Obama's Call for Responsibility Wasn't Just for 18 and Over

Last month, we traveled together to the Central Primary School in Whitley, Kentucky, one of the poorest counties in America.

We visited with and read to a group of preschoolers, who participate in Save the Children's innovative Early Childhood Education program, a public-private partnership that brings reading mentors and other learning experts into the classroom to fortify the great work of understaffed and underfunded schools.

We saw firsthand how a little bit of help and extra attention can make a big difference toward enriching children at a crucial point in their development.

These kids were engaged, happy and eager to learn. In short, they were just like all other kids.

Unfortunately, poverty is one of the biggest roadblocks to the kind of opportunity we want these and all kids to have.

A few statistics tell the story in its starkest terms:

• One in six children in America live in poverty.
• About 13 million American children go hungry and are forced to skip meals because there's not enough food in their homes.
• Children in families headed by professionals hear about eleven million words a year. Kids living in poverty hear just three million words.

Many Americans may be sympathetic to this problem yet complacent about it at the same time. After all, poverty in America isn't a 21st century challenge like global warming or homeland security. Poverty has been with America as long as the Declaration of Independence.

Simply because a problem is chronic doesn't mean it has to stay that way. That, to us, is in part what our new president is trying to inspire us toward.

In his inaugural address, President Obama spoke so eloquently about an era of responsibility in a nation, not of factions, but of one people, united for a better future for the country we all love.

That simple notion of togetherness and shared responsibility shouldn't be directed just at adults but at kids, too.

We are working to find new ways to engage kids in helping other kids but, even more extraordinary, would be for kids to engage adults -- our leaders in government and in our communities -- to begin a new age of opportunity for all kids to get an equal start in life.

At a time of great uncertainty, we often wonder what the next generation will look like. We don't have to wait 25 years for the answer. The answer is around our kitchen tables, in our classrooms and on our playgrounds.

For the past two years, we've spearheaded a Valentine's Day project that lets kids and parents purchase or download Valentines Day cards, designed by seven beloved children's artists, that support Save the Children's efforts to help kids in rural America.

This is just one small step toward beginning conversations, educating Americans and getting kids to help kids so that all young people have an equal opportunity for a bright future.

We hope more and more Americans will join us in taking those small steps that lead us to the place we all know is achievable.

Comments

[avraamjack]

Mark,

Run for something.

Avraam

[Michael Nardozzi]

So if I send you money, you'll come and talk to my children? I understand that some people need help, and that grinding poverty can thwart even well meaning parents.

I think, however, that President Obama was calling on us all as individuals to do the hard thing, the right thing, especially when it came to our families and our communities. No amount of money is going to turn off a television or check out a library book.

People that are poor can still decide to do the hard thing, the right thing. They just need hope. I repeat the messages of the inaugural to my children every day, and hold up our President's example of excellence to them. I dont need a dime to do it.

President Obama makes me want to be a better man. Fitness, work ethic, education, husband, parent, role model. Across the board, I see in him an example to follow and my children notice. I'm not coy about it either. I admit to being comfortable in my ruts and remind them of the President's words and how I'm trying harder and expect the same from them.

Your country expects more from you, your children need more from you. That was his message.

[000Jade000]

Nice work, Mark and Julianne. I'll be sure to send a donation your way.

[Spinzone]

There is a key component missing from all the buzz and talk about responsibilty - it is hard work. Getting pregnant at 13 and having 4 kids by 20 is easy. Gang-banging is easy. Math is hard. Loading boxes at UPS is hard; but, it pays well.

[000Jade000]

Oh, but there's another key component, too: that of economic inequality. Two words that most politicians will not utter. The disparity in income and in wealth in this country between the top 1% and the rest of us has reached higher levels than existed the LAST TIME we fell into an economic depression: 1929.

It's nice that folks such as yourself feel entitled to write-off the poor by presuming to know what their circumstances are. Even nicer to write-off the children. Let me guess: you're "pro-life" too, aren't you?

Newsflash: the poor WORK. Sometimes, they work 3 or more jobs. And in case you didn't notice, wages have remained generally stagnant during the past 30 years, and have decreased for most while the cost of everything has skyrocketed. Among other things, this situation has forced parents to spend more time working and less time nurturing their families. They're too busy figuring out how to pay the bills and feed the kids--only to have people like you scream across the Internet about their lack of "responsibility." Are you a "good Christian," too?

[shp]

A noble cause, so let's try to have an educated discussion about it.

After spending the last three years as an Even Start Program adult instructor, the program funding was finally stopped. This program was directed towards providing adult education to parents who had literacy and life skill issues. We only had 17 families enrolled and provided free childcare while the parents were in class. Instructors also did home visits to teach parenting skills. So what happened to the funding?

It stopped due to lack of participation from the parents. We provided 120-130 hours of instruction in a four month span and had one parent reach the 20 hour mark. That's right, 20 hours of instruction. We only had a total of five parents who even reached 10-15 hours. We provided one adult education instructor, two pre-school instructors for the kids, and one pre-school aide. All at taxpayers expense, when on multiple occassions not one parent showed up for class. We even offered to change the hours of the class to match parents work schedules.

But if we offered a "party night," with food or a field trip, the familes came out of the woodwork, with their friends, cousins, etc. Strange there wasn't any time for class, eh?

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. And it's the kids who pay the price for their parents ignorance. But I really appreciated the paycheck that was funded by the taxpayers...

[brodon]

Does responsibility mean not depending on the Government for you substance?

[clevelandchick]

No, responsibility means looking out for and helping your community, state, country and planet. Grow up already.

[000Jade000]

Responsible citizenship means knowing SOMETHING about the issues that face ordinary American citizens.

To help you in your journey to educate yourself before you speak on an issue, here are some welfare myths: http://www.anitra.net/homelessness/columns/anitra/eightmyths.html

[Heloise155]

As a teacher I know that most of these "poor" kids are really experiencing a poverty of attention. They don't get attention at home and come to school starved for attention/love and sometimes/oftentimes for food as well.

Many experiments have been done with schools and money thrown at the school and kids. The results have been greatly underwhelming. The kids did not fare any better with more money. It could be a case of putting the cart before the horse. They are lacking more than just physical resources but also emotional ones.

My advice just don't exploit the experience and write a tell-all "There are No Students Here" type book.
Money does make the classroom go around, as well as technology but this is only the physical infrastructure. What about the emotional infrastructure missing in their lives? This is what teachers are asked to replace and consequently many are stressed to burnout point.

Heloise

[JohnShank]

What is the definition of poverty?

How do they know that 13 million children have to skip meals? Is it because of the fundamental problems of the United States or is it for other reasons that could be corrected without picking the pockets of the taxpayers?

Pointing out blemishes inside the United States doesn't make one a revolutionary or a sophisticated, insightful citizen. That having been said, I can't make heads or tails of what this article is supposed to be about. There are problems that are laid out, yet I can't tell what we are suppposed to do NOW. Let's see, we have to help the poor, the undereducated, corporate America, drug addicts, banks, those hurt by foreclosures, the unemployed, the CHRONICALLY unemployed, Je rry's kids, and I don't know who all else. With WIC, Food Sta mps, Wel fare and dozens of other places to go, how is that ANYone goes hungry in this country? Could it possibly be that some of the parents of these children are deg enerate idi ots? Perhaps they just care more about other things than their own children. Whatever the case, I am tired of hearing about yet another situation that the government, (meaning the people) must deal with. Our plate is full thank you. Where are those noi sy, self-righ teous, evan gelical, so-called chri stians? Let them pick up the slack.

[davidly]

Great. So the noisy evangelicals are gonna pick up the slack. That'll sure turn an epidemic of devolving parenting and self perpetuating self-insufficiency into a christ-loving flourishing utopia! Thanks for being on board as an advisor.

[000Jade000]

Poverty guidelines: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/08Poverty.shtml

Example of a survey agencies use to calculate food insecurity: http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/foodsecurity/surveytools/core0699.doc

The rest of your post deserves no response.

[kellygrrrl]

Thank You Mark and Julianne! Keep up the good work. We're right there with you.