WTE;2-7-05

February 2, 2005 ( Published February 7, 2005)

Our Children Are Our Future

The future of our state and country lies in our youth, so it would seem to just make sense for the government to take an interest in seeing that their young lives are as positive as possible. Unfortunately the State of Wyoming has a long way to go in this regard.

Legislators have a large part of the responsibility in this arena; the laws they pass apply to the entire citizenry, and state agencies play a large role in the services provided. The funding decisions they make control what programs are funded, and for how long. With some progressive thinking and a large amount of effort, the lives of those kids living in crisis could be drastically improved.

Of course the protection of kids is not just an issue for the state lawmakers, it’s a societal problem and the solutions will require the participation of all levels of the government. Legislators can create a more progressive framework for approaching the child protection issue, and thereby push the rest of the system forward. The Legislature can adopt the collective attitude that violence and violent crime are indeed the biggest issues of all, and craft a system that projects that vision. Violence is a more important issue than water development, annexation, drugs or anything else. That’s the message that the Honorable Ninety could, and should, send.

Identifying the serious problems that face the youth of Wyoming is not difficult, but obviously the traditional solutions have not worked since we have an ever-increasing population of kids that need help. When you speak of the many problems that children face, you’re usually talking about dynamics within the family home, and that has to be a focus of attention.

For too many years the traditional attitude that violence within the home is somehow different from social violence has lead to a “hands off the family” policy that leaves victims with a shortage of real choices. The batterers who are addicted to controlling their families have had the tacit approval of society to continue with their abusive ways, and the result has been a twisting of young minds.

Violence is the root cause of most of the problems that young citizens face, and real solutions for social problems must address root causes. If we were to take a look at the lives of 1000 young Wyomingites that live in peaceful, loving homes and compare them to 1000 young people who have been exposed to domestic violence, abuse, neglect and incest, we would see some clear differences. Within the group exposed to violence we would see higher rates of substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, suicide, lower test performance, a higher drop out rate from school, and a tendency to both use violence and accept violence acts.

Focusing on ways to prevent violence from impacting our youth in the first place must take priority. When violent acts do occur, the systemic response must be caring and consistent and based on the healing of the victim.

Using the public education system to educate students about the dynamics of violence and what to do about it is an obvious possibility. We have a widespread effort through the DARE program directed toward the issue of drug usage, but no analogous program directed towards violence. There has been some progress made with the addition of bully proofing curriculums in some school districts, but the scope and range of these programs is still very limited.

The concept of having special domestic violence units within the local police forces is an excellent approach. Violence in the home involves and molds all the occupants of the home, especially the youngsters. The City of Cheyenne had such a unit in the recent past, but abandoned it after a few years due to the cost - a very bad move. Funding for such units should be a priority at both the state and local level.

If the youthful citizen does get caught up in the juvenile justice system, the current system of providing them with a legal advocate is haphazard and lackluster. There are three designated groups of future adults who fall under the prevue of the state: abused and neglected children, child in need of supervision (CHINS) and juvenile delinquents.

All the individuals in these groups have a need for competent legal representation to ensure that they go to the least restrictive appropriate placement, and the state has an obligation to provide that representation. The state fulfills that responsibility by passing the chore along to the various counties, without any dedicated stream of revenue to accomplish the task. The state desperately needs to reform this part of the youth protection system, and House Bill 314, which is working its way through the Legislative process right now, may help with that.

Violence against anyone is a serious issue, but violence against kids is especially objectionable. All of society pays the price for the failure of our political leaders to adequately craft and fund a caring and supportive child protection system. Kids may not vote or contribute to political campaigns, but they should still be number one on the priority list. Keep one more thing in mind Legislators; Peace on Earth begins at home!