School Attendance and Crime

Have you ever wondered if more kids attended school, maybe there would be less crime? I have been researching many aspects of education and it's effect on a better life for our kids today, as you may have seen on my website http://www.roccobasile.com/. Studying the relationship between school attendance and crime goes back more than 200 years. Many people believe that rather than school, better crime control measures include vigorous police work, strict law enforcement, and allowing young people more choices in their education.

Crime and violence have been around for thousands of years, long before the compulsory school attendance statutes. In fact, violence and even references to youth gangs are all recorded in the Bible. But so have education, learning and achievement.

The American view about education and crime was referenced in the January 10, 1931 Literary Digest, in an article entitled "What We Shall Be Like in 1950" (pages 43-44). Predictions in the article state "definite prophecies made by the National Education Association" and adapted from a publication called Tomorrow's Business say, "Crime will be virtually abolished by transferring to the preventive processes of the school and education the problems of conduct which police, courts, and prisons now remedy when it is too late."

A number of experts believe school causes crime more than it prevents crime. This is not necessarily a new belief either. Check out what Henry Fielding said in his day! "Public schools are the nurseries of all vice and immorality." Henry Fielding (1707-1754).

Many people wonder if crime is closely related to drug use. In 2006, there was a study entitled, "The Monitoring the Future Study" which asked high school seniors, "On how many occasions, if any, have you used drugs or alcohol during the last 12 months?"

The answers may be surprising:
Alcohol - 66.5
Marijuana - 31.5
Other opiates - 9.0
Stimulants - 8.1
Sedatives - 6.6
Tranquilizers - 6.6
Cocaine - 5.7
Hallucinogens - 4.9
Inhalants - 4.5
Steroids - 1.8
Heroin - 0.8

The good news is that there are programs across the country that are helping prevent both drug use and crime. My work with Children of the City proves every day how they have helped students do better in school, and therefore I am certain, it has helped the community of Sunset Park in Brooklyn, New York prevent crime.

They have a program called "FutureSafe," a collaborative monthly event attended by around 500 kids. It's like a neighborhood block party, with food, games, singing, crafts, and other fun stuff. Attending one of these events is often a first step for children when it comes to engaging in structured afterschool activities where they are picked up from their homes and brought to the
community center. Children of the City provides a preventative element designed to deter children from drug abuse, delinquency, gang involvement, teen pregnancies, as well as teach them on important issues such as health and education.

The non-profit also organizes parent workshops at these events that gives parents the tools and support to help them be a better advocate for their children, to teach them how to combat social challenges. And at Christmas they provide toys and gifts for hundreds of children, most of who have proven over the last 23 years since the organization was founded, are NOT involved in crime.

--Rocco Basile

What is poverty and how does it hurt our children?

The word "poverty" typically suggests a family with no food, clothing, or shelter. In the year 2005, a Poverty Pulse poll was taken by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). It asked the public this question: "How would you describe being poor in the United States?" A major portion of the responses focused on homelessness, hunger or not being able to eat properly. In addition not being able to meet basic needs was a factor.

The Census Bureau's latest annual report on poverty in the U.S. says that there were 37 million poor individuals living in this country in 2005. That number has not changed much in recent years -- as the report states 12.6 percent of Americans were poor in 2005. This number has been averaging between 11.3 percent to 15.1 percent of during the last 20 years or so.

I know for a fact that in Brooklyn, New York, there is a poverty problem, and one of the reasons why I am so involved in charitable organizations like Children of the City. But to understand poverty in this country, I believe that it is critical to take a look behind these kinds of numbers that are lingering in the Census Bureau's reports —to look at the actual living conditions of the individuals that our government claims are poor. You can find other statistics and informaiotn at my own website http://www.roccobasile.org/.

The real truth is that the poor are generally well nourished, but some poor families do experience temporary food shortages. 89 percent of the poor report their families have enough food, while only 2 percent say they often don't have enough to eat. Forty-three percent of what the government calls "poor" households actually own their own homes, and a car.

Perhaps what is even more important, according to Author Robert E. Rector, in his article entitled, "How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the Plague of Poverty in America," is that poverty in the U.S. can be reduced further, particularly poverty among children. There are two main reasons that American children are poor: Their parents don't work much, and fathers are absent from the home.

He sites that the typical poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year, which is only 16 hours of work per week. If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year—the equivalent of one adult working 40 hours per week throughout the year— nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty.

This makes sense. Children of the City's website features an audio presentation that sites the fact that there are 17 thousand cases of child abuse or neglect every year, a 48 percent high school drop out rate and the fact that one in three families is living below the poverty line. It is all happening in our own back yard. These individuals needed hope and help to keep their kids off of drugs, and out of crime.

This is why Children of the City's prevention outreach services have evolved to include trauma intervention, counseling, after-school programs, social work, courtroom and legal advocacy, financial counseling, youth mentoring, and other services that are helping families and their children achieve success socially, at school and at home. Parents can get help financially and with their careers.

One of the charity's programs is called Future Safe -- a monthly event attended by about 500 children with a preventative element designed to deter children from drug abuse, delinquency, gang involvement and teen pregnancy. It is often a first step for children from poor families with no place to turn, and the program helps them engage in structured after school activities.

In the end I believe that with more programs like Children of the City, our communities could beat what our government continues to call "poverty in America."

The Success of After School Programs

Here's a really interesting item. The 7th Annual Afterschool for All Challenge which brings together youth and afterschool staff as well advocates and administrators from around the country in Washington DC on May 14 and 14, 2008 for two days of workshops, networking, meetings with Congressional offices and celebrations. This year's Afterschool for All Challenge is partnering with the National League of Cities and their National City Afterschool Summit. City officials, superintendents, school board members, and afterschool providers will have a chance to share ideas and strategies to help ensure the growth of afterschool programs.The event honors afterschool all stars and celebrates the 10th anniversary of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Initiative. Plus they all meet with members of Congress and the need for continued investment. Click here for highlights from last year's Challenge

Last ,year, more than 300 advocates, providers, parents and students participated in this year’s Challenge and they visited more than 200 Congressional offices delivering the message that afterschool is key to kids’ success.

I know for a fact that afterschool programs work well because of my work as a Board member of Children of the City. In fact, here's Rosa's story... She is 12 and lives in Brooklyn, New York. If someone dared asked Rosa to read, even a book as simple as one by Doctor Seuss a few years ago there would have been mayhem. In the midst of screaming and pounding fists, she was known to overturn her desk and send books flying across the room. School teachers gave up on Rosa, aiming to manage her tantrums rather than provide any instruction. In third grade, Rosa was still learning addition and subtraction.”

When Rosa began to attend an educational after school and summer program at Children of the City, she found the nurture and structure she needed to survive. She began doing her schoolwork, and she found a new home. Now Rosa is in sixth grade and doing well in school.

I have other information on my Rocco Basile website for anyone interested.

Could After School Programs Help Crime Prevention?

The recent news on February 15th about the gunman who shot 18 students from a stage before killing himself at Northern Illinois University (NIU) is devastating, and deserves our thoughts, prayers and condolences. Yet many of us dig deeper and wonder how could this have been prevented?

In the charity work that I do at Brooklyn, New York-based Children of the City, we are no strangers to how crime and violence affect children every day. But we also see how a community can help. Perhaps if there were more programs nationwide like this, tragedies like the one at NIU would have been prevented.

It is interesting that violent and property crime rates at our country's schools during the year 2005 were statistically unchanged from the year 2004 versus 2005.

According to a report released a year ago on December 2, 2007 by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics violent and property crime rates remained about the same in the year 2005 compared to 2004. They measured crimes such as rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault and also theft. Here are some of the highlighted statistics:

-- Older students, of the ages 15 to 18, were less likely than younger students, of the ages 12 to 14, to be victims of crime at school during 2005.
-- Older students were more likely than younger students to be victims of crime away from school.
-- Other serious violent victimizations were lower at school than away from school for every survey year from 1992 through the year 2005.
-- During the year 2005, 99 percent of the students aged from 12 to 18 observed at least one of selected security measures at their school; the percentage of students who observed the use of security cameras at their school increased from 39 percent in 2001 to 58 percent during 2005.
-- Of the students in grades 9 through 12 an estimated 43 percent reported drinking alcohol anywhere and four percent reported drinking at school during the 30 days prior to the 2005 survey.

The charity's programs including its FutureSafe program, which is is a collaborative monthly event attended by an average of 500 children. It's like a neighborhood block party, complete with food, games, singing, crafts, and other fun activities for children. Children are picked up from their homes and brought to a community center where they participate in this event. Children of the City provides a much-needed preventative element designed to deter children from drug abuse, delinquency, gang involvement, teen pregnancies, as well as teach them on important issues such as health and education.

Stay tuned for more information on this topic. Or check out my Rocco Basile Charity website.

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. More information can be found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/.