Unhappy children’s day
ITHE MEX FACTORt is unclear the origin of the Children’s Day celebration — a festivity now recognized in many places around the world — but the first country to officially declare the day as a national holiday was Turkey in 1929, setting the date at April 23.
Depending on the country we speak of, the holiday of children is celebrated at different dates, with over 40 celebrating June 1 and about a couple dozen on Nov. 20.
During the 1920s, then-Mexican President Álvaro Obregón set the date at April 30 after the country joined the Geneva Conventions that seek for the wellness of vulnerable children affected by World War I. Eventually, after World War II, the United Nations recommended Nov. 20 to celebrate the day throughout the world. But because the day coincides with Mexico’s Revolution Day a different date was needed. Teachers in Mexican schools organize events and in most of them classes are suspended for the day or exchanged for games, food, music and other amenities. The U.S. has also adopted Children’s Day, but not to the same extent as our southern counterparts.
The original celebration was created in 1856 by Rev. Charles H. Leonard, pastor of the First Universalist Church of Chelsea, Mass., that set apart the second Sunday in June for “Rose Day” that was later named “Flower Sunday.” However, other faith-based organizations have set the different dates.
Children’s Day was proclaimed by President Bill Clinton on Oct. 11, 1998, and his successor changed it to the first Sunday in June. In 1994, the Hawaii Legislature passed a law that recognized the first Sunday of October as Children’s Day. Two years later, author Pat Mora decided to set the celebration along with the Mexican date on April 30.
Like in other parts of the state, here in our Valley public agencies and non-profit organizations prepare celebrations around the last day of April to observe the day for our future leaders.
Sadly, although “created equal,” many of our children suffer illnesses, poverty and other issues we must first address before celebrating their day. According to a recent assessment released by Children Now, half of California’s children are Latino, who are also 6 percent of the nation’s total children. The same report says the state spends $62,300 per prisoner each year, compared to $4,981 per student. Actually, per pupil spending in California is $10,120, well below the national average of $12,434 and the $17,777 average spent by the top 10 states. Also, 21 percent of state toddlers are unprepared for kindergarten.
California reports as well one of the lowest grades in academic performance in math and reading. While eight in 10 California students graduate on time, only 42 percent have the minimum entrance requirements set by the state for higher education systems. The state witnesses every year a 12 percent rate of high school dropouts. Of the 3.5 million children eligible for free or reduced priced meals, about 1.1 million are not receiving the service.
In terms of health care, the same report underlines the fact that 4 percent of kids are uninsured. More than half of emergency room visits related to dental problems are from children 0-6, but only 35 percent of kids 0-6 made preventive visits to their dentists. In half of California’s counties there is no pediatric dentist for children enrolled in Denti-Cal, basically due to the low reimbursement rates of the nation. The report says 12.8 percent of hospitalization of children are mental health-related, well above those related to asthma and bronchitis, pneumonia or pleurisy, fractures and seizures or headaches. The organization added that in a single year close to 80,000 California children are confirmed victims of child abuse and neglect. By age 21, four out of every five young adults who are abused as kids experience depression, anxiety, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress or other mental health issues.
The State of Obesity, a project of the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said that 16.6 percent of 2- to 4-year-old WIC participants are obese or overweight as of 2014, while 15.1 percent of 10- to 17-year-olds had the same problems in 2011 and 13.9 percent of high school students as of 2015. The California Budget and Policy Center reported that in 2015 only one in seven California children who qualify for subsidized child care received services from state programs. Of the state’s 1.5 million elegible children just 218,000 were enrolled in programs. This was due to a combination of the decline in federal funding and state budget cuts that have contributed to the shortage of subsidized care, said Kristin Schumacher, the center’s policy analyst and the report’s author.
The Public Policy Institute of California reported in February that 21.2 percent of California’s children lived in families without enough resources to make ends meet in 2015. The figure was down from the 22.7 percent reported in 2014 but well above the 17.3 percent reported in 2007.
Cal Fresh, or California’s food stamp program, as well as the federal Earned Income Tax Credit program have contributed to lowering child poverty by 4.1 and 4.0 percentage points, respectively, said the report.
Imperial County’s 16.3 percent is one of the lowest child poverty rates in California, just behind Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, Tuolumne, El Dorado, Shasta, Sutter, Yuba and Placer.
However, Latino children are by far the most impacted by poverty statewide — 31.6 percent, more than double the rate for Asian American children and almost thrice the rate of white children.
As we see, for our region, state and country can prevail in the future we need to do something to provide one of the most vulnerable ones with a solid foundation.