John Whitehead's Commentary
Who Will Help the Children?
"Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children. And if you don't help us, who else in the world can help us do this?"
--Albert Camus, Nobel Laureate
As the cold winds blow across the country and the sound of holiday cheer is yet waffling through the air, millions of folks are snuggling under their bedcovers to warm themselves against the world outside. As they begin to doze off, somewhere near them a child is struggling to find sleep--with no bed--cold, hungry and homeless.
This is one of the sad commentaries on modern America. Caught within the grip of materialism, our society continues to turn a blind eye to a problem of epidemic proportions--the 1.2 million homeless children who populate our streets. Sadly, the child poverty rate in America is two to three times higher than that of most other major Western industrialized nations.
In fact, the statistics are staggering. For example, 41% of homeless children are under the age of five. The typical homeless family is a 27-year-old single mother with two children under the age of six. The average age of a homeless person is 9 years old. Over 30% of homeless families are charged with child abuse and neglect, and one out of five has lost at least one child to foster care.
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, the reasons that children are homeless fall into three interrelated categories: family problems, economic problems and residential instability. Indeed, many homeless children leave home after years of physical and sexual abuse, drug and alcohol problems of family members, strained relationships and parental neglect.
Disruptive family conditions are the principal reason that young people leave home. In one study, more than half of the youth interviewed during shelter stays reported that their parents either told them to leave or knew they were leaving and did not care.
Many homeless adolescents find that exchanging sex for food, clothing or shelter is their only chance of survival on the streets. In turn, homeless youth are at a greater risk of contracting AIDS or HIV-related illnesses. As such, homeless adolescents often suffer from severe anxiety and depression, poor health and nutrition and low self-esteem.
The wider problem of general poverty among poor children is even more alarming. According to the Children's Defense Fund, there are 14.5 million American children who continue to experience poverty. Add to this the fact that statistics released last month reveal that for the first time in ten years the number of people caught in the poverty trap has suddenly increased and unemployment is rising to new levels as the gap between the rich and poor widens--which means that more children and families will experience poverty and many of them will be on the streets.
What can we do to help?
President Bush, Congress and other government leaders must readdress their priorities. For example, while the president's windfall tax breaks to the super-rich breezed through Congress, the proposed rise in the minimum wage is frozen. The defense budget has increased to $355.4 billion, while the proportion of children without health coverage has increased from 63.8% to 67.1%.
We're talking about human beings-helpless human beings. The budgetary concerns pushed by a president who has never had to worry about money in his life need to be reassessed. A starting point would be to raise the minimum wage and shift some of the money we spend on bombs to feed our children.
Indeed, what kind of government system leaves millions of people, including children, impoverished and excluded from the promise of American society, yet still persists in calling itself free and fit to police the world?
The private sector can help as well. In whatever city you visit in America, you will likely find a number of opulent, affluent churches. Turn on a religious program and you are likely to see televangelists in tailored suits asking for even more money to keep their programs on the air. Just imagine, if every church in this country would open its coffers for the poor, there wouldn't be any poor.
Clearly, it's time to loosen our money belts for the poor and needy, especially the children, and practice the humanitarianism that has been the hallmark of American society. But let's not throw them pennies. As Christian apologist C. S. Lewis once noted: "I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditures on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., are up to the standard common among those with the same income as ours, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our charitable expenditures exclude them." This is sacrificial giving that is not limited to money or material items. It includes giving time to the poor, opening one's home to others and the general giving of oneself to serve the needs of others.
As the man whose name is attached to this time of the year once said: "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
Our emphasis should be on sharing what we have been blessed with and caring for and helping the less fortunate. "And if you don't help us, who else in the world can help us do this?"
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
--Albert Camus, Nobel Laureate
As the cold winds blow across the country and the sound of holiday cheer is yet waffling through the air, millions of folks are snuggling under their bedcovers to warm themselves against the world outside. As they begin to doze off, somewhere near them a child is struggling to find sleep--with no bed--cold, hungry and homeless.
This is one of the sad commentaries on modern America. Caught within the grip of materialism, our society continues to turn a blind eye to a problem of epidemic proportions--the 1.2 million homeless children who populate our streets. Sadly, the child poverty rate in America is two to three times higher than that of most other major Western industrialized nations.
In fact, the statistics are staggering. For example, 41% of homeless children are under the age of five. The typical homeless family is a 27-year-old single mother with two children under the age of six. The average age of a homeless person is 9 years old. Over 30% of homeless families are charged with child abuse and neglect, and one out of five has lost at least one child to foster care.
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, the reasons that children are homeless fall into three interrelated categories: family problems, economic problems and residential instability. Indeed, many homeless children leave home after years of physical and sexual abuse, drug and alcohol problems of family members, strained relationships and parental neglect.
Disruptive family conditions are the principal reason that young people leave home. In one study, more than half of the youth interviewed during shelter stays reported that their parents either told them to leave or knew they were leaving and did not care.
Many homeless adolescents find that exchanging sex for food, clothing or shelter is their only chance of survival on the streets. In turn, homeless youth are at a greater risk of contracting AIDS or HIV-related illnesses. As such, homeless adolescents often suffer from severe anxiety and depression, poor health and nutrition and low self-esteem.
The wider problem of general poverty among poor children is even more alarming. According to the Children's Defense Fund, there are 14.5 million American children who continue to experience poverty. Add to this the fact that statistics released last month reveal that for the first time in ten years the number of people caught in the poverty trap has suddenly increased and unemployment is rising to new levels as the gap between the rich and poor widens--which means that more children and families will experience poverty and many of them will be on the streets.
What can we do to help?
President Bush, Congress and other government leaders must readdress their priorities. For example, while the president's windfall tax breaks to the super-rich breezed through Congress, the proposed rise in the minimum wage is frozen. The defense budget has increased to $355.4 billion, while the proportion of children without health coverage has increased from 63.8% to 67.1%.
We're talking about human beings-helpless human beings. The budgetary concerns pushed by a president who has never had to worry about money in his life need to be reassessed. A starting point would be to raise the minimum wage and shift some of the money we spend on bombs to feed our children.
Indeed, what kind of government system leaves millions of people, including children, impoverished and excluded from the promise of American society, yet still persists in calling itself free and fit to police the world?
The private sector can help as well. In whatever city you visit in America, you will likely find a number of opulent, affluent churches. Turn on a religious program and you are likely to see televangelists in tailored suits asking for even more money to keep their programs on the air. Just imagine, if every church in this country would open its coffers for the poor, there wouldn't be any poor.
Clearly, it's time to loosen our money belts for the poor and needy, especially the children, and practice the humanitarianism that has been the hallmark of American society. But let's not throw them pennies. As Christian apologist C. S. Lewis once noted: "I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditures on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., are up to the standard common among those with the same income as ours, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our charitable expenditures exclude them." This is sacrificial giving that is not limited to money or material items. It includes giving time to the poor, opening one's home to others and the general giving of oneself to serve the needs of others.
As the man whose name is attached to this time of the year once said: "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
Our emphasis should be on sharing what we have been blessed with and caring for and helping the less fortunate. "And if you don't help us, who else in the world can help us do this?"
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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