Children and Poverty

What is happening to our children, and do we care?

The statistics in your Sept. 23 article, “One Day in the Life of San Diego’s Youth,” are alarming. Among them are the following. In San Diego each day:

* 10 women will give birth without prenatal care.

* 11 babies will be born with alcohol or drugs in their systems.

* 173 children will be reported as abused or neglected.

* 312 children will be included in welfare applications.

Also in September, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies published its survey. When comparing our country to six others, it found that 40% of U.S. households with children are poor. (This compares to 25%in Britain, 18.8% in West Germany and 9.1% in France.)

In addition the Census Bureau published a report in September that states that 40% of people in the United States that are 18 years or younger are poor.

Last year, to do something about the awful state of children in our world (40,000 die each day from preventable causes), UNICEF organized the World Summit for Children at the United Nations. It was the largest gathering of world heads of state in history and included President Bush.

Promises were made. Delegates from 159 countries signed a declaration and plan of action for the survival, development and protection of children. Specific goals were to be met by the year 2000.

As of September, one year has passed and the promises still need to be kept. If the above statistics are unacceptable to your readers that care about children, they can do something about it. They can let their President and congressmen know that they support the goals of the World Summit for Children and are counting on their representatives in government to keep the summit promises.

DARIA FLORES, San Diego