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Statement: Children and youth in the United States are "better off" now than in comparison with earlier decades. What’s in the news? Go to http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/kids/kids.htm and read a summary of a survey looking at attitudes towards young people today. What do the experts say? “Observers from the different social science disciplines, including sociology, are concluding that American children and youth are "in trouble." These experts consider today’s young people to be worse off than their parents’ generation in terms of physical, mental, and emotional well being. Indicators like those just presented provide clear evidence that our society is failing to provide for its young people. One of the major emphases in the United States in recent years has been to provide the supports to children and their families that will make child development and socialization a more positive and fruitful experience. At the same time, it is a penetrating fact that the government spends eleven times as much on each person over sixty-five as on each person under the age of eighteen. Recent trends may call for an increase in societal support for young people and their parents, who are often disadvantaged themselves in terms of caring for their children.“ What do you think? Note down your answers to the following questions and discuss them in class. The following data reveals the following trends in our society since 1960 (V.R. Fuchs and D.M. Reklis. (1992). America’s children: Economic perspectives and policy options. Science, 255, 41-46).
What do you think accounts for these trends? Are today’s youth less intelligent than their predecessors? Why are both suicide and homicide rates among our young people higher now than they used to be? How might the incidence of divorce and father-absent households be a contributing ingredient here? Where do you stand? Now you’ve had a chance hear other people’s views, take the Online Poll.
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