Summer in “New” Modesto - Action Alliance for Children

Action Alliance for Children
The Hunt House
1201 Martin Luther King Jr.
Oakland, CA 9461212D
88
‘991 D811NGUISHED
WINNER
HlEY9MEIff
Non-proht Organization
U.S. Posloge
PAID
Oakland, CA
Permit #1846
CONTRA COSTh CHILD CARE COUNCIL
2450 STNWELL DR
CONCORD
C 94520
Since 1973
V
May/June 1992
Summer in “New” Modesto:
Srna11-To Ties and a
Big Commitment to Youth
By Karen Greene & Marti Keller
n the late fifties and sixties, Modesto
was an American viiiage. In the sum
mer, high school football players built
up muscles lifting crates of fruit in the
peach fields. Concerned neighbors
and school principals collaborated to
talented
orphans scholarships to college.
get
Youngsters played Little League and hung
out in the parks where city employees super
vised activities and knew everyone’s name.
Teenagers cruised in hot rods, bopping to
rock and roll. One teen by the name of
George Lucas took in the whole scene and
would later use it as artistic grist for American
Graffiti, a film that has virtually come to
define the image of what it was like to grow
up in the pre-hippie days.
J
130,000 of them are identified by the
1990 census as white (some 13,000 of
these are Hispanic), approximately 13,000
as Asian (including Southeast Asians),
4,413 as African American, 1,694 asAmeri
can Indian, and 12,921 as “other” (mostly
Hispanic).
“This is not a hick town, dirty, hot, no
culture,” says Modesto mayor Dick Lang,
a long-time high school teacher and prin
cipal. Indeed, Modesto has its share of
big-city issues to cope with: an influx of
Bay Area commuters, Southeast Asian
refugees, forty active gangs; and crop fail
ures, plant closures and hiring freezes
which have swelled the ranks of the un
employed to 16 percent.
Adults all over the U.S. tremble to hear [the
words]: “There’s nothing to do.”
+
When the film was released in 1971, the
Modesto youth could still recognize their
own lives in the ones reflected on the big
screen. Jeff Podesto, now 32, was 11 or 12 at
the time. He lived in what he describes as an
all-Caucasian, classic, upper-middle-class
neighborhood.
“Cruising is what everyone did....Downey
High is Dewey High in American Graffiti.
That’s what it’s all about,” says Podesto who
now lives only six blocks from where he grew
Center: Modesto
mayor Dick Lang.
Top and Bottom:
Students hanging
around at Pearson
Elementaiy School.
“When I think of summer, youjust kind of
got up and went. It never seemed very struc
tured. You went over to your friend’s house
and rode down to the park....One thing
about Modesto, you can really get around
on a bike, not like the city—no hills or
traffic.”
Park activity counselors still supervised
games; swimming pools were free.
The parks were home base.
Podesto and his friends wouldjoin
an activity there, leave to “shoot
the [water]falls” in the irrigation
canals that run through town,
then head back to the park.
In 1970 Modesto had only
61,712 residents. “I’ll probably
always have a sense of Modesto as
a small town,” Podesto says. “But
there’s a lot of new Modesto out
there I don’t know.”
This “new” Modesto is home to
a culturally diverse population of
164,730 people (1990). More than
+
What does this mean for summer in
Modesto? In part it means tougher rules
and a search for new responses to that
youthful cry adults all over the U.S. tremble
to hear: “There’s nothing to do.”
In 1991, says Mayor Lang, the city put
the screws on cruising because it brought
in trouble-makers from out of town. At
the time, the city council brought a fulltime employee on staff to act as a youthservices advisor and find out what would
make the young people happy. (See the
Teens Speak column for a teen’s-eye-view.)
This type of commitment to youth and
children—with close ties between city de
partments, independent agencies, colleges
Continued on page 8
When AFDC Works
Immunization Irony
and
LOW-COST SUMMER FUN
I,
3,
____________I
CHiLDREN’S ADVOCATE
2
MAY/JUNE 1992
STAFF
Editor & Publisher
Marti Keller
Managing Editor
Karen Greene
Special Assistant to
the Publisher
Pam Elliott
Contributing Editor
Hedy Chang
Consulting Editor
Karen Sharpe
Copy Editor
Eric Pfeiffer
Contributing Writers
Since 1973
Greg Monfils
Volume XX Number 3
Angela Noel
Dan Ouellette
May/June 1992
Liz Harris
Administrative Assistant
Cynthia Holt
Nancy Cole
TABLE
I..
Editorial Interns
Mary Buelna
OF CONTENTS
Laura Nichels
1
Research Volunteers
Patty Overland
Gail Schorsch
SuIbvR IN “NEw” MooEsTo—SMAa-TowN TIEs AND A BIG Coitimmin io Youni: City
departments, colleges and independent agencies work together to make Modesto a
great place to grow up. By Karen Grrene and Marti Keller
Lea Delson
Design and Production
Canterbury Press
Printing
Mann/Sun Printing
3
Win’ WEu ADvocc’r is CRu*iur: Analysis: The “new paternalism” and the
rhetoric of reform.
Distribution
By F4zierniAllen
Jane Welford
Advisoty Board
Maria Campbell Casey
The Urban Strategies Council
Gsyneth G. Donchin
Consultant
Claude Duncan
Children’s Defense Fund
Louis Freedberg
Pacific News Service
Michael Freedland
Citibank
Asa Hilliard III, Ed.D.
Georgia State University
4
Ellie Journey
March of Dimes
Herb Kohl
Author & Educator
Don Marbury
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Holly Echo-Hawk Middleton
Children’s Home Society
Effie Lee Morris
California Library Services
Michelle Seligson
Center for Research on Women
Wellesley College
Sue Brock Toigo
Institute for Fiduciary Education
Board of Directors
Victor Rubin, Ph.D., President
Barbara Cannon, Ph.D., Vice President
Hazaiah Williams, Secretary
David Gancher, Treasurer
Gayle Davis
Ronda Garcia
Arnell Hinkle
Dana Hughes
Maryam Rashada
Richard Saiz
The bimonthly Chi1tirenc Advocate Newspaper
is published by Action Alliance for Children, a
not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization. Sub
scribers to the newspaper are members of
Action Alliance for Children. Support for this
publication comes in part from a California
State Department of Education (SDE) grant.
However, the opinions expressed herein do
not necessarily reflect those of SDE and opin
ions expressed by contributors or writers do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of this
paper. We reserve the right to refuse advertis
ing for any reason.
Childrens Advocate Newspaper assumes no
liability for products or services in its features or
ads. As this isacopyrighted publication, permis
sion to reprint material appearing on these
pages must be requested in writing.
Circulation
Children’s Advocate is available at select child
care centers, retail outlets, social service
organizations and public libraries throughout
California. It is also available by individual or
bulk subscriptions.
&
Rates
$l8foroneyear
$34 for two years
First-time subscribers $12 for one year
Samplecopiesareavailablefor$3 each. An index
of Children’sAdvocateis available for $1.50.
Children’s Advocate Newspaper
The Hunt House
1201 Martin Luther KingJr. Way
Oakland, CA 94612-1217
(510)444-7136
© Children’s Advocate Newspaper
ASSN 0739-45X
July/August 1992
Growing Up Too Fast Issue
Advertising Deadline
June 3, 1992
Tiw’iics
Barbie Doll and her Cambodian playmate
at the Paradise Community Bridge Prolect.
6
S*m’ N—Wii AFDC WoRics: Mothers on AFDC talk about
positive changes in their lives.
By Nancy Garcia
A TouGI1-TI?s
of fun.
10
FOR THE
GUIDE TO Sus.v.i FUN: Service-provider budgets may be smaller but summer days can still be full
By Gail Schorsch with Lea Delson and the Children’s Advocate staff
VACCINE RESEARCH ADVANCES, IMMUNIZATION
Rms
DEcuNE: We lack the social policy to immunize our children.
By MichaelAlcalay, M.D., M.P.H.
3
11
Limps
TO THE EDrrOR
TEENs pejjc
3
12
Fioib WAsIlIroN
FoR YOUR INFORMATiON
EDITOR’S
5
12
Mw.imiic THE MEDIA
CONFERENcE CALENDAR
9
12
BooK BAsIcEr
LiFEUNES
NOTE
Not unexpectedly, ChiIdrens Advocate met a lot of children and their families on the way to putting
this issue together. In the process of gathering our story on Summer in “New” Modesto we met kids from
the city of Modesto, the formerly small town where filmmaker George Lucas grew up, and which inspired
him to make his film about teens on the brink of leaving their childhoods behind. We had the delightful
opportunity to watch a kindergarten class at Pearson elementary school at recess, a multiethnic group
reflecting the 28 language groups represented in the Modesto City School District. We met the children
from the Rose Avenue School Latchkey Program at the end of their school day and at the end of a week.
Inside the portable classroom, a group sat together on a rug playing with small construction toys (the boys)
and, yes, Barbies (the girls). Each girl had her own plastic doll and at lst one outfit change.
This was not the case on the west side of town at the Bridge Project, an innovative services program
for Cambodian refugees and other residents of the housing project where it is located. Here, little gids
waited patiently for the chance to share the few donated Barbies and other toys that belonged, not to
them, but to the center.
The coming of summer only underscores the inevitable contrast between the children who can look
forward to camp and trips to amusement parks—and the children whose parents worry every day about
their safety as they are left to fend for themselves. The traditional three-month school holiday can mean
hours (perhaps too many hours) of cruising or mall-hopping, or they can mean, for a l4year-dd, that she
must work 40 hours a week to help the adults in her family pay the rent.
Having raised three children myself in the era of shrinking public dollars for summer programs, I know
well the frustration at having to piece together lowcost care arrangements and hoping the holes were not
too great. I remember the anxiety of phoning home in the middle of the afternoon, expecting to find my
children safe—and stuck—at home, and sad that on some days (and even for some weeks) they would
have no alternatives.
We commend Modesto for its commitment to children and for its realization that summer dollars for
children—Hn the form of supervised playgrounds and public pools—are well invested.
—Marti Keller
r
1992 Donors: Heart-felt thanks to Hazaiah Williams, Jane Husman, Kathleen
Crawford, Mildred Twining, Alice Powell, Kathryn Liston,Joan & Richard Haber,
Joan Marie Alexander, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, Ellie journey, Donald Fibush,
RR. Donnelley Printers, Victor Rubin, David Gancher, Susan Quinlan.
MAY/IUNF 1992
CHIIDRFN’.S ADVOCATF
2
FROM WASHINGTON
By Mar11 Keller
Leave No Child Behind: A Call to the Grass Roots
or the first time, the
Children’s Defense Fund
(CDF) held its yearly
conference outside of
Washington, D.C. Advo
cates and service provid
ers from around the country met in
Atlanta, Georgia, this spring to hear
about the deteriorating status of
American children, and to learn about
programs that are working—and pro
grams that could be if they were bet
ter funded.
Participants were sobered, inspired
and finally re-energized. Attendees
went back to their communities more
prepared, in the words of CDF presi
dent Marian Wright Edelman, to
“translate the awareness of child and
family crisis in this country into real
and sustained solutions.”
In past years, the conference’s
proximity to Capitol Hill andthe an
nual congressional lobbying day had
F
focused the battle of CDF’s tenacious
“army of fleas for children” within the
Washington beltway. In 1992, the move
to Atlanta hundreds of miles away sym
bolically shifted the struggle to its grass
roots.
Three key objectives:
a Healthy Start, a Head
Start and a Fair Start.
“We must make it un-American for
any child to have to grow up poor, or
without adequate health care, child
care, food, shelter or education,”
Edelman maintains. “It is clearer than
ever that America will have to be
changed by millions of people speak
ing up—changed from the bottom
up, not the top down.”
Edelman, daughter of
a Baptist minister, refers
frequently to her family
background which in
stilled ‘a living faith re
flected in daily service, the
discipline ofhard work and
a capacity to struggle in
the face of adversity” She
shares stories of how her
father, in response to seg
regated facilities, built a
canteen and a playground
behind his church, and
how her whole family
helped care for fragile eld
erly members. She now
writes letters to her own
three sons to communicate
the lessons she has learned,
and speaks eloquently
about a little boy named
Jason and the awesome
THESE FATHERS
ARE BEHIND
IN THEIR CHILD
SUPPORT.
Continued on poge4
Anas
-
By Edward Allen, Paczfic News Service
Why Welfare Advocacy Is Crumbling
nderlying the current
assault on the welfare
system is a strange les
son in politics: leaving a
bad policy in place may
sometimes be better
than trying to change it.
“We can’t construct a new welfare
system and we hate the one we’ve got,”
says Christopher Jencks, a sociologist
at Northwestern University in Chicago
and an expert on weifre reform. ‘There
seems to be no way to get anywhere
good in the long run without going
somewhere bad in the-short run.”
Under the banner of welfare re
form, many states, including NewJer
‘We can’t construct a
new welfare system
and we hate the one
we’ve got.”
sey and California, have proposed or
enacted extremely punitive measures
on welfare recipients. In the name of
meeting budget deficits, some 40 states
last year froze or reduced benefits for
the Aid to Families With Dependent
Children—the sharpest cuts in a de
cade. Even deeper cuts are expected
this year.
The common rationale for such cuts
is that soaring welfare costs are gutting
state treasuries. But money alone is
not the reason. While all the states are
struggling to cover budget deficits that
total more than $30 billion nation
wide, welfare benefits remain a nall
item. Only four states have cash ben
efit programs that exceed six percent
of the state budget.
The massiveness of the cuts—and
the punitive nature of the reform—
reflect a more basic change: the once
mighty machinery ofwelfare advocacy
is crumbling, even once-ardent reform
ers no longer believe in it. “No one
likes the system,” says Eugene Steurle,
an economist at the Urban Institute in
Washington, ‘The welfare recipients
don’t like it. The government doesn’t
like it. Taxpayers don’t like it.”
Across the political spectrum, there
is a remarkable consensus on what’s
wrong with welfare: by denying recipi
ents the right to work or to accumu
late savings without forfeiting their
benefits, the system traps the supposed
beneficiaries into long-term depen
dence on government checks.
To break that dependency, the 1988
Family Support Act instituted work
and education requirements designed
to foster self.sufflciency. Those welfare
-
4.
cI..&.,I.u %.-,,,,.. h.+.h,,d.ik.,t,
I,III.4,,..,II
Kidscan’tvotv. Ilutyou can. THECINLDHEWSDEFENSE FUND
CDF Campaign Poster
recipients who conformed to the re
quirements gained child care and ex
tended Medicaid benefits, but those
who refused were denied welfare.
This approach has been dubbed the
“new paternalism” and it is plagued by
many of the problems of the old sys
tem. Under the “old paternalism” wel
fare was treated as largess, and the
government policed the system to
-
The “new paternalism”is
plagued by many of the
problems of the dd system.
catch “welfare cheats” who earned
outside income. The new approach
has reconstituted welfare into a mas
sive behavior modification program,
with the government now attempting
to foster “work-oriented” behavior,
despite the fact that most of the avail
able jobs do not pay a living wage.
AsJencks argues, the new paternal
ism ignores the most obvious fact about
the welfare system. Most recipients
can’t survive on their meager monthly
checks, and are forced to earn outside
income and then hide it from the
authorities.
The obvious solution, he argues,
would simply be to legalize what al
ready exists and to allow welfare re
cipients to work. ‘If welfare was a
supplement to a low-wage job, it be
comes a perfectly reasonable amount
ofmoney in a lot of states, “Jencks says.
The New Jersey law, despite its puni
tive aspects, is unique in allowing wel
fare recipients to earn as much as 50
percent of their welfare payment in
outside income.
But the reality is that the rhetoric of
reform has helped to undermine what
ever political support the poor had in
the past. The Democratic Party, stung
by charges that its policies don’t help
the poor in any case, is busy reconsti
tuting itself as the ally of the forgotten
middle class.
Liberal advocacy groups, while op
posing cuts, have lost conviction.
‘None of us want to have the welfare
system structured the way it is,” says
Mark Greenberg of the Center on Law
and Social Policy in Washington. “Un
fortunately, when punitive cuts like
these come, we are forced into the
position of defending the system even
if we don’t particularly like it. We wind
up defending a system that- doesn’t
make a lot of sense.”
dwani Allen, the Washington editor of the
Paafic News Service, is currently wmplekng
his PhD Dissertation on US Policy Making
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
How can a person learn without teachers or schools? One can go to the library.
The Berkeley School District has decided to cut out all librarians and library clerks
except those at the junior high level. They plan to close all elementary school
libraries. Berkeley, with its reputation as a center of education, is sacrificing the
children’s education.
When schools were still teaching that Columbus discovered America, the
library had the facts aboul the genocide ofnative peoples. When schools were still
teaching the history of white males, the library had the facts about women and
minorities and their contributions. Ifyou cut out libraries, you cut people offfrom
the ability to teach themselves.
Sincerely,
Penny Peck
President, Association of Children’s Librarians
-
-
To the Editor:
I want to thank you for your article [March/April Children ‘s Advocate, Special
Intergenerational edition] on the San Francisco School Volunteer’s SEER
Program. You presented a comprehensive picture of the program.
In fact the San Francisco School Volunteers want to praise you for devoting
a whole issue to the intergenerational programs in our area.
Congratulations on a first-rate issue. Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Claire Herzog
SEER Project, Field Director
Comments on our articles or children s issues? Wnte Children .c Advocate, 1201 Martin
Luther King Jr Way Oakland CA 94612 Letters must be signed and include the
writ&sdaytime telephone number. Letters may be edited for publication.
-
4
CHtLDREN’S ADVOCATE
MAY/JUNE 1992
-
Thanks for the Safety Net:
When Aid to Families WOrks
1
t
4
/
O)e
Of
‘Ca.
k
0
“
.‘
t1f,
lQ
S
:,,
21
Cl
Co,
(6:9 h
‘‘ re
‘ui
<J.
i’(El
1
Pie
‘)
1s
By Nancy Garcia
Editors Note: California ‘c praposed wefare initiative—
The Government Accountabi1iy and Taxpayer Protection
Act of 1992 (and the package of bills containing the same
cuts recently defeated in the legislature) increases the list of
states considering “carrots and sticks” wefare reform. Un
der the reform plan introduced by California GovernorPete
Wilson in January, women and children receiving Aid to
Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) would face up
to a 25 percent cut in their monthly payment. Pregnant
women would no longer be eligible, and women bearing addi
tional children while receiving AFDC would not have their
payments increased. Teen mothers would be given a small
cash incentive to stay in school but would only be eligiblefor
assistance [ living with a designated responsible adult.
New Jersey Gou Jim Florio recently signed sweeping
AFDC “reforms”into law, making NewJersey thefirst state
to deny additional aid to women havingbabies afterjoifling
the program. Maine and Illinois are considering similar
restrictions. President Bush has endorsed measures that
would increase payments to teen parents who marry and
would also eliminate increased payments to poor women
who give birth to another child.
Sabra Burdick, former state we[are director in Maine,
who resigned her position to protest her states announced
w4fare restrictions, predicts that these kinds ofreforms will
only hurt children. “When women have an additional
child, they use the money to clothe that child, to diaper that
child. Without that money, I would assume that some of
those children will suffer”
lisa Roja has dreams for her daugh
ter, Ashley, a robust seven-year-old with
wavy hair and a gap-toothed smile. “I
want her to be able to go to college, to
have braces if she needs them, to go to
camp,” the Hayward mother says.
“Granted they’re material things, but they’re things
that make up your life.”
She also has goals for herself that go beyond
receiving support from AFDC, the federally man
dated program designed to protect children from
the extreme effects of poverty An initiative pro
posed for the upcoming November ballot that has
received the support of Coy. Wilson would cut grants
to recipients by as much as 25 percent.
Like the average AFDC recipient, Roja is a single
mother now 30 years old. She went on AFDC when
she was pregnant and unemployed at the age of 22.
E
“I couldn’t get a job being pregnant,” she says
during an interview in the one-bedroom condo
minium she and Ashley share with a female friend.
More than 1500 of the 2,266,000 Californians on
AFDC are children. Most of them, like Ashley, are
under the age of
10. Ashley’s fa
ther—a store
owner—never
paid the $370 in
monthly child
support
the
court ordered.
Roja receives
$530 a month for
herself and her
daughter from
AFDC and $137
a month in food
stamps. She pays
$425 a month
rent for a place
on the living
room couch with
her daughter
each night. “It’s
very hard to find
a place on my in
come with a kid,” she says. Only 9 percent of AFDC
families have subsidized housing, and Roja’s isn’t
one of them.
program to help her get off welfare—Greater Av
enues toward Independence (GAIN). According to
federal and state law, parents with children over the
age of three must register for this job-search train
ing, but there is not sufficient space for all who
qualify to participate. Funding is the problem.
“If there is not enough money for everyone,” says
Libess Holguin of Alameda County’s GAIN pro
gram, “the people taken first are those who ask to be
in the program.” In Alameda County, participation
in GAIN is mandatory for 18,018 people, but there is
only enough funding for less than 2,000 active par
ticipants.
“GAIN was probably the best thing that ever hap
pened in my life,” Roja says. She attended a threeweek job club that taught skills in writing résumés,
interviewing, job hunting and business dress.
Job club members then spent two weeks seeking
work. No one in her club found employment, so they
next underwent a day-long asessment andjob coun
seling session. Roja decided to train as a legal secre
tary. She found a program through the Hayward
adult school one week later.
She graduated in March. “I was a straight-A stu
dent,” she enthuses. “I loved it.”
“GAIN was probably
the best thing that ever
happened in my life.”
Roja says she wants to support her daughter and
appear “independent and strong.” She’s grateful
for welfare, but she also finds it embarrassing. “I feel
like I have to justify mysell like I’m a bad person
because I have to rely on it.”
In the winter of 1991 she was fed up and sought a
Continued on page 5
From Washington
From page 3
challenges awaiting him as he grows
up in the ‘90s.
During her visit to Atlanta, she vis
ited the neonatal intensive care nurs
ery at the public Grady Memorial Pub
lic Hospital, and recounted several
times during the conference her out
rage that in 1992 more than 10,000
Georgian children will be born too
soon or too small, when a relatively
modest investment in prenatal care
might have prevented it.
While some of the highest infant
mortality rates and some of the worst
childhood poverty can be found in the
shadow of the White House, there are
families living on the streets within a few
blocks of the Marriott Marquis and
other luxury hotels in downtown Atlanta.
During a break from the meeting, I
met a young mother, Shirelle, and her
two-year-old-son,Jahmal, searching the
taxi cab stands for the toddler’s father.
He had left them in a motel room a
few miles out of town. When she ran
out of money, they spent one night in
a homeless shelter. The strain of not
having shelter from early in the morn
ing until evening clearly had taken its
toll on her. By early afternoon, when I
met them, the little boy was exhausted,
wet and wailing. He only wanted to be
picked up. She only wanted to find the
man who had abandoned them.
When she asked me why I was visit
ing Atlanta, I told her I was attending
a convention of people who cared
about children. She asked me if she
went into the hotel where we were
gathered whether anyone could help
her. I had to tell her that I wasn’t sure.
Jahmal and his mother have become
for me what the real—or composite—
Jason is for Marian Wright Edelman.
When even the most horrifying statis
tics about America’s children become
numbing, the memory of meeting that
particular mother and baby compels
me to keep describing and support
ing efforts—to work towards the goal
of leaving no child behind.
The 1992 Children’s Defense Fund
Leave No Child Behind campaign has
three key objectives: that all children
receive a Healthy Start, a Head Start,
and a Fair Start. The Healthy Start
initiative calls for comprehensive and
continuous health insurance for all
children, starting with Medicaid cov
erage for all poor children and preg
nant women with incomes below 200
percent of the federal poverty line
($1.25 billion increase) and free dis
tribution of vaccines to all health pro
viders in the country to help assure all
children are fully immunized ($100
million increase). It also calls for in
creased funding for WIC, the Supple
mental Feeding Program for Women,
Infants and Children ($400 mfflion
increase).
The Head Start objective would
Continued on page 9
PERCENTAGE OF FULLY IMMUNIZED
TWO-YEAR-OLDS IN THE UNITED STATES
100
WHITE
100
90
90
80
80
70
70
60
60
50
50
40
40
30
30
20
20
10
10
0
1980
1985
0
NONWHITE
1
—pouO
•DTP
1980
1985
OTP = diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccines.
A spokesperson for the American Association of Pediatrics
(AAP) reports that in 1985 the U.S. government cut funding
for the collection of data represented here.
SOURCE: U.S. Immunization Survey, Centers for Disease Control
*
0
C
0
MAY/JUNE 1992
AFDC
CHILDREN’S ADVOCATE
5
Mothers
From page 4
She had never typed but worked up to 50 wpm.
She has gone out on interviews but hears that she
could benefit from more office experience or famil
iarity with legal procedures.
“It’s been so long since I’ve worked,” she says.
“GAIN really makes you feel good about yourself,
like you’re worth something, thatyou can actually do
this stuff”
Help for a Teen
Melody Kleckner also loves to work. The 17-yearold Concord mother enrolled in AFDC in Decem
ber, however; when she could not afford child care
while working 30 hours a week for $4.75 an hour and
completing high school.
“I could get help from
the government or I could
go to work at Toys R Us for
$4.75 an hour.”
Nearly 3 percent ofAFDC recipients are teenagers
raising their children without help from a mate, like
Kleckner. Her boyfriend is in a residential drug
rehabilitation program.
Kleckner’s younger sister, now 16, was placed in
foster care at age 10 because of mistreatment at
home. Forced by her stepmother to accept many
responsibilities at a young age, Kleckner says, she’s
worked since she was 13 years old. She met her
boyfriend, a 22-year-old laborer, three years ago.
After arguing with her stepmother about her boy
friend, Kleckner went to live with her grandmother.
When her sister said their father was going to give
custody to an aunt instead of letting Kieckner return
home, she ran away.
Kieckner cried when she discovered she was preg
nant because she had planned to get a scholarship
and go to college. In the end, rather than go into
foster care, Kieckner was able to live with her
boyfriend’s family in Concord and attend a schoolage mothers program in the neighborhood. “My
boyfriend’s parents are like the parents I never had,”
she says.
Kleckner petitioned for legal emancipation so
she could receive Medi-Cal. It was granted in. Octo
ber of 1990. She worked until she was eight months
pregnant, paying $150 a month rent for living space
in half the garage at her boyfriend’s parents’ house.
She also helped pay for food.
She used her free time while she was pregnant to
complete as many school requirements as possible
in the sellpaced teen-mother program. And when
her baby, Anthony Mares, was two months old,
Kieckner returned to work. She found ajob at Toys
R Us for $4.75 an hour
Since she quit herjob in December and went on
AFDC, Kleckner has received $535 a month and
$137 a month in food stamps, which she budgets by
stocking up on sale items. Recently, she found an
apartment for $430 a month. The $105 left over
from her monthly grant covers bifis and diapers.
She finds the prospect of trimmed benefits
through welfare reform frightening.
Kieckner keeps her home, furnished in cast-off
furniture, spotless. She is adjusting to privacy after
living in a three-bedroom home with eight people
from four generations.
“I like motherhood,” she says during a study break
at school while one-year-old Anthony plays with
other babies in the school nursery. However, “it’s
frustrating being a young mother. At home I was
never allowed to be a kid.
My sister and I had to
have everything done by the time my parents got
home.”
Seeing social workers involved with her sister
inspired her to become one too.
Through persistence, Kleckner was admitted to
the GAIN program this spring after hearing a pre
sentation at her school and calling repeatedly for an
interview.
Like Roja, she wants her child to be proud of her.
“I want my son to look up to me, [to say] ‘Yeah, my
mom did have me when she was young and every
thing but she didn’t let it stop her.’”
Kieckner has been a good student, isn’t proud of
being on welfare and hopes to quit AFDC as soon as
possible. (On the average, the Department of Social
Services reports, families rely on welfare less than
three years.) However, she says, “[I can either] get
help from the government to get my education, or
I can go [back to] work at Toys R Us.”
Through GAIN, she will have free child care
dunngjunior college and will be able to apply for a
.
.
.
year of transitional child care when she starts work.
Meanwhile, the school-age mothers program has
provided a nursery for Anthony three days a week
during classes and study periods.
This spring, she began taking math on Saturdays
at a junior college. “I wanted to feel I was already
starting my college education,” she says.
“We’re really impressed with Melody,” her high
school teacher Wendy Hershey reports. “She’s done
it almost all on her own.”
“She’s one of the lucky ones,” adds Terry Ander
son, a legislative analyst for state Sen. Dan
McCorquodale (D-Modesto). A 1989 Policy Analysis
for California Education (PACE) report estimates
three-fourths of pregnant and parenting teens who
need school programs are not being served.
Losing a Job on Maternity Leave
Keeva Harrison, a 39-year-old San Leandro mother,
has always worked, even in high school. She went on
AIDC when she lost her job in 1988 after returning
from maternity leave. She had started at a cardiology
consulting practice as a temporary file clerk, then
was hired as a bookkeeper. After a year of work, she
received a $50 raise just before her maternity leave.
But the head bookkeeper had also died, throwing
the office into turmoil.
A 1989 PACE report
estimates three-fourths of
pregnant and parenting
teens who need school
programs are not
being served.
She returned to the job after just four weeks of
maternity leave, although the state allows a mini
mum of six weeks disability following childbirth.
Upon her return, she was given a raise and promo
tion, but was pressured and then fired by a new
management consultant who, Harrison says, as
sumed Harrison hadn’t planned to return.
Continued on page 10
MINDING THE MEDIA
By Dan QUelleffe
Turn Off That TV! Selective Viewing
Television viewing tails off during
the summer in North America, prima
rily due to longer daylight hours and
the annual flood of reruns that hits the
airwaves. As a child, I was much more
interested in riding my bicycle up and
down the street until the mosquitoes
began their dive-bombing raids at dusk
than in retreating inside to watch my
favorite sit-coms which were already
programmed into the yearly repeat
cycle. But when summer began to lose
its zing, I’d often wander back to the
TV out of sheer boredom.
Children’s Television Resource
and Education Center
How can caregivers and the chil
dren they supervise deal with the sum
mer dilemma of television overindul
gence? “TV is such a powerful medium
that it doesn’t work to force your chil
dren to go without it,” says Parker Page,
president and founder of Children’s
Television Resource ana Education
Center; the San Francisco—based orga
nization that offers workshops to par
ents, teachers and community groups
on. the psychological and physical ef
fects television viewing has on chil
dren. “You don’t try to outdo TV but
you do limit the amount of time chil
dren spend in front of the set.”
Page recommends that caregivers
and children collaborate on setting
limits to time spent in front of the
television. Then he suggests using TV
tickets (pieccs oflaminated cardboard
that are worth one hour of televisionwatching time) for younger children
and a point system for older children.
(For example, one point is worth a
“You don’t fry to outdo
,butyoudo limit
the amount of time
children spend in front
of the set.”
halfhour time period and a child may
get 10 points a week to use.) Says Page,
‘This not only limits how much time
children spend in front of the televi
sion, but it also teaches them to be
selective viewers.”
When it becomes clear to children
that they’ll have limited access to the
T’4 Page says, caregivers can help them
Continued on page 8
Cookie Monster agrees to eat more nutritious foods after watching
KQEEYs Vacation Video.
S
I
ft
1
/
I
I
ummertime affords a unique opportunity for creativity fun and a different kind of learning than children ordinarily experience during the
school year. Children’s Mvocute spoke to many camp and other summer
service-providers to learn about their secrets in planning a successful season.
Their experience, commitment and creativity made this article possible. Without going anywhere at all, you can make your summer months inspiring with
countless projects and games to lift children (and yourself) out of the summer
heat! What follows are fresh ideas and perspectives on old ones (although many
of you may recognize some as pure oldies).
Without Going Anywhere at All
Children love to use natural materials for artsand-crafts projects. Here are just a few sugges
tions: printing projects (using recyclable mate
rial); painting with feet; creating flowers out of
tissue paper and pipe deaners; mask-making
with paper-mache using paint, shellac aid feath
ers (a real favorite). Also, make your own bin
oculars, birdcages, sun dials, or even a solar
oven made from cardboard and aluminum, if
you have a tape recorder, you can pop in a cassette of music or poetry with an
appropriate theme for inspiration. These projects go well with on-going
discussions of nature.
Dramatics: children can be involved in all aspects of theater production from
making sets, costuming stage managing and lighting to the more glamorous—
rehearsing and performing. They can even write the play. The actual perfor
mances can become fundraising or community-service events.
Create your own obstade course or gymnastic routines. You can hold a small
Olympics, putting the emphasis on personal best rather than on winning by
docking a child against his/her own previous score and rewarding progress
and effort.
Reading games were recommended by a number of people. One elaborate
system, follows the format used at the libraries in Berkeley and Oakland,
California. Give children their own board on which to keep track of books they
have read independently or which have been read to them aloud. (This
encourages parents of children who don’t read to participate in the games.) The
children may enjoy designing their own game boards. Over the course of the
summei they spin a spinner and move around the game board, winning prizes
as they proceed. Last year some of the prizes at the Berkeley library included
tickets to the Oakland A’s, shaved ice from Double Rainbow and books.
You may also want the children to write book reviews and put together a
guide each month in which they recommend their favorites to their friends.
(Younger children could dictate their book reviews if necessar)
Bonnie Fish of Camp Sierra reports impressive results with summer discus
sion groups. She assures summer service-providers that children love to talk
about their own experiences and often do not get enough of an opportunity at
home or at school. Topic recommendations indude growing up in a singleparent family (what does it feel like? what do you lose? what do you gain?);
racism and stereotyping (who does it? how? how does it make you feel? how
can/should you respond?); and the environment (what problems have we
created? how can we address them? what are you doing to help? what would
you like to do?).
In the low-pressure environment fostered by summer programs, even school
subjects can be fun. Children who understand a given subject can find a creative
way to present it to others. For example, they might lead their peers in building
bottle and cork rockets, which the group blasts off upon completion.
Outdoor gardening can be a great long-term project for all ages. Children
love to do the work, and it gives them a chance to start something and see it
throughtotheend. You canstart is pm dbyplantingseeds insmallcupsand
later transferring them
into the garden. Recom
mended vegetables inAt Your Local Libraiy
(
dude tomatoes, beans
Thanks to a recent study by the Youth-at-Risk
(they grow quickly and
Project sponsored by BALlS, Bay Area libraries are
very
high), corn and
services
libraiy
push
to
increase
special
making a
snap sugar peas but
to teenagers. Many libraries will arrange special
many others will work
programs for groups on a theme of choice: Malcolm
well too.
X, immigration or career options, for example.
At the main library in Berkeley, California, teen
You may want to in
agers make up a young adult advisory committee
vite an environmental
which reads and reviews books and music cas
ist or other spokes
settes. Any teenager can get involved. Youngsters 9
person to lead a discus
to 14 can volunteer in the library for an hour a day
sion
on the benefits of
through the Student Friends Progam. No-one will
organic farming to top
be turned away.
off this activity.
Other library services indude summer reading
Bringing profession
programs for youth and children, story hour, a
als of all kinds to your
great video collection and special events/perfor
mances for children preschool to age 13. Day care
location lets the chil
groups are welcome to performances and films
dren play host and
(reservations preferred).
learn new ideas on their
Oakland Public Library, Julia Odofin (510)
own turf. Consider
238-6706.
drama groups, artists,
Berkeley Public Library, Dawn Swenson,
authors of children’s
children’s librarian, (510) 649-3942 or Francesca
environmental
books,
Goldsmith, young adult librarian, (510) 649-3926.
and animal rights ac
-
I
‘
9
tivists, and representatives
Call in the Clowns
from your local humane soci
ety.
Make-a-Circus 3-part shows: company per
Do the children want to take
fonnance, workshops and “student”-partici
afieldtriporneedsportsequip
pation performance. At Bay Area parks all
ment, but there is no money?
summer. Free. Contact: (415) 776-8447.
Fundraising can be a memo
The “Animal Lady” will lead any size group
rable learning experience! In
of any age children in adventures investigat
come-generating activities can
ing everything from astrology to
whalewatching. Prices are on a sliding scale.
be combined with a consider
Ann Bushnell (408) 298-5221.
ation of the rewards of working hani—or about the spirit of
Young Performers Theatre, in addition to its
usual summer productions, offers one-time
giving. Deborah Schweninger
presentations by special arrangement. Pup
of the Brotherhood Way Jewish
petry, mime, stage combat and more. One
Community Center in San
show is usually $200-$250, but the fee is ne
Francisco suggests that chil
gotiable. You can charge admission if you
dren raise pledges of food and
want to use the performance as a fundraiser.
clothing for a children’s home
Contact: (415) 346-5550
less shelter or other social ser
Young Audiences in San Jose is an umbrella
vice organization. A children’s
for 24 different artists and ensemble groups.
Olympics, bingo, and a carni
Rates are $255-$350 per visit, which includes
val (with face-painting by kids,
two 45-minute performances. Contact:
an auction by adults) are just a
Suzanne Young at (408) 294-6991.
few of the ideas Schwernnger
came up with.
Some service providers like
to divide their summer into “theme weeks.” Examples include families (featuring
animals and humans); economics (from simple gift giving to big business); and the
environment (exploring the life of a plastic bag from birth to burial). Themes might
it
focus on a particular culture or a geographic area. The variations and combinations
of activities which can be used to explore them are endless.
Adventures Out and About
Every child loves a summer outing. And
they’re a great way to introduce a theme or tie
together the various strands of projects and
discussions nearing completion. Smaller budgets don’t have to mean giving them up. A
wide range of low-cost options await. We’ve
selected afewfrom the list of possibilities (parks,
museums, community sites), which offer free
or low-cost options.
CotuN1rY Smis: Outings to community
sites strum the heart strings, without straining at the purse strings. Some sugges
tions. recycling centers; factories and farms that produce products the children use
every day; a soup kitchen to help serve a ièalmeeting children from a different
part of town—or part of the country—for discussions, sports or other activities;
and disabled or senior citizen centers (with perhaps a crafts project all can do
together, or a completed one to give as a gift).
MuswMs (remember to call in advance for summer hours and special rates):
Junior Center of Art and Science in Oakland (Tamara Katsikas, 510-839-5777)
will arrange special one-time workshop or tours for groups up to 30 children,
including Lake Merritt bird-watching. Cost is free when grants are available; the
museum’s goal is to remain accessible to people with low-income.
The Oaldand Museum in Oaldand (510-238-3514) offers free admission, except
for special exhibits. For Oaldand groups, one-hour decent tours cost $10 or 50 cents
per student for groups of less than 20 people. Other groups should call for prices.
Theme tours on transportation, immigration and other topics can be arranged.
The Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, California (415-332-9646) is
-
JT
ifiustration by Lisa Cowden
Berkeley’s Tilden Park (510-525-2233), the Little Farm with its cows, sheep, goats,
chickens geese, rabbits and donkeys is open every day and is absolutely free.
Urban hiking makes a great alternative to the pursuit of “nature,” and you don’t
need a bus to get there. Treat the outing like a full-blown field trip, but walk around
1880. Admission is free but nothing moves without a coin (5 to 50 cents). It’s
open every day of the year.
Ahop skip and a jump away, the Camera Obscura (415-750-0415 or Manager
Marius Zaugg at 510-464-2067) provides a 360-degree panoramic and magni
fied view of the surroundings for only 25 cents a child ($1 for adults).
Children 16 and younger pay nothing to board the several historic vessels on
display at the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco (415-929-0202). Free, rangerled tours are available if reservations are made in advance. The Maritime
Museum, within easy walldng distance, is free too. The charge at the nearby
Pampanito Submarine at pier 45 is $1 per person for groups who reserve in
advance.
The admission-free Cable Car Museum in San Francisco (415-474-1887)
offers a 17 minute video. Recommended for children seven and older, the selfguided tour takes about 30 minutes (or longer if the children have a special
interest in mechanics).
The San Francisco Fire Department Museum at the Presidio (415- 861-8000)
is also free. It’s open Fridays and weekends and usually a city guide is present
to answer questions. Groups larger than 10 children should call for a reserva
tion.
Most local fire and police stations will give special tours of the facilities and
provide officers to speak to a group of children. A Headstart staff member
encourages these types of outings since they are always educational, often allay
fears about what the police and fire forces do, and expose children to issues of
prevention such as the 911 emergency number.
Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley (Marilyn Smith, 510-642-5134) has
special Wednesday afternoon programs, induding “Amazing Mazes” on June
24 in which children explore a human-size maze, make their own paper maze,
and dock the time it takes for a live rat to reach the end of a maze they created.
The group rate (for a minimum of 12 children) is $1 per child for ages three to
six and $2 for children seven and older. Reservations must be booked at least
one month in advance.
The Hall of Health in Berkeley (Ann Hurty 510-549-1564), sponsored by
Children’s Hospital of Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center, provides an
interactive learning experience at no cost. An activity booklet leads older
children through the exhibit with mini-quizzes and games. Groups should
make reservations two weeks in advance.
Small groups of children could visit local artists and craftspeople at work in
their studios. However, special arrangements (induding financial negotiations)
must be made on an individual basis with each artist. The anthropology
department at the California Academy of Sciences (June Anderson, 415-7507164) can recommend artists from various ethnic communities in the Bay Area.
ProArts (510-763-4361) in Oakland can recommend artists in its area.
NAmi tsD ENvwoMvIErsni. Tiu’s: A
visit to parks, beaches and trails can open the
door to dean-up projects and discussions of
environmental issues. In fact many sites offer
focused activities around ecology One is the
San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Interpretive Center in Newark, California
(510-792-0222). It provides a full afternoon of
programs on marsh ecology and area wildlife,
free of charge. Another is the Hayward Shore
line Interpretive Center (510-881-6751). Its
March/April newsletter calls for volunteers to help with its monthly shore bird
census.
Everything is free at Point Reyes National Seashore (Bear Valley Visitor’s
Centei 35 miles north of San Francisco, 415-663-1092). Aside from the miles of
beach and trails, you can visit the Morgan horse ranch; take a self-guided walk
and participate in the programs at Kule Ioklo Miwok Indian Village; stroll a
paved, wheelchair accessible, half-mile “Earthquake Trail” that teaches about
earthquakes; and much more. Call for reservations and guided tours. In
FOR Mozc
See the Summer Resource Book Shelf for idea-packed resources.
The Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, California, has compiled an
extensive list of Bay Area day trips—many free or low cost. Contact: Dave Kirshner,
(510) 548-2220.
The East Bay Regional Parks provides a comprehensive summer calendar for
opportunities in all its parks. Contact (510) 635-0135, or call the regional park
service near you.
Inside Contra Costa County: A Guide to Clubs and Organizations, by the
Contra Costa County Library and the Bay Area Information and Retrieval System.
With listings on everything from art to ethnicity this is a great place to start when
looking for experts to visit or invite. Contact (510) 646-6458.
Oakland Parks and Recreation 1992 Summer Funtimes Booklet. This 40 page
summer-program guide details the Department’s activities including their special
Summer Youth Rowing Program (scholarships available for groups). Contact
Barry Weiss (510) 238-2267.
.r
Sunburst Camp for Positive Kids
Sunburst.National AIDS Project provides a multidisciplinary therapeutic
summer camp program in California for HIV/AIDS children and their
families. Summer camp dates this year are July 3-10. Expenses are paid by
Sunburst. All application information is confidential. The deadline is June 3,
1992. Contact (707) 769-0169.
your own neighborhood. Arm the children with a check list of things to look for
(and look out for). How many different types of wildlife can they find? Architec
ture? Businesses? How many people did they see? What were the people doing?
Directed scavenger hunts give added purpose to the trek.
And to all of you engaged in the scavenger hunt for new ways to keep our
children engaged, have a great summer.
Share ideas of low-cost or free activities with your colleagues. Send them to Children’s
Advocate Newspaper, 1201 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland, CA 92162.
The Summer Resource Book Shelf
See our Book Basket for summer reading suggestions.
To find activities in your area, look for local Resource and Referral agencies under
Child Care in the yellow pages of your phone book or call the California Child Care
Resource and Referral Network (415) 882-0234.
Books of Activities, Outdoors:
Andrews, S., Bay Play: A Complete Guide to the Best Children’s Activities in the Bay
Area, CA: Conan Press, 1989.
Frommers, San Francisco with Kids, N.Y.: Prentice Hall Publications, 1992.
Haas, C., Backyard Vacatioiu Outdoor Fun in Your Own Neighborhood, MA: Little
Brown and Co., 1980.
Kegan, S., Places to Go With Children in Southern California, CA: Chronide Books,
1989.
Pomada, E, Places to Go With Children in Northern California, CA: Chronicle
Books, 1989.
Power, P., Touring the San Francisco Bay Area by Bicycle, Terragraphic, 1990.
Rockwell, R, Hug-a-Tree And Other Things to Do Outdoors With Young Children,
MD: Gryphon House, 1983.
Terwilliger Meyers, C., San Francisco Family Fun Book, CA: Carousel Press, 1990.
Zibart, R, Kidding Around San Francisco: A Young Person’s Guide to the City NM:
John Muir Publications, 1989.
F
Books of Activities, Indoors:
Benjamin, A., Teach Your Child Math: Making Math fun for the Both of You, CA:
Lowell House, 1991.
Blake, J., The Great Perpetual Learning Machine, MA: Little Brown and Co., 1976.
Caney, S., Steven Caney’s Play Book, NY: Workman, 1975.
Cassidy, J. and the Exploratorium, The Explorabook. A Kids Science Museum in a
Book, CA: Klutz Press, 1991.
Churchill, R, Amazing Science Experiences With Everyday Materials, NY: Sterling,
1992.
Cole, A., I Saw a Purple Cow and 100 Other Recipes of Learning, MA: Little Brown
and Co., 1972.
Hollingsworth, P., Smart Art, AZ Zephyr Press, 1989 (with teacher’s manuaL)
Hunken, J., Botany for All Ages, CT: Globe Pequot, 1989.
Kaye, P.:
Games for Learning, NY: F. S. G., 1991.
Games for Math, NY: Random House, 1987.
Games for Reading, NY: Random House, 1984.
Klimo, J. S., What Can I Do Today? A Treasury of Crafts for Children, NY: Random
House, 1971.
Lewis, B., The Kids Guide to Social Action, First Spiiit Publishing, 1991.
Maguire, J., Hopscotch, Hangman, Hot Potato and Ha Ha Ha: A Rule Book of
Children’s Games, NY: Prentice Hall, 1990.
Murphey, P., ed., Science Snackboolc Teacher Created Versions of Exploratorium
Exhibits, CA: Exploratorium, 1991.
Noveffi, J. and Chayet, B., The Kids Care BooIc 50 Class Projects That Help Kids
Help Others, MN: Scholastic Professional Books, 1991.
Owl Magazine editors, Summer Fun: A Book Full of Things to Do in
Warm Weather, NY: Putnam Publishing Group.
Raines, S., Story Stretchers, MD: Gryphon House, 1989.
Salmon, L, Applause!: Activities for Building Confidence Through Dramatic Arts,
AZ: Zephyr Press, 1992.
Sattler, R, Recipes for Art and Craft Materials, NY: Lothrope, Lee and Shepard, 1987.
Wilkes, A.:
My First Green Book, NY: Knopf, 1991.
My First Garden Book, NY: Knopf, 1991.
Thanks to Cody’s Books, Berkeley, CA; Cover to Cover, S.F., CA; Bookpeople, Oakland,
CA; the San Frandsco Public Library; the Berkeley Public Library; and the many Bay
Area service providers who shared their ideas with us.
rnsrsz3mwarrs,.mrm-.
-
I
I
r
‘I’
F
8
CHILDREN’S ADVOCATE
MAY/JUNE 1992
Summer in Modesto
From page 1
and businesses—recalls the American Village of an
earlier era.
Turning the Latch-Key
These days for a growing number of Modesto
elementary school children, the middle of June
does not mean the beginning of three long free
months. Out of 23 elementary schools in Modesto
City School District, 5 are currently on year-round
Over 20 years, commitment to
free low cost programs
has remained.
schedules with 3 more scheduled to be added inJuly.
And last year; 1,500 children participated in Modesto’s
half-day summer remediation and enrichment pro
gram.
In many ways it is easier to find child-care solutions
for children who do have the regular three-month
break, says Judy Butterfield, Child Care Develop
ment Coordinator for the Stanislaus County Office
of Education Child Care Resource and Referral
service. The city’s second highest priority for Federal
Child Care and Development Block Grant funding is
before- and after-school care. But families of all
incomes may have trouble finding child care for
children who need care less than full time or for a
child whose schedule changes over a year. Even
when there are vacancies in day-care centers and
homes—and parents can afford them—providers
may not be able to afford to take the slot away from
a full-time charge.
The Modesto City School District operates eight
latch-key programs during the regular school year,
consolidating down to five school sites in the sum
mer. The programs run all day in the summer, providing
both structured and unstructured active play.
Program directorJudy Drobnick reports there are
currently 150 students on the waiting list for the
existing latch-key programs, and another 100 stu
dents are waiting for programs to open up at other
schools.
Four years ago, Drobnick used some latch-key
rollover funds to run a five-week summer activities
program for 200 chii4i-,en at one school site. It was
available to all families, regardless of whether the
parentwas working, attending school, injob training
or at home. She would love to run a program like this
again if funding were to come available.
Who is taking care of the rest of Modesto’s schoolage children in the summer? Siblings, neighbors,
Minding the Media
From pageS
develop a mutually-agreed-upon list
of alternative activities. ‘A study was
done once on 24 incredibly creative
people,” Page notes. “The research
ers did profiles of the families as well
as asked the subjects how they spent
their time when they were
young....The researchers concluded
that creativity is enhanced by chil
dren overcoming a sense of bore
dom to actively discover new things
to do.”First, they have to turn off the
lv.
KQED’s Vacation Video
This may sound hard to believe,
but the San Francisco Public Broad
casting Service affiliate KQED, Chan
nel 9, actually encourages children
to shut off the TV set chjring the
summer and to go out into the com
munity and explore what it has to
offer. Once again, this summer KQED
will be publishing Vacation Vi&o, a
children’s magazine of activities that
is loosely tied to the station’s summer
video programming.
Theresa Harrington, manager of
Vacation Video, says that this is the 16th
year the station has been providing a
relatives and, of course, parents who aren’t working
outside the home.
Twelve- to fourteen-year-olds—that hard to pin
down, hard to classif’ age group—can work as volun
teers in the Latch-key program. They’re treated like
adult volunteers, signing in on their own. Older
teens work for pay through the Modesto City School
District’s Summer Youth Employment and Training
Program (Summer Youth).
Parks and Rec in the 1990s
Because the 23 parks run by the Modesto Parks
and- Recreation Department are neighborhoodbased, neighborhood school-site programs are able
to take advantage of the facilities. All children are
welcome to the wide variety of no-cost and lowpriced activities. Last year alone, the network of
parks provided organized activities for approximately
10,000 people.
“Over 20 years
even following Proposition 13
(the mandated cut in state and local tax revenues),
“the commitment to free and low-cost programs has
full, daytime, summer line-up of edu
cationally oriented programs targeted
to children from pre-school through
high school. “Vacation Video was insti
tuted as a result of the passing of Prop
osition 13, which closed many sum
mer school programs in the commu
nity,” she explains. “KQED decided to
expand its school-year instructional
television programming into the sum
mer and offer new resources to chil
dren.”
This year’s edition of Vacation Video
magazine, available free in local librar
ies in late May or early June, pays
special attention to the 1992 Summer
Olympics and focuses on the themes
of health and firness, nutrition and
geography. In addition to readings and
activities, the book includes several
informative resource boxes listing
places in the community children and
their caregivers can visit to follow-up
on TVprogramming. Announcements
on the TV programs themselves offer
additional ideas.
Harrington encourages children to
join Vacation Video’s free Action Kid
club; participants receive a member
ship card, stickers and discount cou
pons, and have the opportunity to be
come pen pals with children from
remained,” says Linda McDermott, Parks and Rec
program director.
Each park, McDermott explains, has a shallow
training pooi for children under 12. The six public
pools located on high school and community col
lege campuses are open weekday afternoons. Admis
sion hasjust been raised from 35 cents to 75 cents a
day, butbeginning lessons are provided free ofcharge
by the Modesto Irrigation District. Supervised activi
ties are offered in the parks free, from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. weekdays.
Compared to many towns with smaller overall
budgets or which require that parks and recreation
departments implement stringent cost-recovery or
pay-as-you-go programs, activities that do carry a fee
are very inexpensive. A day-camp program, for ex
ample, is available through the Boy Scouts for $32 a
month. (In San Anselmo, Mann County California,
day camp costs $125 for a one-week session.)
On Modesto’s lower income west side, Parks and
Rec runs the King Kennedy Center, which offers
teen clubs and support groups for girls 13 to 15 years
old, and the Maddox Youth Center, which offers
basketball, weightlifting, martial arts and a pool table.
As popular as those programs are, what teens
really want to do, says Parks and Rec supervisor Sam
Dickerson, is bungee-cord jumping off the Ninth
Street or Red Lion bridges.
Unreasonable requests aside, here on the west
side, there are a few holes in the Park and Rec
network. The attempts to close up those holes offer
a remarkable example of the cooperation between
city departments and independently funded organi
zations serving Modesto youth and children.
Bridging the Gaps
Carla Emig is program director of the Paradise
Community Bridge Project, a countywide commu
nity center bringing social services to the southeast
asian refugees and others who live near the lowincome apartment complex where the Bridge is
housed. Emig explains there are two reasons why the
predominantly Cambodian refugee children she
works with don’t use the nearby James Marshall
Park.- First,—if a fee is charged for activities, parents
who have more than one child and can’t afford to
send them all, send none. Second, a supervisor is
present only occasionally, she says. When there is no
supervisor, people hanging out make the park un
safe for kids.
Ossiel Ramierez, community liason officer for the
Stanislaus County housing authority, is beginning a
similar Bridge project in a predominantly Hispanic
apartment complex. At present, Ramierez reports,
except for the canals, there is no place nearby to
swim. However, a plan (which has been on the
drawing table for the past 25 years) to build a park
with facilities has just been given the green light by
Continued on page 11
stresses practice, recommends stop
ping the tape and replaying sections
for clarification, and warns viewers:to
never give away the secret of the tricks
to their audiences.
The second video I came across was
one that I wish I would have been
exposed to when I was younger. Kids
Guitar (Homespun Tapes), a beginfling course on how to play the guitar
by folk singer Marcy Marxer is a de
lightful, 10-lesson course for elemen
tary-school to middle-school children.
I had always wanted to learn how to
play the guitar when I was younger.
Marxer’s video lessons would have been
the perfect solution to a string of bor
ing summers when the only thing I was
passionate about was listening to music.
The last video I checked out of the
Berkeley Public Library was the excel
lent Baseball... The Right Way—Hitting
for Kids (Hirshberg Productions, dis
tributed by Rainbow Home Video), a
30-minute training progam on
MAY/iUNE 1992
CHiLDREN’S ADVOCATE
BOOK BASKET
9
By Corinna Pu
Prize-winning Choices for Summer Reading
Jn
addition to their usual programs, many libraries hold reading games—with prizes-for children
and
young adults during the summer. Whether you bring the children in your care to the library to play
games or create your own, here are some suggestions guaranteed to spur the players’ spirits. I hope they
will inspire all who read them to enjoy summer, to read, to write and become artists. (See our ToughTimes Guide to Summer Activities, this issue, for details on the games.)
• Mi Sugar Came to Town or La Visita del Senor
Azuazr; adapted by Harriet Rohmer and Cruz Gomez,
Spanish by Rosalma Zubizarreta, illustrated by
Enrique Chagoya (originally a Mexican puppet play).
Grandma Lupe is the best cook in town. The neigh
borhood children delight in her famous tamales.
One day, a charming wagon decorated with sweets of
all kinds rolls into town with Senor Azucar in the
driver’s seat. The children toss Grandma Lupe’s
tamales to the dogs and flock around Mr. Sugar, a
kind looking man who allows them unlimited
amounts of sweets. They turn into fat, lazy slobs who
fall asleep in class and no longer have the energy to
play. It’s up to Grandma Lupe to save the town from
the unnatural sweetness ofSenorAzucar. (Children’s
Press, San Francisco and Emeryville, 1989, ages
6—12, $12.95)
• Pepitoc Story, written and illustrated by Eugene
Fern. Pepito feels that his desire for dance is silly
when the children of the town laugh at him. But
when he befriends Estrellita, a loneLy and sick girl,
he learns the meaning and truth behind his
grandmother’s words: “If every child were like every
other, you wouldn’t know who was your sister or
brother. And if every flower looked just the same,
‘Flower’ would have to be each flower’s name.”
(Yarrow Press, New York, 1991, ages 4—9, $14.95)
• A Wave in Her Pothet Stories From Trinidad by
LynnJoseph, illustrated by Brian Pinkney. While the
stories ofmystery and superstition unfold, the reader
glimpses the beautiful landscape, magical seaside
towns and changing seasons of the West Indies. The
illustrations use a distinctive black-and-white
scratchboard technique. A wave in your pocket is a
cherished thing—person or object—that you keep
close to your heart. You’ll want to tuck this wave
somewhere safe and close to you. (Clarion Books,
New York, 1991, ages 8—16, $13.95)
• How the Stan Fell to the Sky, a Navajo Legend,
adapted by Jerrie Oughton, illustrated by Lisa
Desimini. This creation story seeks to explain the
confusion that dwells among the people of this
world. In its simplicity and magical illustrations, it
achieves the sophistication and allegorical impact
many children’s books lack today. The story begins
when the first woman is left alone with the task of
visibly displaying the laws of the land for all to see.
Minding the Media
From page 8
Robinson leads the sessions on proper
stance, stride and stroke. Not only will
youngsters, beginners or advanced,
find them invaluable, but! found my
self taking notes to improve my hitting
for the adult softball team I play on.
The video is a valuable resource for
boys and girls (one of the participants
in Robinson’s clinic is a young girl).1
Patiently and with tremendous care, she individu
ally positions each of her jewels, millions of glis
tening stars, in the sky. Wolf comes along and
offers to help. He soon grows impatient with
the whole process and flings the entire bundle
of stars into the sky, so that each fall in place
without guidance or love. (Houghton Mifilin,
New York, 1992, ages 4—12, $14.95)
• Atuk, adapted by Mischa Damjan,
illustrated byJozefWilkon. Atuk is a story
of making irrevocable mistakes but find
ing the strength to forgive oneselL Atuk
convinces his father to allow Taruk, his pet
husky, to join in a seal hunt. The father comes home
with news of Taruk’s death: he has been killed by the
Arctic wolf. Atuk spends his childhood thinking of
revenge. After fihally killing the wolf, Atuk realizes
the pointless murder, and the lost years of hate and
revenge he endured. The color and mood of the
illustrations progress powerfully as young Atuk makes
dramatic revelations. The message is one of hope.
(North-South Books, New York, 1964, illustrations
1990, ages 8—15, $13.95)
• Anansi Goes Fithing retold by Eric A. Kimmel,
illustrated by Janet Stevens. This is a very humorous
and clever story about Anansi, a spider; who tries to
trickTurde into teaching him to fish. Turtle explains
when fishing by himself he makes the net and gets
tired. But since there are two of them, one can make
the net as the other gets tired. Anansi opts to do the
hard work so he will not get tired. The harder Anansi
works, the more tired Turtle gets. When they finally
catch a fish, Turtle says that usually he eats and gets
too full, but since there are the two of them, one can
eat while the other gets too full. Will Anansi fall for
the same trick? (Holiday House, New York, 1992,
ages 6—12, $14.95)
• Traveling to Tondo, a Tale f the Ukundo c( Zaire
retold by Verna Aardema, illustrated by Will
Hilenbrand. Verna Aardema won the Caldecott
Award for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in Peoples Ea,c. She
proves her ingenious storytelling abilities here as
well. Bowane the feline is getting married. He asks
his friends the pigeon, python and tortoise to accom
pany him. Thejourney takes forever as the mindless
quartet makes pointless stops and detours. Aardema
points out the downfafls of too much consent among
friends. For
example, they wait
years for a log to rot so tortoise can crawl over it.
When they finally arrive at the bride’s town, will she
still be waiting? (Alfred A. Knopf, New
• Dream Catcher; retold by Audrey Osofsky, illus
trated by Ed Young. This lyrical story is from the
Ojibway Indians who wove nets and placed them
over a babies heads to protect them from harmful
dreams. The intent was that when the babies awoke,
all bad things would be captured by the net. The
book describes a baby’s visions: his mother, moving
mysteriously over him as he teeters in and out of his
dream world. A stunningly beautiful achievement
both in text and art. (Orchard Books, New York,
1992, ages 8—12, $14.95)
• Diego, byjeanette Winter, English text by Jonah
Winter; Spanish translation by Amy Prince. A bilin
gual, colorfully illustrated book briefly telling the
story ofMexico’s renowned artist, Diego Rivera. The
author’s illustrations are a wonderful tribute to the
artist’s work, detailing in charming ways the rich
traditions of Diego’s beloved Mexico. It is a celebra
tion of and search for art in the classical tradition of
children’s literature. Diègo won the 1992 Parents’
Choice Award. (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1991,
ages 5—12, $13.00)
Co,inna Pu teaches writing and public speaking at
theUniversity of Cakfornia at Bei*eley. She is the editor of
Asian Insights m€ga.zine.
From Washington
From page 4
ensure that every eligible child can be
enrolled in Headstart, the compre
hensive school-readiness program for
low-income preschoolers. Congress is
being asked to pass legislation that
would provide adequate funding for
Headstart, without diminishing the
quality of the professional staff ($2.1
billion increase) and to increase sup
port for federally subsidized child care
($100 million increase in Child Care
Development Block Grant).
The Fair Start objective calls for the
Congress and the President to create a
strong economic foundation for fami
lies with children. According to CDF,
the foundation must include a refund
able tax credit that provides a modest
basic amount for each child to every
family with children; a more aggres
sive child support insurance system;
job creation coupled with a more ad
equate minimum wage ($340 more
forJob Corps); and expanded resources
to ensure that families are strength
ened and preserved. ($326.1 million
increase in Family Preservation/child
welfare and $50 million increase in the
Family Reunification Program, which
helps at-risk families stay together by
providing housing assistance).
To explain and promote these ef
forts, CDF has embarked on a public
information, media and grassroots
campaign with materials including
print and broadcast advertising, fact
sheets, sample newsletter boxes, and
sabbath inserts. Individuals are being
urged to register and vote, meet with
people running for elections, speak
out for children at candidate forums,
and write letters to the editor.
•
10
CHILDREN’S ADVOCATE
MAY/JUNE 1992
THE DOCTOR IS IN
By Michael Alcalay, M.D., M.P.H.
Vaccine Research Advances, Immunization Rates Decline
ew and improved child
hood immunizations are
coming up fast and furi
ous with no signs of let up.
One recently approved
vaccine is eliminating men
ingitis in the young. Another against
chicken pox will be available early next
yeai Almost 20 years ago an extensive
inoculation effort by the World Health
Organization succeeded in essentially
wiping out smallpox from this planet
(with the exception of a few tightly
secured research labs).
Today, many practicing pediatricians
have never seen a case of tetanus, diph
theria or congenital rubella. The last
case of domestically contracted polio
in the U.S. occurred more than 10
years ago.
Andnow infants are being routinely
immunized against the major cause of
meningitis and septic arthritis in child
hood. The vaccine is called Hib (for
the bacteria Hemophilus influenza
type h). A second generation Hib vac
cine was approved by the Food and
Drug Administration in 1990 and is
now part of the routine immunization
schedule, which includes the DPT
(diptheria, tetanus and pertussis) and
polio vaccine that starts at two months
of age. The Hib vaccine study was the
first major research study out ofKaiser
Permanente’s Vaccine Study Center.
The Bay Area is now a major center
for new vaccine studies; the Hib study
is the largest one since polio, says
Henry Shinefield, co-director of the
vaccine center and chair of the pediat
ric department at San Francisco Kai
ser. The final Hib study, involving
150,000 infants in both California and
AFDC
Finland, found the vaccine to be at
least 95 percent effective after two
doses, 100 percent effective after three.
Kaiser is in the midst of testing a vac
cine against chicken pox (or varicella)
in its various pediatric clinics in the
Today we lag behind all other indus
trialized countries in the rates of im
munized children. Insufficient federal
funding for vaccine programs during
the past dozen years is the main rea
son for this life-threatening problem.
RECOMMENDED SCHEDULE OF IMMUNIZATIONS
2 months old
1st DTP, OPV, Hib
4 months old
2nd DTP, OPV, Hib
6 months old
3rd DTP, Hib
15 months old
4—6 years old (school entry)
Adults and teenagers (every 10 years)
1st MMR, 4th DTP, 3rd OPV, 4th Hib
5th DTP, 4th OPV, 2nd MMR
Td (Tetanus-Diptheria)
OPV—Oral Trivalent Polio Vaccine
DTP—Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis
Hib—Hemophilus Influenza Type b Conjugate Vaccine (HIbITIER is used for children under 15 months
of age.)
MMR—Measles, Mumps, Rubella
‘A second dose of MMR vaccine is recommended for all persons born in or after 1957 who never had
physician-diagnosed measles disease.
“Questions? Call your nearest Health Department.
Information provided by the Contra Costa County Health Services Department.
Bay Area. The Japanese first devel
oped a varicella vaccine in 1974. The
long delay in getting the vaccine out in
the U.S. is mainly due to problems
that developed with large-scale batch
production. But Shinefield says that
by the beginning of next year children
will be able to avoid this most contagious
of childhood communicable diseases.
As these major new weapons against
childhood disease become part of the
preventive health arsenal, more and
more health-care workers are con
cerned that the many vaccines we al
ready have are not getting out to our
children. This was most dramatically
shown with the measles outbreaks that
began in 1989. A vaccine against
measles was first licensed in 1963; by
1983 measles was considered a vanish
ing problem in the U.S. with less than
1,500 reported cases that yeai Yet we
have just recovered from a major re
surgence of measles with epidemics
that began three years ago in Califor
ma, Texas and Mexico. More than
50,000 cases have been reported
among preschoolers resulting in 100
deaths. The major cause of the recent
measles epidemic was simple to find:
the large number of unimmunized
preschoolers.
Coupled with the increase in the num
ber of both poor and homeless chil
dren, the 12 million American chil
dren who have no health insurance
and the decline in publicly funded
health clinics, the unimmunized child
is becoming a sign of the times.
a maternity discrimination investigation.
The original staff at her old office
had all left, and Harrison began to
accept that she would just have to
overcome the setback on her own.
“I was a single parent, but I was a
working parent,” she says about her
days before AFDC. Five years ago, she
earned $1,700 i month. “Now,” she
says, “1 can’t even get back to square
one because the job situation is so bad.”
She is brushing up computer skills
through GAIN and has overcome
much of the self-doubt engendered by
her situation. Always considered a good
employee, she also realizes how much
she was wronged.
“I feel like going to my old office and
saying,’. I’m a statistic now because
of you. I had astable job.’”
Her daughter, four, shares the single
bedroom in their apartmentwith a sixyear-old sister. Through GAIN,
Harrison has found trustworthy child
care nearby while going back to school.
She once had a sense of future, and
she looks forward to regaining that
when she returns to work. “It’s not fun
being on welfare,” Harrison explains.
•
“You just live from day to day.”
National Immunization
Campaign Hotline
(800) 525-6789.
Vera Labat is on the frontline in the
battle to get the most vulnerable group
of children immunized. She’s a public
health nurse and consultant for the
Berkeley school system and the one
who carefully evaluates the immuniza
tion records of all the preschool chil
dren in the district. Labat is finding
the number ofunimmunized children
growing. From her perspective,
homelessness is the most visible bar
rier to immunization. But just as im
portant are what she calls “dysfunc
tional parents,” many on addictive
drugs, and the large, growing popula
tion of immigrant children from
Mexico, SoutheastAsia and Chinawho
may or may not have received immu
nizations.
Mothers
From page 5
(Harrison’s medical benefits were even
canceled during her leave.)
Harrison had checked her iights be
fore the leave with the State Labor
Commission, and learned she had the
right to return to work following deliv
ery. Unemployment insurance officials
ruled she wasn’t fired for cause and
granted unemployment insurance pay
ments for six months. She was also
referred to the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The next year plunged her into trag
edy. Five members of her family died:
parents, siblings and a grandmother.
When she resurfaced a year later, she
discovered the EEOC hadn’t pursued
.
.
Nancy Garcia is afreelance wrzter based in
Pleasant Hill, California. She writes on
health an social policy issues.
These same children are at high risk
for contracting two potentially seri
ous, but preventable diseases: tuber
culosis and hepatitis B. Periodic TB
skin-testing is the key component to
stopping the spread of a disease that
has always been associated with pov
erty and overcrowding. With hepatitis
B, a viral infection of the liver, 15
percent of cases occur in children,
most ofwhom get their infection from
their carrier mothers. A genetically
engineered, very effective hepatitis B
vaccine has been available for 10 years.
Its high cost has been the main barrier
to its use. However, there is a recent
push by the U.S. Public Health Service
to reduce the almost 300,000 reported
annual cases of hepatitis B by starting
the three-dose regimen at birth. This
summer San Francisco launches a fed
erally funded, three-year pilot project
that each year will immunize all of the
city’s estimated 14,000 newborns.
The list of new vaccines moving into
the testing pipeline is growing and
includes vaccines against rheumatic
fever, several diarrheal diseases, ear
infections, gonorrhea and even ma
laria. By the end of this decade an
AIDS vaccine will certainly also be part
of our arsenal.
The irony is that while we have the
science policy to lick the microbial
threats that face us—the infectious
diseases that make life miserable for
everyone on this planet—we lack the
social policy to effectively distribute
the immunizations and health care
that are the fruits of our technological
advances.
Mike Alcalay is a pediatrician at Kaiser
Pennanente Hospital in Walnut Creek,
California and a producer of AIDS in
Focus, a weekly national radio news maga
zineonKPFA.
MAY/JUNE 1992
CHILDREN’S ADVOCATE
11
TEENS SPEAK
By Gina Angelo
American Graffiti Revisited: Summer Life After Cruising
odesto, California.
During the school
year the life of a teen
ager is divided up
among school, home
•work, extracurricular
activities, friends and work. After ev
erything is finished in a teenager’s
busy school day, little time remains to
worry about boredom. But when sum
mer strikes, it is a totally different ball
game.
A student cannot walk the halls dur
ing the final weeks of school without
hearing about big summer vacations
to some far off land. In truth, when
living in a small town, the common
goal of teens usually is to leave.
“Being in a small city, you have to
depend on going to the big cities,” says
Andira Fara, a Modesto teen who is a
senior at Downey High School in
Modesto, California. “It is nice to live
in a small town as long as you can go to
the big cities for fun.”
Most teenagers, though, lack the
finances and resources necessary to
make the big trek to the great beyond.
Thus, the bulk of teens must find more
creative means to cope with the small
town blues.
“It is nice to live in a small
town as long as you can
go to the big cities for fun.”
Some students have found less ex
pensive ways to enjoy places out of
town. With the recession it is becom
ing more and more common for fami
lies, even those who normally go on
extravagant trips, to make short visits
to interesting sites within the state.
“We go to the lake,” says Devana
Aguilar, a Central Valley teen who has
stopped going to school. “Wejust swim
and lay out in the sand.”
“There is nothing to do in Modesto,”
says Betsy Inglima, ajunior at Downey
High School. “We usually go to Tulloch
Lake and water ski.” The lake is about
30 minutes outside of Modesto by car,
but some teens ride their bikes.
Tulloch and Don Pedro lakes, along
with Modesto and Turlock reservoirs,
have literally become the “places to
be” for many area teens. They offer a
fun atmosphere for students to escape
the monotony ofhome, be with friends
and enjoy the sun.
National and state parks are also
places teenagers visit for a change of
pace. Students go on hikes or just
Child Support Reduces
State Welfare Expenditures
Child support payments help reduce
state welfare expenditures, accord
ing to a new report by Children
Now. For the Sake of the Children:
California’s Child Support system Status
and Recommendations for Change
indicates that each dollar invested
by
observe nature in all its glory at
Yosemite National Park and Knights
Ferry Park. The added perk is that
they cost next to nothing.
Other teens utilize the resources at
home. Modesto’s mall is much more
than a place for “shop till you drop”
fanatics. It draws most teens by the
mere fact that they cannot go there
without running into someone they
know. Kids can spend hours looking
around, talking to friends and getting
something to eat. More than anywhere
else in Modesto, the Vintage Faire Mall
is the place most teenagers hang out.
“Ijust hang outwith friends andjust
basically chill,” says Amy Switzer, ajun
br at Davis High School.
During the summer there are also
several big events in Modesto that teens
look forward to. Graffiti Nite became
a Modesto tradition after George Lucas
made his popular film American GraJ
fiti. Every summer, cars of all shapes
and sizes strut their stuff on the
Mdllenry strip. At night there’s a con
cert of ‘50s and ‘60s music.
Two other holidays get teens ex
cited in the summer: The Fourth of
July and Modesto a la Carte. The
Fourth ofJuly features a parade with
marching bands and Miss River Bank,
among other beauty queens. There’s a
picnic/fair during the day and fire
works at night Most of Modesto is
there; the whole street is lined with
people. At Modesto a la Carte teenag
ers and adults alike sample fine food
from local restaurants. It’s almost like
a carnival with car shows, performing
artists and musicians.
Concerts at Graceada Park are a
longer-running summer activity. Once
a week, for most of the summer, small
local bands perform low key outdoor
concerts. High school students go to
gether in big groups, bring blankets
and picnics and spend the evening
listening to live music.
Still some teens have encountered
difficulty in finding contentment in
Modesto. “I love Modesto,” says 17year-old Tina Krueger. “It is a small
enough town that it is not impersonal,
and people are still friendly, but it
lacks one major thing. There are no
real programs or places for teens to
go. There aren’t too many places that
we can consider ‘hang-outs.’ I think
that’s why a lot of kids end up partying.”
The only places teenagers go regu
larly, other than the mall, are Mel’s
and Lyon’s restaurants. Teens also go
dancing at the Pavilion if they meet
the age requirement of 17 years old.
Teens used to spent their weekends
K,,
Teenager Chiminh Koester shopping at Vintage Faire Mall, Modesto, CA.
cruising. You could not drive down
McHenry without it taking 45 min
utes. It was just packed with people.
But the city banned cruising in May of
1990. Teens still complain a lot about
it. Since then, they say, it’s harder to
find things to do.
Many teens have become frustrated
with the limitations of a small town.
There is only so many times a person
can beat a video game and play Putt
Putt before it starts getting old. Even
going to the movies gets boring after
a while.
The drawbacks of a small town are
sometimes much more serious than
just boredom. Some teenagers who
are trapped in Modesto without school
or work to fill their hours find less
productive, sometimes destructive, fill
ers of time.
“I have some friends that are part of
the gangbanger* scene,” says Jim
Saloufakis, who is known on the streets
as “The Chore.” “I think that they do
it only because they have really noth
ing better to do. It’s kind of support,
too.”
Jack Walter, from the crime analysis
division of the Modesto Police De
partment, points to statistics that show
crimes of willful destruction of prop
erty (i.e. vandalism) increase during
the summer months.
Not all teenagers have enough spare
time during the summer to get into
trouble. For many, summer means
Summer in Modesto
From page 8
the city council, he says.
Meanwhile, other institutions and
ity departments help to staff the Para
dise Community Bridge in the sum
mer. For students studying child de
velopment, education or other courses
with a multicultural focus at Modesto
Junior College or California State
University at Stanislaus, the Paradise
Street Bridge becomes a field-work
site. Students provide supervision and
leadership while they learn.
In some cases they learn while they
earn. The Summer Youth Program,
funded by the Job Training Partner
ship Act, which sends students as childcare workers to Drobnick’s Latch-key
program, places student workers at
the Bridge as well. All Summer Youth
students (a total of900 last year) work
in public rather than private enter
prises. Those interested in the food
industry work with the free-lunch pro
grams serving Bridge children and
others in Modesto’s low-income areas.
work rather than play. An extraordi
nary number of students spend sum
mer in summer school taking classes
that they failed the previous year or
ones that will help them get ahead and
lighten their loads for the school year
to come. Some students enter the work
force just to pass the time and have
extra spending money, but most others
do so out of necessity.
“During the summer I will just kick
back at home, and I’ll probably look
for a summerjob,” says Charlene Urias,
a student on independent studies, a
home-study program. “I have to get a
job,” says Dante Alvarez, a student at
Beyer High School. “But sometimes
me and my homies will go to San Jose,
and some people drink sometimes.”
Even though summer never seems
to satisf’ everyone, teenagers look for
ward to those glorious three months
with excitement and enthusiasm. Sum
mer usually gives teens a break from
their fast-paced lives in school, and
offers them the chance to slow down,
relax and catch some rays. Summer
always seems over before it began, but
somehow manages to produce some of
the most special and memorable times
of the year.
*“Gang.banger” in this context is slang for “gang.”
Gina Angelo, 17, is a senior at Downey
High in Modesto, California and a reporter
for the school’s Downey Knights Herald.
She has also writtenfor the Modesto Bee.
In this way, Modesto city depart
ments, independent agencies, col
leges—even businesses—are working
together in an effort to maintain the
spirit of the American Village remem
bered so fondly by people who grew up
in the “old days” of cruising and “shoot
ing the falls.” Meanwhile, this summer,
Jeff Podesto’s seven-year-old son will
ride to the park by himself for the first
time, tracing a route his father took 20
years ago.
________
________
__________
_________
__________
___________
___________
______________________
_____
12
CHILDREN’S ADVOCATE
FYI
MAY/JUNE 1992
II
For Your In formation
For a $1.00 list of California State
Agencies concerned with children’s
services, detailing programs, directors,
and phone numbers for the Depart
ments of Education, Social Services,
and other state agencies contact: On
the Capital Doorstep, 926 J St., Suite
1007, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916)
442-5431.
The National Black Child Develop
ment Institute offers a variety of re
sources for parents and educators of
African-American children: program
manuals, resource guides and books.
Topics include portraying positive and
realistic images of African-American
culture, assisting children with career
preparation, and more. Contact:
NBCDI, 1023 15th St. N.W., Suite
600, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202)
387-1281.
Pedestrian injury is the leading cause
of death for children ages 1—14. As
part of the California Office of Traf
fic Safety Safe Roads/Safe Families
campaign, the Contra Costa County,
program is distributing “Give Kids a
Brake!” bumper stickers and holding
educational programs. Contact Chris
Ford, (510) 646-6511.
-
Wheelock Graduate School will offer
Advanced Seminars in Child Care
Administration this summer fromJune
21—July 31, 1992. Contact Wheelock
College, Advanced Child Care Semi
nars, 200 The Riverway, Boston, MA
02215, (617)734-5200.
The Bmokdale Grandparent Caregiver
Information Project, directed by Dr.
Meredith Minkler, listed in our last
issue, is developing a national data
base on programs and services for
grandparents, and on relevant research
and policy developments. They also
publish a newsletter three times ayeai
Contact BGCIP, Center on Aging, 140
Earl Warren Hail, University of Cali
fornia, Berkeley, CA 94720, (510)
643-6427.
From June 26 toJuly 24, the Goddard
Institute on Teaching and Learning
will provide weekend, 2-day and 5-day
courses and also a 10-day field trip.
Courses include: Teaching for Racial
Awareness; Conflict Resolution and the
Empowering Classroom; an Environ
mental Education Field Trip; and
much more. Contact: Steve Schapiro,
Institute Director, Goddard College,
Plainfield VT 05667, (802) 454-8311.
CONFERENCE CALENDAR
May 6-7, 1992. Perinatal Perspectives
Conference. Sponsored by Alta Bates
Medical Center, Children’s Hospital
Oakland and the Perinatal Network of
Alameda/Contra Costa. Bay Bridge
Holiday Inn, Emeryville. Topics in
clude: family health; perinatal legisla
tion; perinatal substance use. Con
tact Mona Mena, (510) 652-5188.
May 13-15, 1992. Keeping the Prom
ise. Sponsored by the California Child
Development Administrator’s Associa
tion. The 49th annual statewide con
ference. Doubletree Inn, Pasadena,
CA. Program development for newly
funded programs; children and family
issues; program management. personal
and professional development. Con
tact Emily lloyd, (818) 792-2727.
May 15-16,1992. Maldnga Difference
for California’s Children, sponsored
by the California Nutrition Council. A
conference on children’s health issues.
Holiday Inn, San Francisco. Contact
Karen Pertschuk, (510) 848-0119.
May 19-22, 1992. ME International
Day, 1992, and Conference on News
paper in Education and Uteracy Spon
sored by American Newspaper Pub
lishers Association Foundation at the
Lifelines for Our Children
Adolescent Suicide Hotline
(800) 621-4000
Pregnancy Hotline
(900) 288-BABY
Anorexia/Bulimia Self.Help
(800) 2274785
75 cents per minute
CES/Mental Health Associates
(800) 435-7327
The March of Dimes
answers callers’ questions
about pregnancy and inflint
care to help reduce mcidents of birth defects and
infant mortality. For indepth
information callers will be
referred to local chapters of
the March of Dimes.
June 12—16,1992. Educating in a
Multicultural World. The 3rd interna
tional conference on Holistic Educa
tion sponsored by The Global Alliance
for Transforming Education. Arrow
head Resort. Lake Eulala, Oklahoma.
Contact The GATE, (404)458-5678.
June 28-July 2, 1992. Transforming
Education: A Holistic Perspective. In
stitutes to help create and implement
practical programs in learning and
teaching environments, sponsored by
the Global Alliance for Transforming
Education (GATE). Location: Plainfield,
Vermont. Contact (404)458-5678.
June 13,1992. Mayor’s Conference on
Aging: A Family Affafr Learn about
the issues affecting older Americans
and practical advice for those who care
for them. Areas include: Medicare,
health care, housing, and many more.
Contact SeemaJaffee (408)277-5975 or
the San Jose Office on Aging 277-4562.
Park Day
Summer
Arts Camp
I
Grandparents Warmline
(510) 568-7848
grandparents raising grandchildren.
program is 80%
focused in the visual
&performing arts. All
of our teachers are
professional artists
from diverse cultural
backgrounds who
have worked with
children for years.
National Medical Enterprises
for Drug/Substance Abuse
(800) COCAINE
Poison Hotline
(800) 342-9293
Child Health/Child Abuse
(800) 4-A-CHIU)
Runaway Hotline
(800) HIT-HOME
Citizens in Education
(800) Network
Crisis Line for the Handicapped
(800) 4214327
Family Phinning Referral Service
(800) 942-3424
VD Hotline
(800) 982-5883
Ages:
6- 13 years old
Hours:
&30 am-5:30 pm Mon. Fri.
Information: (510) 653-5718 or (510) 534-7237
Youth Crisis Hotline
(800) 448-4663
Subscribe TODAY...
Invest in the Future
exceptional
Our
National Coalition Against
Domestic Violence
(800) 333-SAFE
Child Abuse and Family
Violence Hotline
(800) 222-2000
AIDS Hotline
(800) FOR-AIDS
Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco. News
paper executives, newspaper associa
tion personnel and leading educators
from around the world to discuss col
laborative efforts to foster reading and
medialiteracy Contact RuthFinn, (703)
648-1048 or Lori Mile, (703)648-1049.
-
The Jean Shelton Actor’s Lab Announces...
Teen Actor’s Workshop
ADVOCATE
Summer Session-
NEWSPAPER
YE
S
Saturdays • 12 to3pm
June 13-Aug 1 (8 weeks)
Tuition: $200
want the comprehensive coverage and analysis Children’s Advocate
. newspaper provides.
Class Description:
I
Name
I
Occupation
Renewal Rates:
City
between
I
[]$ioroneyear or
Address
I
An eight week workshop introducing the
art and magic of theater to youngsters
State
Zip Code
This is a GIFI’ SUBSCRIPTION from:
Mail this form with full payment
(please do not send cash)to:
[] $34 for two years
Oakland, CA 94612-1217, or phone (510) 444-7136
The class will
focus on imagination, improvisation, scene
study, and theater games in a safe and
supportive
environment.
A
performance
will be held at the end of the workshop for
Special first-time subscriber rate:
I
$l2foroneyear
I
Amount Enclosed:
Children’s Advocate, The Hunt House,
1201 Martin Luther KingJr. Way,
L
13-17 years old.
I
family
and
friends.
For more Information & registration call:
(415)433-1226