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Child Poverty: A Better Chance for Success

One of the most illusive and generally misunderstood creatures on the planet is the wily and cantankerous Human Child. Its curious combination of guile and ignorance is virtually unequaled among mammals. This peculiar quadruped is almost totally dependent upon its mother for the first three years of life, and requires an unusually high degree of nurturing during the first twelve to fifteen. While numerous studies have been undertaken to try and understand the physical, emotional, and social development of this most exceptional member of the animal kingdom, the Human Child remains, by and large, the stuff of the Discovery Channel and Mad Magazine.

Historians may one day look back on Twenty-first Century American culture with bewilderment and shock with regard to the position and state of being of children in society. Never before in human history has there been such a gross deficit in parenting skills, aptitude, and basic knowledge as exists today at both the familial and societal levels of child rearing. The techniques, traditions, moral underpinnings, and responsibilities passed down from one generation to the next in virtually every culture to precede it, were somehow replaced by systemic apathy, rank consumerism, an almost total disappearance of the work ethic, and a laissez faire attitude on the part of government and society as a whole with respect to the psycho-social development of America's children. The relentless pursuit of officially licensed sports apparel, I-pods, soccer trophies, and Barbie Dolls has replaced household chores, apprenticeships, community service, and "kicking the can;" and the personal fulfillment that comes with learning to read, write, experiment, and explore has given way to calculators, video games, spell-check, and the Multiplex. For the wealthy among us, appreciation of History, Philosophy, Literature, and Science is developed on teen tours, cruises, and Euro-Disneyland. For the masses, the Crocodile Hunter has replaced the Museum of Natural History; Chemistry is learned in Meth labs, poetry is the Black-eyed Pees, and a young boy's idea of a father figure is Puff Daddy.

The primary victims of poverty in America are not working-age men or single mothers, but children who grow up in circumstances devoid of hope or opportunity. The result has been a social misfortune whose proportions are deepening and which we are only beginning to appreciate. Although its physical form can be seen in

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