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DEL.ICIO.USDenial won’t help kids beat at-risk behavior
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ellen Gerstein hopes you’ll call.
Got her number?
It’s 678-376-7887.
Gerstein oversees the Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services, a nonprofit that just released its 2006 youth health survey. More than 30,000 Gwinnett kids — sixth-, seventh-, eighth- and 10th-graders — answered questions about sex, violence, drugs and alcohol.
And it’s not pretty.
The findings show that the number of middle school kids who are having sex, using drugs and binge drinking is on an uptick. High-risk behavior among high-schoolers is cause for concern, too. Nearly 20 percent of them, for example, say they have had three or more intercourse partners.
And that’s why Gerstein wants to hear from parents.
She stands ready to talk to student clubs, school organizations, employers and employees about the survey, what it means for our kids, us, this community. There’s a problem, though.
The community’s denial and complacency. Its inability to grasp — and respond to — reality. The “it’s-not-my-child syndrome.” Tin ears.
Now, more than ever, Gerstein says that has to change. Local agencies that deal with high-risk adolescent behavior are stretched. So it’s up to what Gerstein calls “the first line of defense” to rally.
“It’s up to kids and parents themselves,” she told me. “They really should be the ones dealing with this.”
The last county youth health survey was done several years ago, in 2000. Those findings weren’t as alarming as the spring 2006 results, but they were a forewarning.
Then, as now, Gerstein offered up the coalition’s services. Then, as now, tips and resources were made available to the public. Then, as now, Gerstein volunteered to give presentations. She got few requests.
“We can’t get anybody to pay attention to it,” she told me. “We can’t get anybody to respond.”
Then she stressed a significant point, something she wants us all to understand: This survey isn’t about “those people” over there. You know what she’s talking about — how certain community clusters like Meadowcreek or Berkmar get labeled problem areas. This survey reflects all schools — high schools like Meadowcreek and Brookwood, and middle schools like Trickum and Lilburn. Everybody and anybody.
Your children, perhaps.
“Because we have this information by school, every corner in Gwinnett County has these problems,” she said. “No one can point the finger, so to speak, and say, ‘It’s over there.’ It’s everywhere.”
So what are you waiting for? Check out the 2007 Youth Health Risk Survey results at www.gwinnettcoalition.org. Then, go ahead. Make the call to Gerstein.
Again, that number is 678-376-7887.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail rbadie@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
Comments
By rosemary
July 3, 2007 8:14 AM | Link to this
This article hits the nail on the head. The best part about some parents is when you tell them what their child is doing , they say “oh no not my child!” Then in a few weeks there they are with charges for what you tried to warn them about. Or they accept that all kids are doing it, so it must be okay. This generation of parents, which I am one of, has got to be the worst. I cannot wait to see the coming attractions of the results of the story we have written, due out in about 8 years.
By Bruce Wilcox
July 3, 2007 11:03 AM | Link to this
This prevalent theme is a direct result of parents who are “enablers”-those who can’t be bothered by the application of discipline. It’s easier to do nothing and kind of let it slide…
On the other hand, most of this would not be an issue if it weren’t for the war in Iraq. Bush’s approach to the issues at hand instigates the problems here-and now you see the results.
By Leah
July 3, 2007 1:36 PM | Link to this
Our children have too much time on their hands with very little to keep them busy. The community as a whole needs to come up with ways to keep our children active so they don’t have to time to devote negative activity. We need more male volunteers to help with the parks’ programs and youth groups. I say that because I signed my son up for boy scouts and more women than men volunteered to be troop leaders!
Does anyone have any helpful ideas? What about community meetings to brainstorm? I am a concerned parent. Our government cannot bail us out of this mess. Parents are responsible for their children and their behavior - good or bad.
By Jack
July 3, 2007 1:43 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bradie,
Good Article again.. It all starts at home with the parents. We as a society need to go back to the old fashion way of rearing children. Parents need to step up to the plate and accept the huge responsibility and sacrifice of being a parent. Parents need to stop the excuses of why they cannot control their children, why they cannot discipline their children and why they cannot control their childs actions. Parents need to start having a winning attitude toward parenting instead of a losing one.
Parents need to instill values, morals and respect into their children. They need to be their role model, the leader, the one to hold their children accountable for their actions.
Like I said before we as parents need to raise our children in church. Religion wont solve the problem put it is a great foundation to parenting. If we in society would establish godly homes, I believe that the problem we are facing with children making poor decisions and parentless homes will turn into a positive direction and positive change.
By Jack
July 3, 2007 2:03 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bradie,
Also we as parents need to set rules and boundaries and enforce them with our children. We need to know where our children are at all times. We need to know who their friends are and meet their friends parents to get a idea of what type of parents they are. Just like my father always told me, “you are who you associate with”, “lie down with a dog wake up with flea’s”. Meet with your childrens teachers and find out from them your childrens educational progress as well as your childs behavior in school and what kids they are hanging around at school.
A good website for parents is www.family.org I truly recommend looking at this website.
When parents start living for God and using the bible for their resource and help and rearing their children with a biblical basis, then we will make progress…
By Michael H. Smith
July 3, 2007 6:57 PM | Link to this
So sixth-, seventh-, eighth- and 10th-graders were surveyed and the high risk behavior facts are alarming.
Oh whatever shall we do?
As Larry Munson says Bulldog fans: It’s late, it’s real late.
The needed Q&A session on what to do is about six, seven, eight, perhaps ten years, too late. Parental nurturing has probably gone by the broads too, so that’s out. Crisis intervention maybe, but that’s a long shot. So if you’ve only been playing Roulette thus far with your biggest fortune - your child - then gambling on the long shots is about all the odds you and your children have left of their life to wager.
Sorry this has been so rude an awaking . Just blame it on that old talk radio - we got to do something about “those people” - nonetheless, the painful truth has came crashing down.
By Elona
July 4, 2007 9:27 AM | Link to this
Rick, Thank you for writing on this topic. I teach at-risk teenagers in a regular high school and so many of them tell me they started to be “bad” in grade seven. They started to drink, do drugs, act school in school etc. When I ask them why, they talk about their parents not being there for them. When I talk to parents about their kids, many of them say they don’t know what to do about their kids. They look to the school system to “fix” their kids. There’s only so much the school can do. Parents along with schools and the community need to work together to help kids.
I believe parents do the best they know how and when they learn a better way to parent, with support they will do better. Parents want the best for the kids. We all want the best for kids. After all, kids are our future.
By Dot
July 4, 2007 9:45 AM | Link to this
It has been interesting reading - the war in Iraq, no community activities, not enough male volunteers - what about what are YOU doing? When you see 4-5 year olds throwing tantrums in the store because they are not getting what they want you can figure what they will be like by the time they reach middle school. Parents - be parents and do not be afraid to say “no” and teach your children when they are very young to respect you, themselves and those around them. Do not fall into the “everyone does it” trap. Glad mine our grown!
By Dot
July 4, 2007 9:45 AM | Link to this
It has been interesting reading - the war in Iraq, no community activities, not enough male volunteers - what about what are YOU doing? When you see 4-5 year olds throwing tantrums in the store because they are not getting what they want you can figure what they will be like by the time they reach middle school. Parents - be parents and do not be afraid to say “no” and teach your children when they are very young to respect you, themselves and those around them. Do not fall into the “everyone does it” trap. Glad mine our grown!
By Michael H. Smith
July 4, 2007 12:27 PM | Link to this
Glad mine are grown too, Dot.
It takes not a village to raise a child (Clintonians), it only takes a responsible mother or father, preferable both, to prevent a child from raising a parent.
Never ask what shall I do now, ask why did I not do, what I should have done long before now?
Off topic trivia but apropos to the 4th of July.
Joined in the birth of a nation they were joined in death upon this same date.
Who were they?
By Jean Ebert
July 4, 2007 2:06 PM | Link to this
Michael,
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
By Michael H. Smith
July 4, 2007 3:20 PM | Link to this
Right you are, Jean.
Jefferson served two terms as President after defeating the incumbent Adams, then retired to his home in Monticello. Meanwhile from his retirement farm in Quincy, Massachusetts Adams began to write long and elaborate letters to his old adversary. A grudging admiration for each other may have developed in their later years. Nonetheless, Adams always proclaimed that, though Jefferson was 7 years younger than himself…
“I will out live Jefferson.”
On his death bed on Independence Day, 1826 John Adams uttered his last words. They were “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
It is rumored that upon Adam’s death the messenger dispatched to carry the news to Jefferson’s Virginia home actually passed a messenger dispatched from THAT site to Adam’s home, also bearing sad tidings.
Just a few hours earlier Thomas Jefferson had passed away….both architects of the document that gave birth to this new Nation dead, 50 years to the day from the birth of the country they founded.