TNNEWS 4

Children.....An Agenda of Urgency

33% of black children live in poverty..... 35% of black children live with two married parents compared to 83% of Asian children...... 77% of white children, and 65% of Hispanic children..... A Black baby is born uninsured every five minutes. One out of every seven babies born uninsured is Black......Black infants are more than twice as likely as White infants to die before their first birthday.....One in three Black children is poor.....Chicago loses more black kids than soldiers in Iraq to gun violence.....7.0% of Black children (767,200 children) had a parent in prison.....70 percent of African American children are born to unmarried mothers.....61% of black children "6.5 million"live in low-income families......Black children are 9 times more likely than White children to have a parent in prison....69% of Black children cannot read in the 4th grade.....Gunfire killed 3,365 children and teens in 1999 "more than 38 percent were Black youth.....Homicide is the leading cause of death among Black males ages 15 to 24.....Firearm death rate for Black males 15-19 is four times that of White males of the same age.....Nationally, Black youths under age 18 represent 15 percent of the juvenile population but make up 26 percent of juvenile arrests.....One of every two Black children lives in poverty.....More than half of Black children live in single-parent homes.....In some inner-city schools the drop out rate climbs higher than 75 percent.....A Black infant born in the U.S. is twice as likely to die before his or her first birthday



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DRUG USE BY LOCAL YOUTHS OUTPACES STATE AVERAGE

Students' Drug Of Choice: Alcohol

Maury County students are more likely to use marijuana, alcohol or tobacco than their peers in other Tennessee counties, according to a survey conducted recently.

That's why Jonathan Lewis of the Safe Neighborhood Coalition says reducing underage drinking and drug use is the first step in curbing gang violence in the community.

"When I saw it ( the results ) the first time, my jaw hit the floor," he said. "I had no idea it was that bad here in the county."

Here's what the 2006 Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation survey found.Survey

About three out of 10 Maury County students say they have smoked marijuana at least once during their academic career. Roughly six out of 10 have tried alcohol. Forty percent have used tobacco, and 20 percent of students report lighting up within the past 30 days.

Overall, Maury County had a higher percentage of students trying cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, inhalants and cocaine than the state average. The county ranked below the state average in terms of students trying methamphetamines and smokeless tobacco.

Of roughly 12,000 public school children in Maury County, 1,224 in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 completed the survey. State averages are based on a sampling of students in 41 of Tennessee's 95 counties.

Lewis is seeking funding from the state to combat underage drinking and drug abuse. He said the coalition, which was founded with the objective of curtailing gang violence, wants to work with law enforcement, along with school and health officials, to lower substance abuse rates.

Reducing drug abuse is a good start to combating gangs in Maury County, Lewis said.

"I think the two go hand-in-hand," he said.

Bill Doelle oversees the Maury County Sheriff Department's drug task force. Doelle said he's not surprised Maury County students report higher usage than those in other communities.

"It's the availability of it," he said. "You can get out here any day and get it on the street corner."

Doelle said he thinks aggressively pursuing drug dealers and carrying through with stiff penalties is key to keeping drugs away from children.

Sgt. Kirk Shepard, who works as a school resource officer, said the county tries to combat drug abuse through both education and enforcement at all public schools. Deputies use drug dogs to randomly search for illegal substances at middle and high schools and also conduct lessons on the perils of drug abuse.

Shepard said most students cited for having drugs at school are carrying cigarettes or marijuana. Students bringing prescription pills to school has been a growing problem in Maury County and nationwide, he said.

Abusing pills is particularly troubling, Shepard said, because students will often take powerful drugs with no knowledge of the effects. Shepard said deputies have confiscated drugs varying from blood thinners to prescription anti-diarrhea medication.

The best way to stop teen drug use, he said, is for parents to take an active role in their children's lives. That includes doing some things, such as snooping through their belongings, that might make them angry, Shepard said.

"They may get upset about that, but I would rather them get upset with me for a little while than to have to attend their funeral," he said.