What Will Become Of Poverty-Stricken Children In The New Millennium?
When I was first asked to write this article on teen pregnancy prevention in the new millennium, I felt honored. Yet whenever I sat down to produce, I was stymied. It has taken me weeks to understand that my writer s block has developed because the topic deeply depresses me. I am filled with fear and sadness whenever I think of the plight of the poor particularly the children in the next fifty years. Welfare Reform in my affluent home state of Connecticut has already seriously impacted our fragile teen pregnancy prevention target population. We now see the children who are most at risk poverty-stricken youngsters who are doing poorly in school and in whose homes domestic violence erupts regularly having to face even greater stresses and increased alienation. They are not managing their hardships very well. They are quicker to anger, much quicker to fight, even the girls. Increased fighting at school results in greater numbers of arrests during this era of “zero tolerance.” With more ar
