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A Modern-Day Plague
B y M arian W right E dei . man
On the fifth page of the fourth
section o f my morning newspa­
per the other day, a child's death
from a dreadful disease was
briefly noted. This disease is dev­
astating our country as surely as
the Plague halved the population
of Europe and Asia in the 14th
■century. Now as then, death is
everywhere...in our streets, our
homes, our institutions.
Can you imagine? Thousands
are dying. Casualties are every­
where; suffering is rampant. Are
our greatest thinkers working on
the problem? Is our government
funding possible cures? No. In
fact, some in our government con­
sider putting child victims into
adult prisons a solution.
The disease is violence. It is a
cancer growing in our country
and it is killing our children.
Last month, for a couple of
days we read on the front pages
o f our newspapers about a youth
in Springfield, Oregon who killed
a classmate wounded 24 others at
this high school.
Before that, we saw such mad­
ness in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in
E d in b o ro , P e n n sy lv a n ia , in
Paducah, Kentucky, and in Pearl,
Mississippi. But these are not iso­
lated occurrences. I just men­
tioned the story buried in my
newspaper of the boy killed in
street violence in the city I live
in. Circumstances may differ from
city to city, from death to death.
But make no mistake: violence
and death are everywhere, every
day. Fourteen year-old children
are killed in America every day
in gun violence. We must find a
cure for this terrible disease. We
must stop the killing of children
by children and adults.
One thing the Black Commu­
nity C rusade for C hildren
(BCCC) is doing is trying to con­
nect children to caring adults:
mentors who model and reinforce
positive behavior, pastors who
lend an ear to a child; summer
employers who teach new skills
and rew ard hard work. The
BCCC’s Freedom Schools pro­
vide havens to help keep over
2,500 children and 300 college-
age young adults on track and
engaged in activities that nurture
their minds, bodies, and spirits.
Reach out to a child who is not
yours this summer. Be a mentor,
a friend, a refuge for a child be­
fore he or she becomes another
victim of the violence that per­
meates our society. For too many
children in America are now fac­
ing an unsupervised, idle sum­
mer. Parents work. There is a
child care crisis in our country.
In the annual Stand for Children
on June I this year, parents, fami­
lies, and those who care about
children called for quality, af­
fordable child care. One solution
being considered in Congress is
funding for an important program
that works: the Child Care and
Development Block Grant that
enables states to make quality
child care more affordable for
working parents and supports im­
provements in the quality of child
care and after-school programs.
What
But another measure being con­
sidered in Congress would be a
big a step backward. Congress is
considering S. 10. the Violent and
Repeat Juvenile Offender Act.
which would further weaken pro­
tections ofourchildren by allow­
ing juveniles not tried as adults
to be held in adult jails and pris­
ons w ith adult prisoners. Most of
the children it would affect are
neither violent nor repeat offend­
ers. The last thing they need to
stay out of trouble is adult crim i­
nal mentoring. S.I0 fails to en­
sure that any of the $500 million
in new money it allocates for pur­
poses related to juvenile crime is
spent on prevention. It would in­
discriminately open up juvenile
arrest records to employers and
higher education institutions.
This would stop cold the chances
of future educational and employ­
ment opportunities. And S.I0
would do nothing to break the
deadly link between children and
guns. If we are truly serious about
decreasing violent youth crime,
as we must be, we must control
guns and take' them out of the
hands of children.
You can make a difference by
contacting your Congressional
representatives about child care
and S.I0. Write them a letter or,
better yet, call them.
Do something about the can­
cer of violence before it kills any
more o f our children. And help
give our children positive alter­
natives to the street with adult
supervision during this summer
vacation.
doabout diabetes?
Gosfiel Recording Artists, The Clark Sisters
Honorary Spokespersons, "Diabetes Sunday"
Diabetes is devastating African American families. Heart attacks Blindness Foot and leg
amputations. Kidney problems. Strokes Early death. All caused by this serious disease But it
doesn't have to be this way.
Diabetes can be controlled, even prevented.
Because we lost our mother to diabetes, w e’re raising our voices to spread the gospel of
prevention. Join us. Learn what you can do. For yourself. For your loved ones Be part of the
congregation on "Diabetes Sunday."
( all the Am erican Diabetes Association at I-S8H-DIABF IKS (342-23S3I lo r more inform ation
A
Think
a program of
American Diabetes Association
The Block
Neighborhoods all over
Portland and across the
nation have some great things
in common — jumprope,
basketball, tront porch
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conversation, backyard
cookouts and family.
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