Headline: IT DOES TAKE A VILLAGE: TROUBLED CITY YOUTHS SHOULD TROUBLE US ALL
Reporter: By Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed:  Thu., Oct. 10, 2002
Section: METRO, Page: D1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

Cortez, 13, has been arrested for the sale of crack cocaine.
  
It's not his first offense. In fact, since March of last year Cortez has had an arrest for another crack sale, two arrests for car theft, another arrest for possession of a controlled substance, four arrests for tampering with a motor vehicle, two arrests for violating probation.
   Cortez isn't his real name. But his record is real. And his story is like those of so many other young people who often get in trouble in this city, especially late at night and early in the morning.
  
Cortez hasn't had contact with his father for several years. His mother, who never married his father, has an extensive record for prostitution, possession of controlled substances and drug paraphernalia. The young man lives with his grandmother, who can't understand why he hangs out with the wrong kinds of kids. She thinks he's angry about his mother's lifestyle and hurt that his father doesn't want to be involved in his life.

I sometimes hear from the people who live near kids like Cortez. They write telling me how they're afraid to walk out of their doors, how they hear gunfire every night. They're afraid of the youngsters, but they're also afraid of the police, afraid of what might happen to them if anyone found out they called the cops. They are prisoners in their own homes.
  
These aren't the folks who make sure their faces are in the cameras when there's a shooting. These folks make sure they're far from the cameras, lest someone believe that they had anything to do with the arrests.

Some St. Louisans look at these youngsters, shrug and say that they're not our problem because they don't live near them.
   But truth be told, they are a problem for all of us. With a history like Cortez's, for instance, there's no question that -- unless something changes drastically in his life -- by the time he's legal age, he'll be heading to jail. And guess who's paying for that? All of us.
  
Not to mention what Cortez might do before he lands in jail. How many cars will be stolen? How many people will be hurt by those who buy crack cocaine from Cortez? How many people will be harmed or killed?

We live in a society today where many families are dysfunctional. Part of that, surely, is the result of babies having babies. Many of those babies we talked about 15 and 20 years ago are teenagers and adults now. From parents who had no idea how to raise children because they were still children themselves comes a generation of children who have basically raised themselves.
  
Many parents can't provide what some call "home training" because they don't know what it is. We want them to be responsible when they don't even know what responsibility is.

Is it possible to stop the cycle that began with babies having babies?
   Perhaps the only way is through education. School systems are sometimes afraid to discuss sex at all in the classroom. But if kids get no information at home -- and in some homes, kids are fortunate if they even get food on the table daily -- school is the next best place to turn. Kids need to know about sex, about pregnancy, about the implications and difficulties of becoming a parent at 12, 13 or 14.

But it goes much further than that. What do we do about the children who are already out there, who have had no guidance for so many years? Giving up on a kid is always a mistake.
   There's a need for more programs for young people to keep them out of trouble: programs like those run by Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club, the Gateway Classic Foundation and Mathews-Dickey Boys' and Girls' Club. There's a need for more recreation centers for youngsters.
   And they need to get educations so that they don't follow the same path as many of their parents.

If we're not willing to make the kinds of investments, not just of money but of time, we shouldn't be surprised to see more problems down the line, and more of these youngsters in the hands of the police. Get ready to see many more Cortezes.


COPYRIGHT © 2002, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Investing In Youths Could Save Us All A Lot Of Trouble 11/19/2002

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