Do Americans Really Like Children . . . . Yet?

After you have located and then compared today’s statistics with those reported in the article, try to determine when the Keniston Article was written so that as a class, we might explore the context of living and learning in America.  You and your group members will be responsible for researching the highlighted items below.  Place the updated statistics in the year column and the source of your statistics in the third column.
Group 1 and
	 Then	2012
Cite Source	Your Impressions of the Data between Then and Now	
1	 Infant mortality

	Infant Mortality		
2	Adequate health care 	*Adequate health care

*Percent of children with health insurance

*Percent of children immunized		
3	Child Malnutrition. 

	Malnutrition/Obesity		
4	Children in Poverty 

	Children in Poverty		
5	School Achievement  (graduation rates)

	Achievement Gap		

Group 2

	Then	2012
Cite Source	Your Impressions of the Data between Then and Now	
6	Maternal Employment 

	Maternal Employment		
7	Single parent families with children 

	Single parent families

		
8	Single women giving birth ratio –

	Single women giving birth ratio –

		
9	Time children are with TV/technology (technological babysitter) 	Time children are with TV/technology

		
10	Peer group. Other unrelated children play a larger and larger role in socializing the young.

	Power of the Peer Group

		

Group 3

	Then	2012
Cite Source	Your Impressions of the Data between Then and Now	
11	 The various child care arrangements that must be made by working parents.

	Childcare/After-school care

		
12	The intellectualization of the child-

	the intellectualization of the child-		
13	Test taking. The child who has learned to master test-taking gets the goodies

Academic Standards  - "technism”
	Test taking; $$ spent on testing versus $$ spent on education		
14	Head Start Statistics	Head Start, Healthy Start, State preschool, prekindergarten programs

		
15	Poverty as a manifestation, not of our cultural system, but of our economic system

	Our economic system’s role in poverty		

Group 4

	Then	2012
Cite Source	Your Impressions of the Data between Then and Now	
16	Schools as Gatekeeper

	Schools as Gatekeeper
		
17	The perpetuation of exclusion.
•	Percentage of all American children being brought up to fail.
•	Percentage of all children in America that is non-white
•	Percentage of all children who live below the minimum adequate budget
•	Percentage of all children is born with a major or minor handicap (special needs)
•	Percentage of all children has a learning disability
•	Percentage of all children who live in sub-standard housing
•	Percentage of all children who live in sub-standard housing
•	Percentage of all children who 
•	 attend failing schools.
	The perpetuation of exclusion—Children at risk of academic failure

•	Percentage of all children who live in sub-standard housing or are homeless
		
18	The wealth and income in this nation has not changed materially in 150 years.	How has wealth and income distribution in 
the nation changed?		
19	We have created individuals and families driven by economic need to accept menial, dead-end, low-pay, insecure, hazardous, and boring work.	Jobless rate and  jobs below today’s’ minimum wage