Are Children an Endangered Species?

A number of years ago construction of a much needed high school in Tucson, AZ was held up for a few years because a woman thought she had heard an endangered pygmy owl at the proposed site. She had not seen the owl, and no one else came forward to report either seeing or hearing it. Yet the process had to work itself through the system, while the children's needs went unmet.

At the time I remember thinking that perhaps we should declare children an endangered species so that their needs would take a higher priority. In the current financial crisis, the need is even greater.

What is the natural habitat of children? The family, the home, schools, playgrounds and streets. Homelessness endangers both the home and the family, and with the economic crisis, is increasing.

One in fifty children were homeless for some part of 2008.

According to the report of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 90% of women living in extreme poverty and/or in family shelters have been physically or sexually assaulted at some point in their lives. According to the Center on Family Homelessness, the typical homeless woman is in her late twenties, a still-married single mother, and has two or three children under the age of six. One in twenty-six homeless children will have a diagnosis of a major mental illness by the age of eight. One in seven homeless children develops moderate to severe health problems, including asthma, PTSD, and other emotional problems. The high school graduation rate for homeless children is less than 25%.

"Children without homes are on the frontline of the nation's economic crisis. These numbers will grow as home foreclosures continue to rise," said Ellen L. Bassuk, M.D., president of the National Center on Family Homelessness.

Children who are not homeless are not immune from many of these problems. The 2008 Children's Defense Fund's State of the Child report includes the following rating of the US in relation to other industrialized nations:

1st in gross domestic product
1st in number of billionaires
1st in number of persons incarcerated
1st in health expenditures
1st in military technology
1st in defense expenditures
1st in military weapons exports
21st in 15-year-olds' science scores
22nd in low birthweight rates
25th in 15-year-olds' math scores
25th in infant mortality rates
Last in relative child poverty
Last in the gap between the rich and the poor
Last in adolescent birth rates (ages 15 to 19)
Last in protecting our children against gun violence

And in the CDF's well-known "Each Day In America:"

Each Day in America for All Children

2 mothers die in childbirth.
4 children are killed by abuse or neglect.
5 children or teens commit suicide.
8 children or teens are killed by firearms.
33 children or teens die from accidents.
78 babies die before their first birthdays.
201 children are arrested for a violent crime.
404 children are arrested for a drug crime.
928 babies are born at low birthweight.
1,154 babies are born to teen mothers.
1,240 public school students are corporally punished.*
2,224 babies are born without health insurance.
2,367 high school students drop out.*
2,479 children are confirmed as abused or neglected.
2,583 babies are born into poverty.
4,184 babies are born to unmarried mothers.
4,520 children are arrested.
18,493 public school students are suspended.

This data is for all children. Black and Hispanic children fare far worse.

What does all this data mean? First, as a nation we fail miserably when it comes to caring for our children. We also fail at caring for our families, which in endangered species language means harming children's natural habitat.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service defines harrassment as "...intentionally or negligently, through act or omission, creat(ing) the likelihood of injury to wildlife by annoying it to such an extent as to significantly disrupt normal behavior patterns such as breeding, feeding, and sheltering (defined by FWS regulation; NOAA Fisheries has not defined "Aharass" [sic] by regulation)." By this definition, American children are indeed harrassed, and normal behaviors such as learning, playing, forming friendships suffer accordingly.

To bring children back from their endangered status, steps should be taken to make sure families have tools to provide a nurturing environment. Universal health care would go a long way to support families so fear of illness is no longer added to other anxieties, especially in times of high unemployment. The need for affordable housing must be addressed, as well as efforts to keep families from foreclosure whenever possible. Adequate child care should be a priority.

Funding for education and child protective services should be driven by need, and planned cuts in many states must be reversed. School buildings should not need major repairs, roofs should not leak, and there should be enough updated books for each child to have one. Laboratory and computer facilities should not depend on economic status. Class size should be small enough for teachers to individualize instruction when needed, and teachers should be respected professionals. Every child should be able to be part of a loving family.

Can we bring children back from their endangered status? The current administration moves in the right direction in its proposed budget. If the key investments in our human capital (our children) make it through the legislative process, we can begin to do so. If we cannot, I cannot imagine our remaining a strong power in the world.

Sources:

http://www.childrensdefensefund.org/child-research-data-publications/child-poverty.html
http://www.nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/promising_practices/Facts_on_Trauma_and_Homeless_Children.pdf
http://www.familyhomelessness.org
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/glossary.html