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But what's true for children in Lake Wobegon isn't true for children in Saline County.
The latest release of "KIDS COUNT in Missouri Data Book" shows very clearly that, despite improvement in a few areas, conditions for children in Saline County have not improved in any meaningful way in several years.
In fact, conditions for children have been steadily trending downward in the past seven years, culminating in this year's survey ranking Saline County at 104 among 114 counties and St. Louis.
It wasn't always this bad.
In 2003, the county ranked 74th, then dropped to 76th in 2004. But in 2005, the report showed big improvements, bringing in a ranking of 52nd.
It was a short-lived improvement. In 2006, there was another drop, with the county coming in at 64th. And in 2007, yet another drop, down to 93rd.
The 2008 survey showed a very slight uptick to a rank of 92, but that was swiftly followed by the 2009 drop into the bottom 10 percent. It will be more than a struggle just to move up to the level of average.
The rankings in the KIDS COUNT survey are based on the first six of the following 10 criteria:
Students enrolled in free/reduced lunch programs, births to mothers without high school diplomas, infant mortality, out-of-home placements, annual high school dropouts, births to teens aged 15 to 19, low birth-weight infants, child deaths aged 1-14, child abuse and neglect and violent deaths.
The only one of these criteria in which Saline County is above the midpoint of 57 is in child deaths between the ages of 1 and 14, where it ranks at number 41, but the impact of a 40 percent decrease in juvenile deaths doesn't make much of a difference, when nearly every other measure is far below average.
For example, in infant mortality, Saline County ranks 111th; in child abuse and neglect, the county comes it at 104th. The 5.0 percent high school dropout rate is double what it was only a few years ago, and places Saline County at a ranking of 102.
In two related areas -- births to mothers without a high school diploma and births to teens aged 15 to 19 -- Saline County ranks 86th and 70th, respectively.
Dr. David Keuhn of Mid-Missouri Family Health said last week these figures didn't really surprise him.
"I have had teenagers -- as young as 16 and 17, couples -- who come to me and ask for help because 'we've been trying for a year and can't get pregnant,'" he said. "I know of families where the grandparents are the primary caretakers of the babies, while the young parents are out every night of the week."
He continued, "A lot of teenagers think it'll be 'fun' to have a baby. They don't realize how much work it really is."
Keuhn, who serves on the Saline County Child Fatality Review Board, also commented on the number of infant deaths. The report shows 17 infant deaths in 2009, which puts the county at 80th in the state and above the state rate of 8.1 percent per 100,000 live births.
"I am familiar with some of the infant death cases, most of which recently have been deemed to be due to SIDS, [crib death] ... and the only recurring theme with these has been what we would consider unsafe sleeping practices, more specifically, having things in the baby's bed, such as stuffed animals."
University of Missouri Extension Director Cynthia Crawford said, "I think that the Saline County KIDS COUNT data reminds us that we must always be thinking about how to be supportive of children and families. The data suggest again this year that children and families overall are not thriving like we would want them to in Saline County."
Cheryl Zimny, of Missouri Valley Community Action Agency, said, "I teared up when I read the report. I am so saddened by this."
"One of the things the KIDS COUNT report always shows me is how much value and effort is being put in in a particular county, to make kids count. We are identified at 104, (which is) saying that kids don't count here, and that's really sad."
Zimny pointed to a new program, Saline County Family Partnership, as one way to improve the numbers, but said efforts there are "too new" for them to have an effect on the 2009 survey.
The SCFP team includes the Missouri Children's Division, Fitzgibbon Hospital, Parents as Teachers, and other organizations that try to help families deal with stressors, Zimny said.
Of particular concern, Zimny pointed out, is that high school dropout rate, which at 5 percent is a full percent higher than the state rate, and "that's real scary."
"Economic development experts look at that number to spot communities in trouble," she said. With the dropout rate so high, she added, it isn't surprising that the numbers for births to mothers without a high school diploma and births to teens ages 15-19 are also high, she added.
"We have to convince kids that dropping out of school raises their risk factors for living in poverty. In the current economic situation, many employers don't even look at applications from dropouts. They have so many other, better-qualified applicants," she said.
The percentage of children in free/reduced lunch programs is also a red flag, Zimny said, because "that's a major indicator of children in poverty," she said.
The survey shows that there are 5,202 children in the county; 56.6 percent of them qualify for a free or reduced lunch. A family of four (two adults and two children) qualifies if total household income is below $40,793. With a median annual income in Saline County of $34,032, it's no surprise that so many children qualify.
Even more surprising is how surrounding counties fared in the survey. For example, Lafayette County is ranked at number 18, followed closely by Carroll County at number 19. Howard County comes in at 23, Cooper County at 50, Chariton at 60 and Pettis County at 68.
Crawford said, "Imagine being in a race with 114 people. If you finish in the top 10, you may get your name in the paper and you feel really great about being in the top finishers. If you finish 104th out of 114, not only are you not going to get your name in the paper, you are going to feel very discouraged and say to yourself, 'I need to work harder, so I place better next year.'
"That is the situation I feel we're in in Saline County. The KIDS COUNT data is a wakeup call to us."
Contact Kathy Fairchild at marshalleditor@socket.net
On the Net:
www.aecf.org/MajorInitiatives/KIDS COUNT.aspx
Comments
Mrxray first of all I am not going to call you wacky. If I really thought you were I would not bother to respond to you.
You do have a penchant for elaboration as to what is wrong, and what does not work. Please tell me what does work, or at least what you believe would work. You too often neglect that. Please do not repeat the Republican refrain tax cuts, stopping there. Proactive if you please.
OKR: Again you show your whacky train of thought. My point was NOT that welfare, unemployment and other entitlements dont help in a time of crisis. The point is that there IS NOT very many effective programs that actually address the WHY people are poor and in need of those entitlements. They get handed a check or a card and then they are on their own. Then the person is left on his own. They dont learn anything except dependence on the Government. Their personal and individual problems and situations are not addressed. The Government, the liberals all feel good because they have successfully, taken away money from the working class and given to the poor and the liberal guilt is eased until they see some other class of people they can "help". And STILL nothing is done to actually get people OVER the obstacles and into better economic standings. And nothing is done to encourage or teach individual and personal responsibility. UNTIL that is taught and people stop feeling dependent on the government they will NEVER get out of poverty for the most part.
However, it is not a failure of ONLY the government and liberal agenda, but of the rest of society for failing to take care of their family and neighbors and communities. But when money is taken out of the pockets of the working class, less is available for charity and etc. so the cycle is a never ending one and still nothing is solved.
One afterthought mrxray. Maybe we shouldn't just cut off food stamps. I think that is your position. Right? But with an Obama like aplomb,and dedication to compromise, I am willing to meet you half way, literally. Cut food stamps in half. That seems Solomon wise to me. Though we would still be aggravated by the presence of the under class children their swollen little bellies would leave us the comforting illusion that their bellies are full.
Mr Xray you asked me, "OKR, how exaclty is handing out a welfare check or an unemployment check, or food stamps solving anything other than providing normally long term money that allows people to NOT do the things that are REALLY necessary to get out of poverty or solve the obstacles that are preventing them from taking care of their own needs?"
Firstly, you are lumping apples, and oranges together. Unemployment checks by design have a short duration. I think you know that, so you don't need an answer to that portion of your question.
Secondly, I seem to recall something worked on together by Democratic President Clinton, and a Republican congress, (Yeh I remember that used to also happen) that resulted in laws that limited the amount of time during their lives that individuals could stay on welfare. Can you tell me if that was repealed? I can't seem to recall that happening. So, on that point I'll leave it to you to check to see if a repeal occurred.
Thirdly, I guess that food stamps are habituating, in the sense that all those poor little kids have somehow formed the nasty habit of wanting to eat. That is remarkable in itself because they have not had near the exposure to it as better off kids. Yep, some things are addictive. On this one I have to agree with you food stamps don't help people get out of poverty. It just keeps those children alive so they can enjoy suffering the other effects of poverty. Maybe you are right, cut the food stamps, if we don't feed them the little urchins will die, and no longer be a drain on hard workin good people.
By the way I have no idea why you directed this question to me unless you thought I had answered your last question satisfactorily.
According to the latest unemployment report, Saline County has lower unemployemnt than our surrounding counties, yet these counties rate much higher that Saline County. That means we have a very high percentage of "working poor". That is a big part of the poverty problem in Saline County, people have jobs, but not good paying jobs. Every month we get a report in the MDN about the MSDC board meetings. Always an update about negotions with this or that company, yet we've never seen a new company actually move in, let alone one that has good paying jobs. Even our current big employers don't pay well. Starting wage at the hab center or conagra is under 11 dollars an hour, that's less than 22K a year. Well beneath the poverty level, unless you're single with no children and living in your parents basement.
Smart dog: Good post. I agree with you about the education. You make a good point that fall in with what I am saying about entitlement programs that do nothing to help people in poverty actually get out of that economic situation.
The A+ program is a good example of a program that does help people that take advantage of it.
You make a good point about how any person that actually betters their own economic status will take personal and individual responsibility for their life and do the hard and extra work necessary to obtain the education needed to get out of poverty. The emphasis is NOT on individual responsibility in our society at this time. It is all about how the government is the solution when it really only creates more problems
You also make a good point about the real solutions NOT making good sound bites and not being popular with the political class. This is the EXACT reason it is an individual, local and state issue and we should not be looking to the Federal Government to solve anything.
Poverty is a hard life but with entitlement programs it can be a life that you grow used to or comfortable with and many people think that it is easier to live like that than to do the hard work it takes to get the education and training to get a better paying job. Many are dealing with CHOICES in their personal lives that create the obstacles.
And many people, after living in poverty and trying to figure out a way of getting out can grow frustrated and just give up because there are NOT real solutions and assistance, only the small monthly checks, food stamps and bureaucratic redtape
OKR, how exaclty is handing out a welfare check or an unemployment check, or food stamps solving anything other than providing normally long term money that allows people to NOT do the things that are REALLY necessary to get out of poverty or solve the obstacles that are preventing them from taking care of their own needs?
My opinion on this subject is as follows. In our society today, education is your road out of poverty. I use this line everytime I speak to high schoolers about careers or the future.
We provide education free of charge through grade 12. I think many, many students and parents take this for granted. Our public schools in Marshall, while loaded with drama, have some great teachers, and I feel like my kids have gotten a good, if not superior, education here, but they have to work at it. Parents must convince children that getting that high school education is of utmost importance, regardless of anything else, and they need to learn, not just show up.
In Missouri we have the A+ program. I know that Marshall and Sweet Springs are A+ high schools, not sure about the others. If a student maintains a C+ average and doesn't miss more than 5% of school days, and completes 80 hours of tutoring during 4 years of high school they recieve books and tuition for a 2 year Juco education free. Again, more education will lead to a better job, but you have to do the work and stay in school.
Following junior college, a poverty level student will qualify for grants and student loans to complete thier bachelors degree. A part time job, along with these benefits, will get you through. I worked my way through college and I reckon any other poor kid can do the same.
So, the path out of poverty is there, and it works, so why do we still have a problem? In my view, and I am no social scientist, it goes back to the old school "Malow's Hierarchy of Needs". Kids or adults who are trying to find food, clothing, and shelter, do not have much energy left for planning for the future. From personal experience when you are living in survival mode, tommorow doesn't seem very important when you are busy figuring out how you are going to eat and where you are going to sleep today.
So kids need a stable environment where they feel safe and secure enough to survive before they can start to think about the future and the road ahead. Without that, all the great educational programs to help them up do not mean a thing.
I apologize for the length of this post. Hard to sum these things up into one paragraph, that's why these sort of topics never make it into political discussion, it doesn't make for good one liners or sound bites. In summary, good jobs and a focus on providing stable households for children to grow up in seems to be the best chance for future success.
Just how to accomplish that goal will provide plenty for both political parties to argue about for years to come. Sadly, in our current political climate, both sides seem to constantly move away from reason and logic in favor of policies that separate them further from thier opponents. Logical solutions lie in the middle, however, compromising with the opponent doesn't buy votes today, and so it will not happen any time soon.
Mr. Xray you asked: "What is ONE program that addresses the question of WHY people are poor and then addresses said problem(s)"
Head Start (federal program) for one. Planned Parent Hood (a not for profit corporation) for another. Literacy Kansas City (a private charity) for a third.
There are many, just not enough.
Well anyway, you now have one less unanswered question in your life.
That's o. k., glad to help.
Miss Marples: So, if poverty breeds poverty, then are the children some how more deserving than adults? Or adults more deserving than children?
The point is not that people are in poverty, or even that poverty is an obstacle that is hard to overcome. The point is that by simply providing big blanket programs, such as welfare, medicaid, food stamps, society is NOT solving this problem but is only drawing a smiley face on an ugly problem.
I can hand someone a check every month that grows exponentially over time and if they are not educated and assisted, that money will be blown, wasted and frittered away. If they are not really provided a hand up, assistance in many forms beyond that pay check or benefit, then they never ever learn to fend for their selves. I say again, the liberal agenda of entitlement programs simply creates people dependent on the government and dependency is a mental disorder.
One place to start is to encourage and teach and role model ethics, morals and values (not religion necessarily) That has to start at the family level and then the local community. The "not my child" syndrome of covering up for our precious perfect children has to come to an end.
our society at this time does NOT value ethics and morals and values unless you consider the reality TV and raunchy life styles of the rich and famous people that people hypnotically watch routinely or read about in gossip rags and dream to emulate as values and morals. Even our political class at all levels is corrupt. Local politics is no better than state and federal levels of government, maybe worse because the corrupt people at the local level are neighbors and friends.
But there are other ideas and solutions if people got away from the idea that somehow if we throw money into wasteful government programs that are full of fraud and corruption then all is well.
It really bothers me that people would blame a certain race for problems. I enter many businesses in Marshall and notice hispanic, black, asian, and whites working. To blame poverty on one race like the Latinos is terrible. Remember many Latinos are doing jobs others will not and sending half their paycheck to their extended families.
The study was Saline county NOT just Marshall!! That would include Slater, Malta Bend, Sweet Springs, and a few villages. so one cannot blame just the Marshall community govt. groups, schools, etc.
Looks like this is a wake-up call for the county to see what they can offer kids at risk, job opportunities, awareness WHY people are impoverished and make poor choices.
I know many people who are poor that REALLY try and I know others where it is just easier to let everyone else take care of their children, housing,health, and grocery bill.
It is truly the children who suffer but this is also to blame on the moral decline of our society.......
mrxray - You're absolutely right that poverty breeds poverty. The slide to the bottom, once begun, is nearly unstoppable, and once you're at the bottom, the climb back up is unbelievably hard. Whether it's poor choices (e.g. drugs) or just plain being born poor, it's hard to even make it back to the middle of the pack, let alone rise above it.
The sad fact is, most of the people in poverty are not adults - they're children who had the misfortune to be born to people already poor. The question is, how do we help the children, without giving benefits to adults who don't deserve them? Your average meth head of any race or ethnicity is the one who shouldn't get food stamps, but if he/she doesn't get them, where does that leave their children? How do we fix the problem, without giving away the farm?
This is something that requires a community discussion, a community effort, a community solution. Where do we begin?
Mr Xray:
I agree with your statements we need to get to the root cause. We can't just give out money to those not willing to get off thier butts and work.
Which brings me to another point; part of our poverty level could be we need more jobs. We (Marshall) have had the same businesses forever with little to no growth in that direction, if we brought in more businesses that can employ more than a handful of people that would be a start.
I also beleive that instead of just handing out a check those who want foodstamps, disability, and welfare have to PROVE they can not work.
We also need to get our firefighters and police raises so they are out of the poverty level.
I fully expect to get bashed for the next comment but we need better schools if we plan on attracting new businesses to our area.
There I am waiting for all the bleeding hearts to say I am wrong!
I like the chicken v. egg arguments and I can classify Poverty into this type of a question.
Poverty is a fact of all types of socieities. But here are a few questions of my own that I had after reading the article and the posts
1. In my estimation poverty breeds poverty. As the poor people reproduce, that just increases the numbers of people living in poverty so the growth is exponential.
2. How do you cure society if the reasons people are poor are based on poor choices, like becoming an addict, getting pregnant as a teen or before having a career and financial stability, or choosing to drop out of school or not finish college? Those are just examples as there are many varying reasons for poverty.
3. What is ONE program that addresses the question of WHY people are poor and then addresses said problem(s) My answer is not many that I can think of. Welfare hands out a check and some food stamps, then there is disability that hands you a check, even if you are fully capable of being retrained into another type of job. A government run health care program would simply hand people another entitlement benefit but would STILL not cure WHY people are poor nor EVER get them out of poverty.
4. Poverty will NEVER be cured unless local communities figure WHY people are poor and then develop programs to ASSIST and possibly coerce gently, the people to do the hard work to overcome the poverty-creating obstacles in life.
If, as someone suggested, that these stats worsened at the same time the hispanic population grew, then a realist would have to investigate to determine if this was in fact a correlation or not and to ignore this would not be taking a realistic look at the real problems.
It would be an interesting research project to investigate those counties with the best stats and compare them to Saline county and see what the county's local communities do differently.
I guess my overall point is poverty is not an issue where blanket type entitlement programs actually are capable of solving poverty. Welfare and food stamps or even health care does NOTHING to fix the underlying causes of why people live in poverty and are seemingly unwilling to work hard and make the effort to improve their situation. I mean the quote, "give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a life time" is a valid thing to consider
I know there will be a group of you that will say things like, not all people are capable of living on their own or they are truly disabled an need assistance. But if you look into the data that is available on poverty you will find that this is the exception not the rule.
littlemissme - Bravo for you that you pushed your daughter to face the challenges. Many parents give up on their teenagers and don't make the kids face the problems they create with their own careless and immature behavior. As you said, your daughter may not have been your biggest fan back then, but now she knows what a huge favor you did for her. We need more parents like you.
Miss Marple:
Very nicely put. I feel babies having babies contibutes to our poverty level as well. However, as a parent of 3 girls, sometimes teenagers think it won't happen to me.
One of my girls was exactly like that and took her getting pregnant for her to wake up. She now knows first hand what I was talking about when I said it would be hard.
She has a job and attending college. It is not the college she had planned on, and the long days are a drag, but now she is at least listening to me.
She wanted to give up college, I insisted she go that she would thank me some day. She graduates in May. I am hoping she finds a good job and can make lemonaide out of some of those lemons.
Two things stand out to me - the high school dropout rate and the pregnancy-related issues. It seems to me that in most of the statistics, early pregnancy is the problem. Getting kids to stay in school and to recognize that early pregnancy is NOT in their best interest will go a long way towards improving these stats.
It seems that when a person makes a statement that hints at race, people immediately divide into 3 groups. One group hides their heads in the sand, another covers their ears with their hands and screams "RACIST" and the 3rd group actually listens. Unfortunately, there are many more people in the first two groups. Whether we want to admit it or not, the challenges are different for various ethnic groups. Especially in an area where they're in such a minority (like rural midwest counties). Pretending that the playing field is level is counterproductive. I personally think those statistics point in a direction that we should be looking. Nothing more, nothing less.
Smart Dog..your point about poverty being at the root of many of society's ills is dead on target.
Well said, outsider, and I agree that this is a problem for our community. I just have a touchy anti-racism streak.
My opinion is that many of our social ills in the area are rooted in poverty and all the nasty things that come with it. Unemployment, alcholism, addiction, high divorce rates, domestic assault and many other crimes seem to occur at higher than average rates in low income areas. I don't think any of these things are the monopoly of any race.
Of course, there are poor persons with dignity, self respect, and ethics, but I think this is the exception in our modern society.
....and, of course, I enjoy stirring the pot, and accusing people for being racist, it's a one man campaign. LQTM
Another thing...I resent this talk of me trying to "blame" someone. Where we are on the survey is what matters. There's obviously a reason we're there and identifying a problem is the first step towards correcting it. Do you want to throw time, money and effort into something just because it's the politically correct thing to do or do you want to actually improve the situation for the long term? No one is saying "if the hispanics would leave things would be better". They live here just like we do, but IF this downward trend coincides with the increase in hispanic population, we need to see what's not working and fix it.
Hey, outsider, at least you are not a closet racist, way to go.
Outsider,
Never said we ranked so low due to the large number of white meth heads. Just wanted to point out the racism in your veiled attempt to blame the hispanic and black population.
Heck, the study pretty much tells you why we rank so low....POVERTY.
I have numerous ideas why we rank so low, but they are my opinions, and while well reasoned and logical, would need to be verified with research.
I would dearly love for some budding social scientist to study the effect of decades of hab center "graduates" on the community. Just a thought, no facts in evidence, so take it for what it's worth.
Also, and I am pretty sure on this one, we have an extrordinary amount of subsidised housing in Marshall for the size of the community. Again, my opinion is that this makes Marshall a haven for those who are looking for a free place to live. You can point the finger at some of our towns real estate developers and "big shots" that profited significantly from constructing government housing in the 70's and 80's if you really need to place blame.
Next we go to no growth and no jobs, which gives us the resulting POVERTY.
As we all have said at one time or another, "Marshall is a great place to be from." I really don't mind raising my kids here, as we have a good school district, in spite of all the drama, and they get exposed to all levels of society. If I can keep 'em on the straight and narrow, and teach them to make good decisions early, in this environment, I'm not worried much about the rest of what's out there.
You're right. It doesn't add up. Taking another look at the chart I see that at the top they include hispanic with white. Breaking it down further, they show the percentage of white non-hispanic. The actual figures are this
Carroll Co 95.4% white (non hisp), 2.0% black, 1.1% hispanic
Lafayette Co. 94.3% white (non hisp), 2.4 % black, 1.5% hispanic
Howard Co. 90.1% white (non hisp), 7.0% black, 1.2% hispanic
Saline Co 84.3% white (non hisp), 5.5% black, 7.7% hispanic.
Note the first three counties listed are in the top 25 statewide and the last one is 104th in the Kids Count survey. Call me a racist if you like, but you'll have to get your head out of the sand to do it. Here's the website if you think I made up the numbers.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/...
Just a thought, but maybe you might make more productive use of your time by thinking about solutions to some of these problems, instead of looking for someone to blame based on the color of their skin or their ethnic origin.
It's worth noting that the majority population in all these counties IS white, isn't it?
Maybe the 4.8% are the ones who want to point fingers at everyone else and say it is not MY problem. (104.8%) LOL!
Ohhhh, so now it's the Hispanics faults!!! I see..
Anyway...I was a teen mother, no I wasn't planning or trying for it, but it happened and I (unlike many in this town that I hear of) grew up real fast and took care of my son instead of dumping him on my parents. I now have other children and love my family more than anything, not every teen parent is a waste. I graduated high school and continued on to college and graduated with THREE kids. Don't lump ALL teen mothers into irresponsible idiots who just think it's "fun" to have babies around.
And while I was pregnant, the school nurse pushed abortion on me (as she did with my friend who was pregnant) and once I made it clear I was not getting an abortion, I never heard from her again. Now that's a school nurse for you!
How can we have 104.7% (in case of confusion-if you add up you figures for saline county that is what it adds up to)of anything-you might want to recheck you figures.
Smart Dog...After a quick check with the census bureau I find
Lafayette Co...95.6% white, 2.4% black, 1.5% hispanic
Carroll Co...96.5% white, 2.0% black, 1.1% hispanic
Saline Co...91.6% white, 5.5% black, 7.7% hispanic
...and Saline Co ranks so low because of all the white meth heads?
Well...show us what a smart dog you are and explain why Lafayette, Carroll and Howard counties are in the top 25 and we're in the bottom 10.
Outsider, only 16% of our population is black so I don't think that is a large enough portion to blame this on race.
And if you are pointing to the hispanics, all of them that I know, which is several, have a job and take care of thier kids and/or parents. They think the white folks are lazy.
In fact, most of the meth heads I see making the news are white.
Can you say racist?
I can think of one reason why Saline might fare worse than it's neighboring counties. I suppose the PC way of saying it is "ethnic diversity". Flame away if you'd like, but the steadily downward trend in the years mentioned would seem to go along with the increase of said "diversity". The neighboring counties mentioned don't have the same level of diversity.
wicked...did you read the report? I think you're drawing a poor conclusion.
folks-this county attracts those in poverty because it provides so many government and social services. saline county probably takes better care of the poor and disabled and therefore has a higher population. any thoughts?
How sad it is to me that Saline County, Marshall specifically, where I grew up fifty years ago has fallen to such disgrace.
In my day being from Marshall automatically instilled a sense of pride.
What in the world has happened?
It seems to me that local government, and an interested citizenry need to determine what is different in the adjacent counties which all have much higher ratings. That would also make a grand feature series in the MDN. It looks to me like an opportunity for award winning journalism.
This is the sort of thing that ought to be the talk of the town, and county until answers are found, and changes made based on the answers.
Every local government official should be hanging their heads in shame that this has happened on their watch. They should immediately jump to the proactive.
Will any of that happen? I doubt it.
An afterthought: This is even more egregious when one considers that Saline County is home to some of the richest land in the state. To be behind some of those hill, and rock counties that have never had anything is disgusting.
Stupid teenagers trying to get pregnant!!!???!!! Why aren't schools teaching something useful to stop this?? Shove birth control down their throats! I certainly am tired of paying for these loser kids with my taxes!
I would ask readers to go to http://datacenter.kidscount.org/ to read further on the issue. You can see stats for the last 20 years plus you can look at other counties and states stats.
I KNEW it. It only took two posts and someone tied it back to the new school proposal. I am laughing soooo hard right now because we joked about this earlier today. I also figured the police cars, school lunches, and the mayor would also have some kind of bearing on this article.
A child is more likely to die in Saline County than in Kansas City; Saline County is not a safe place to me when you are a child.