More bad news

["bill london" <bill_london@hotmail.com>]

I hate to add more bad news onto an already depressing last few weeks.  But 
I also think that we need to understand the enormity of the problem and the 
incredible burden that schools must bear.   Yes, this is Washington 
information, but it's likely not much different in Idaho.
BL
>
>WASHINGTON'S CHILDREN FEEL ALONE, DEPRESSED, ALIENATED
>Frederick Connell is associate dean of the UW School of Public Health and
>Community Medicine, director of the UW Maternal and Child Health Program
>and editor-in-chief of the annual "The State of Washington's Children"
>report. Richard N. Brandon directs the UW's Human Services Policy Center
>and the Washington Kids Count project. Connell and Brandon co-authored an
>article in which they say Washington's children feel "alone, depressed and
>alienated from parents, neighbors and their own communities." They write
>that the serious problems such as drugs and violence Washington's children
>face begin in middle school and they say the children are asking for help.
>According to the most recent Washington State Survey of Adolescent Health
>Behaviors, 2 out of 5 sixth grade students tried alcohol last year; 1 in 8
>had seriously attacked someone; and 1 in 7 was suspended from school. The
>authors project that without help, we can expect that by 10th grade, 2 in 5
>of these children will drink alcohol regularly; 1 in 4 will engage in
>fights with the intent to hurt others; and 1 in 4 will be suspended from
>school. One in three, or 385,000 Washington teenagers, suffers from
>substance abuse, depression, violent behavior or poor school performance.
>
>	Frederick Connell and Richard N. Brandon
>	"Washington's children ask for our help"
>	The Seattle Times, April 7, 1999, B5
>	(http://www.seattletimes.com)
>


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