February 25. 2009 Page A4 O pinion Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@ portlandobserver. com. Nobody Raises a Child Alone Helping adults become better parents m M arian W right E dei . man P a re n tin g o ffe rs the m o st w onderful and daunting ch a l­ lenges in the world. Parents are their children's m ost important teachers and m entors, and they bear primary responsibility for nurturing their sons and daughters w hile keeping them sate. Yet parenting is one o f the most underval­ ued and least prepared-for roles in America. Vir­ tually everyone who has children wants to be a good parent, but som e do not know how to do that, and many lack the support o f ex­ tended family or com m unity resources. So instead o f judging or assigning blame when parents com e up short in provid­ ing care and protection to their children, we should recognize that what many par­ ents need is help. Nobody raises a child alone and many parents need support from a spouse, par­ ent, sibling, friend or neighbor. T hat sup­ port may com e in the form o f respite for an hour or tw o o f alone tim e once a week or the ability to attend church while a friend sits with their children. Parents, grandparents or other caregivers of children or teenagers can benefit from support groups organized by faith-based or other com ­ munity organizations where they can find help for coping with the challenging behaviors o f their children or extra support to address their children's special needs. M any parents are plagued by poverty or unem ploym ent that can make it particularly dif­ ficult for them to balance parenting with jo b searches or work. Parents may worry about the im pact on their children o f an im pending job lay-off or eviction and at some point vent their frustration on a child. Stress grows as parents becom e more isolated. Help for many fam ilies can com e through home visiting program s that engage parents and keep them from being isolated. Home visitors work with parents to understand and address th e ir ch ild ren 's d ev elo p m en tal n eed s w hile strengthening their parenting skills. Some hom e visiting program s offer a variety o f supports to fam ilies with differing needs, but m ost seek to help parents beginning right after childbirth when they are especially receptive to advice and assistance. The N urse-Fam ily Partnership, a successful hom e visiting program , has the longest track the hospital and follow ing up with visits, to som e parents and children through age five. The Parents as Teachers program offers home visiting to parents with new borns through the schools. R e c o g n i z in g th a t p a r e n ts a re th e ir ch ild ren 's best first teachers, fam ilies receive ch ild d ev e lo p m e n t in stru ctio n and paren tin g su p p o rt in th e ir hom es from a train ed parent e d u c ato r fo r the c h ild 's first th ree years, and in som e lo catio n s, until the ch ild en ters k in ­ d erg a rte n . All o f these hom e visiting m odels have been h ighly effec tiv e in stren g th en in g paren tin g skills, promoting healthy child development, and addressing child abuse and neglect. For parents facing special challenges, such as substance abuse, co m p reh en ­ sive fam ily-based treatm ent brings par­ ents and their young children together so that attention can be given to the par­ e n t-c h ild rela tio n sh ip as* w ell as the ch ild 's developm ent. T hese program s also help parents prepare a recovery plan as they transition back into their com ­ munities. Support for fam ilies in need through c o m m u n ity - b a s e d o r g a n iz a tio n s , schools or public agencies m ust fully engage parents, other family m em bers and the children and build on the strengths o f all of Instead o f judging or assigning blame when parents come up short in providing care and protection to their children, we should recognize that what many parents need is help. record. It engages young w om en during preg­ nancy, focusing on im proving the health, w ell­ being and self-sufficiency o f low -incom e, first­ time parents - many of them young single m oth­ ers - and stays with them through the child's second birthday. The nurses w ork with m others on health-re­ lated behaviors during pregnancy such as ciga­ rette sm oking, drinking and drug abuse, and educate them about the physical and em otional needs o f their children. The Healthy Families home visiting programs target m others at risk, connecting with them at Unwelcome in Oregon settlers signed a petition to allow the free slaves entry. But after tw o years the O regon Territorial L eg­ islature agreed to allow "only" Mr. Bush entry. I b e lie v e th is is th e re a so n W ash in g to n S tate h as a la rg e r population o f A frican A m ericans than Oregon. Future black immigrants avoided entry into Oregon and went south into California or north avoiding Oregon since land ownership was forbidden and laws allowed severe punishm ent before exile. Thomas H. O'Keefe North Portland C o n fu sio n reigns reg ard in g the switch to all-digital broadcasting, es­ pecially since Congress acted recently to move the conversion deadline from Feb. 17 to June 12. Among peoples' big concerns is the fear they'll lose free television. Let me assure you that O PB ’s sig­ nal has been and will continue to be free for all over-the-air viewers. In fact, OPB offers three free channels - OPB, OPB HD and OPB PLUS - which m eans view ers have greater choice when it com es to the best o f news and public affairs, lifestyle, environment and entertainment programming. Add to this the superior picture and sound quality of over-the-air reception and viewers not only save money and the time spent scanning hundreds of Offense Editorial Cartoon The editorial cartoon published last week in the N ew York Post was insensitive and offen­ sive. Marian Wright Edelman is president o f the Children's Defense Fund. Won’t Lose Free TV ^Letters to the (Scditor As we celebrate Black History M onth we must ask ourselves why does O regon have such a white population. This is my theory: In 1844, an "a ll b la c k " w agontrain o f free slaves cam e to the Oregon Territory to start a new life. The w agonmaster was George Washington Bush. His wagontrain, w hich endeared many hardships along the Oregon Trail, was halted at T he D alles w here they w ere forced under the threat o f bodily harm to cross the Columbia River into what is now Washington State. One hundred and thirteen white them. H elping adults becom e b etter parents re ­ duces child abuse and neglect and w orks to prevent crim e and delinquency w hen children's special needs are caught early. U ltim ately, this type o f intervention benefits children and all o f us over the long term by helping to make the futures o f those served more productive and by lowering public expenditures. C o m p arin g P resid en t O bam a and his e f­ fort to rev iv e th e eco n o m y in a m an n er that d ep icts v io le n ce and racist in feren ces is u n ­ channels, but enhance the time they do spend watching television as well. Until June 12, OPB will continue to operate both its analog and digital sig­ nals. Viewers who have already pre­ pared for the digital switch by install­ ing a small, inexpensive digital con­ verter box for their conventional ana­ log TVs, or viewers who have new digi­ tal TVs, can start watching OPB's three free channels today. OPB is here to help all viewers to prepare now for the switch. If you have questions about how to receive digital OPB, our digital experts can help. Call us weekdays at 800.241.8123, e-mail us at membercenter@ opb.org or find out more online at opb.org/digital. Steve Bass, OPB president and chief executive officer. ac ce p ta b le. Ignorance, like this, is still prevalent and makes the work o f the N ational Urban League even m ore relevant in the 21st century. Marc H. Mortal, National Urban league president and chief executive officer. Wrong time to dismantle law by J udge G reg M athis A key se c tio n o f the Voting Rights Act, w hich has been show n to reduce discriminatory voting prac­ tices, could be dism antled if the U.S. Suprem e Court sides with city officials in Austin, Texas. The small m unicipality has challenged the law ’s constitutionality, arguing it is no longer needed. W hile Am erica has com e far in the last 40 plus years, voting irregularities still ex ­ ist and we m ust urge the C ourt to rule in favor o f the Act. Section 5 o f the Voting Rights Act re­ quires states, with a long history o f fla­ grant discrim inatory practices, to clear any changes it m akes to the electoral process with the U.S. Justice Departm ent. N ine states, most o f them southern, and several counties, cities and sm aller politi­ cal locales are covered under the Act. The A ustin m unicipality argues that the A ct is unconstitutional because it infringes on state's rig h ts and o v er ex ten d s federal power. F u rth e rm o re , it ag u es th a t b ec au se A m erica elected Barack O bam a as presi­ dent, the country is dram atically different from the America that existed when the Act was passed in 1965, implying that the coun­ try has m oved beyond its race issues. We m ust not forget that it has not even been a decade since the 2000 Florida vot­ ing scandal, where A frican A m ericans and poor people w ere disenfranchised. Four years later, in Ohio, there was a sim ilar de­ bacle. In both instances, voters lost faith in the system and George W. Bush was vic­ torious. In 2(X)6, before renew ing the A ct, Congress held 22 hearings and determ ined there was enough evidence to support ex ­ tending the law. The Voting Rights A ct w as passed to counter, and put an end to state practices like poll taxes and literacy tests, used to prevent blacks from voting. W hile those specific barriers may no longer exist, voter discrim ination and intim idation do. We all long for a 'post racial' A m erica but those o f us w ho have been burned too many tim es are cautious. Let's w ait another decade and continue to m onitor voting practices before we b e­ gin dism antling the Act. America may have changed but she is far from perfect. Judge Greg Mathis is vice president o f Rainbow PUSH and a board member o f the Southern Christian Leadership Con­ ference. 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