effort to try and get around to all these the best we can," Strickland said.
Bills being watched by the ACLU include: requiring pregnant women to view ultrasounds or sign a waiver prior to an abortion; legislation permitting creationism lessons in public schools; and an effort to restore voting rights for felons.
The chief sponsors of the anti-gang measures are the delegates from Palm Beach County, where violent crime has surged and gangs now number more than 100.
Violent crime swelled to more than 11 percent in much of Palm Beach County in 2006. The figures for 2007 will be released this year.
The crux of the legislation (HB 43, SB 76) is harsher penalties for gang members and the inclusion of gangs in the state's racketeering statutes, granting prosecutors and law enforcement the same tools against gangs that they employ against the Mafia.
State agencies and local governments could also declare gangs a public nuisance, barring members from congregating in certain areas, a tactic West Palm Beach already has attempted.
Proponents say the bill is about modernizing law enforcement's tools, not restricting civil liberties.
"I'm very sensitive to First Amendment rights," said House sponsor William Snyder, R-Stuart. "I think we really need to be careful of First Amendment rights, freedom of association of gathering. I felt like the spirit of this bill does not negatively impact on any constitutional rights. And if I did, I wouldn't have submitted the bill."
Nevertheless, he said he expects the law would be challenged in court, if it passes.
The ACLU, which says it have been monitoring the legislation, has not indicated it would do so.
One provision of the new anti-gang legislation criminalizes certain communications, whether they are text messages, photographs or videos.
The standard, which the ACLU calls vague, outlaws anyone, gang member or not, from using such electronic communications to harass, intimidate or simply make one's presence known in a community if that action benefits, promotes or furthers the interest of a gang.
'Further interest' doubted
The ACLU questioned the fairness of imprisoning a person for up to five years for such a violation without a required demonstration of intent to further the interest of a particular gang.
The new law also amends the state's criteria designating someone a "criminal gang member." In the future, a person could earn that label for doing two of the following: wearing a gang's colors, having a gang's tattoo, or associating with a known gang member.
"Certainly, I found it to be a concern that any one of those two can cause you to be deemed a member of gang, subjecting that person to other restrictions when in fact that person may or may not be a member of a criminal gang and may not be involved in any criminal activity," Strickland said. "The focus needs to be arresting people involved in criminal activity. It's not a crime to associate with people in public or in private."
The Florida prosecutor who headed up a statewide grand jury on gangs, whose recommendations were incorporated into this legislation, said juries, not police officers, would make those designations and only during the sentencing phase of a trial.
"Being a member of any given gang is not a crime" under this bill, statewide prosecutor Bill Shepherd said. "Going to rob a liquor store with three other guys from your gang will get you an enhancement, if it's in furtherance of your gang."
If Gov. Charlie Crist signs the bill, Florida will be the 22nd state to recently enact enhanced penalties and other provisions against the criminal organizations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
CALIFORNIA
Measure to Protect LGBT Foster Youth Passes First Committee
April 16, 2008
By Ali Bay, Equality California, Out in America Newswire
Assembly lawmakers yesterday passed a bill that would help protect foster youth against harassment and discrimination at school. Assembly Bill 3015, introduced in response to a school shooting in Oxnard two months ago, would educate foster care youth, and their caregivers, about existing California laws that protect students against bias.
The Assembly Human Services Committee passed AB 3015 on Tuesday with an initial vote of 5-2. The bill is authored by Assemblymember Julia Brownley, D-Woodland Hills, and co-sponsored by Equality California, the National Association of Social Workers (California Chapter) and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network.
In February, 15-year-old Lawrence "Larry" King was shot in the head by another classmate at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard. Larry, who had recently begun to identify as gay, was the target of bullying and ridicule by some of his classmates, including the alleged shooter. The victim was in the foster care system and lived in a group home for abused and neglected children.
"Every day, young people are bullied and harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, which in part leads to higher rates of depression, school dropout and suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth," said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. "In Oxnard, this escalated into a tragic hate crime that ruined the lives of not just one, but two youth. This bill will help ensure that foster youth, like Larry, have caring adults in their lives who will take the time to explain their rights to safety and dignity at school."
AB 3015 requires that existing training programs for foster youth and their caregivers include information about existing school safety laws that protect students from discrimination. EQCA was the sponsor of several bills which have become law that protect public school students from bias based on many factors, including sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
"The death of a child is a profound loss. Let us remember Larry as a young man who believed it was his protected right to pursue and to discover his own identity," said Assemblymember Julia Brownley. "It is my deep, sincere hope that AB 3015 serves as a step to providing our young people with a safe, protective environment in which to grow and thrive."
"Social workers are the first line of defense in ensuring that foster youth are safe in all their environments, including school," said NASW-CA Executive Director Janlee Wong. "AB 3015 ensures that social workers, foster parents, relative caregivers, group homes and, most importantly, foster youth are informed of the protections foster youth are entitled to on their school campuses and how to report and prevent harassment and violence at school."
"Foster youth and their caregivers need to know that they have the right to attend a safe school where youth won't be harassed or bullied based on their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression," said GSA Network Executive Director Carolyn Laub. "GSA Network is proud to co-sponsor AB 3015, which will help stop violence and harassment directed toward LGBT foster youth in their school setting."
Founded in 1998, Equality California celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2008, commemorating a decade of building a state of equality in California. EQCA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. www.eqca.org.
NATIONWIDE
Classroom Clashes: What Should Teens Learn About Sex?
April 23, 2008
By Kate Barrett, ABC News
At age 17, Max Siegel started a relationship and had unprotected sex with a man six years his senior. Siegel said he wanted to use a condom but his partner didn't. Siegel contracted HIV.
"I did not know how to assert myself further," said Siegel, now a 23-year-old policy associate with the AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families. "I knew enough to suggest a condom, but I did not have an adequate understanding of the importance of using one, and even if I did, I had no idea how to discuss condoms with my partner."
At age 15, Shelby Knox took a virginity pledge at her church in west Texas. The pastor who initiated the ceremony also taught a secular abstinence-only program at her school. But Knox said just being taught not to have sex left her and her peers in the dark.
"I believed in abstinence in a religious sense, but it was clear that abstinence-only, as a policy for students who simply were not abstaining, was dangerous," said Knox, now a 21-year-old writer and speaker, advocating for youth and reproductive health. "Even if we did wait until marriage, we still lacked a basic understanding of our bodies, reproduction, and how to prevent pregnancy as well as a long list of sexually transmitted infections, and the skills to navigate conversations about sex and protection."
A discussion about how to best discuss sex in the classroom brought both Knox and Siegel to Capitol Hill Wednesday, as the House Oversight and Investigations panel held a hearing on the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs.
While everyone participating agreed their goal was to keep teens healthy and reduce sexually transmitted disease rates, they held widely divergent views about how to best do so.
Over the past ten years, the government has provided $1.3 billion for abstinence-only education programs. Coming on the heels of a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found one in four teenage girls have a sexually transmitted infection, lawmakers are now considering whether those programs are working, and if they should continue funding the controversial program with federal dollars.
Speaking as parents and former health profesionals, lawmakers donned various other hats to examine the issue.
"I'm like most parents in that the current culture pushes against what we try to teach in the Brownback family," testified Kansas Republican senator Sam Brownback, the father of five children. "The parents of this country want their children to be abstinent."
Brownback and others said not all abstinence programs are created equal, and stressed that the government should work to replicate those that are working before eliminating the entire program.
But others countered that teaching more comprehensive sex education, in an age-appropriate way, and with consent from parents, is critical.
"I know from my firsthand experience what does and doesn't work with youth," said former school nurse, Rep. Lois Capps of California, who once directed a program for teenage parents who stayed in school.
"They were asking us for help because they got pregnant in the first place because they didn't know enough," Capps said.
Seventeen states, including California, have now opted out of accepting the federal money for abstinence-only programs. Commitee Republican Christopher Shays, whose home state of Connecticut is among them, said officials in Connecticut have rejected the money because, "they think it is ultimately going to result in young people being deprived of knowledge that will save their lives."
The American Public Health Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics are among several organizations that maintain abstinence should be one aspect of a larger sex education effort that also includes information about contraception.
"Umbrellas don't cause rain," Knox said. "Young people are smart enough to make responsible decisions when they're given all of the information."
Today, 95 percent of Americans have premarital sex, as people are having sex earlier and marrying later, said Dr. John Santelli, professor of clinical pediatrics at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. Santelli told lawmakers that a recent decline in sexual activity appears to be unrelated to the abstinence-only program, but rather a product of contraceptive use.
Those who favor abstinence-only education over more comprehensive sex education programs also came armed with statistics.
Stan Weed, director of the Institute for Research and Evaluation, said he has studied more than 100 abstinence-only education programs and collected information from more than 500,000 teenagers. His work, he explained, reveals the programs are working, and are "much broader, much richer, much deeper" than many people think.
Weed cited anaylsis of three specific programs, all of which reveal how students in programs were about half as likely to initiatiate sexual activy than a comparable group of students who weren't.
The House Oversight panel heard from 11 people Wednesday, with just two who favor abstinence-only education over more comprehensive sex education programs. That imbalance did not go unseen, as Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., charged, "this is as stacked a panel as I have ever experienced."
Committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the panel accepted every witness who was recommended to it from the Republican side of the aisle.
A 2006 report from the Government Accountability Office voiced concerns about government-funded abstinence-only education programs and recommended the Department of Health and Human Services adopt measures to ensure that abstinence-only education materials contained medically accurate information about the effectiveness of condoms.
HHS has since taken steps to assess how abstinence programs are working to combat teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, according to GAO health care director, Marcia Crosse.
"The administration continues to support abstinence education programs, as one among several methods used by educators, to address the continuing problems created by adolescent sexual activity, the result of which includes unacceptably high rates of non-marital child-bearing and sexually transmitted diseases among America's youth," said acting deputy assistant secretary for policy at HHS' Administration for Children and Families, Charles Keckler.
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