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*  One in seven children live in poverty (defined as income of $18,850 or less for a family of four);

*  Fifty percent of children entering kindergarten do not possess the skills necessary to succeed in school;

*  2,000 to 3,000 children are homeless on any given night and children are the fastest growing homeless population;

*  Over 58,000 children are uninsured;

*  Each year there are approximately 10,000 substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect;

*  8,000 low income families are on waiting lists for Basic Sliding Fee Child Care subsidies;

*  In 2001, 13,569 children were arrested for serious crimes; and

*  We have the largest achievement gap between black and white students on high school tests required for graduation.

The short- and long-term costs of these conditions should be unacceptable to our society. While we tend to pass off statements such as "all children are precious" or "children are our future," as trite, they do reflect the truth. In reality, the well-being of our society is reflected in the well-being of our children. They are the future work force, leaders, and policy makers. They will be our caretakers as we age. How we treat them as children has a profound effect on the future of our society. 
 
So, why are we willing to have 50 percent of kids not ready to succeed in school? What message do we send to our children when we will spend $8,000 to $12,000 per year to educate them in the K-12 school system but $40,000 to $45,000 per year to house them in the juvenile justice system?  What does this say about our society when having kids living under these conditions makes you number one in child well-being? What about the children living in Mississippi, the 50th ranked state?

Our kids can't vote. They aren't allowed to participate in the negotiation of our social contracts, and yet they often have the most at stake. As a society, we must rewrite the social contract with our children, giving them and their futures the highest priority. We must all be child advocates.

Being a child advocate does not mean you must march on Capitol Hill on behalf of children. (Actually, I think it would be more powerful to have thousands of two- and three-year-olds march on Capitol Hill.) It means putting children first in what we say, do, and support:

* Thinking about the short- and long-term effects that the policies we promote and causes we support have on children;

*  Thinking twice about whom we write our checks to and the candidates we support;

*  Volunteering to read to kids in your local school, pre-school, or childcare;

*  Not accepting spending policies on the national level that incur huge deficits that will be borne by future generations;

*  Letting the single parent with screaming kids go ahead of you in the line at the grocery store and helping bag the groceries;

*  Investing in kids now so they can become productive citizens in the future; and

*  Adopting family friendly policies in the workplace.

The reasons we advocate for children differ. For me, it is what my faith and sense of social justice demand—it is a passion at the core of my being. For some, it may come from a sense of the greater good for society. For still others, it may be the return on investment. Last summer, Art Rolnick and Rob Grunwald of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve released a report showing that early childhood public investment in kids at risk produces an 8 to 12 percent rate of return. That return comes in lower future costs of remediation, crime prevention, welfare, and justice administration and increased productivity in the work force. What stadium will give you that? 

The reasons we advocate don't matter. What does matter is that we recognize the need to put the well-being of our children on the top of our priority list. In doing so, we will strive to create a society where we are all number one in child well-being and can all be proud of our accomplishments. 

Kristen Norman-Major

Kristen Norman-Major '87 is a professor in the Graduate School of Public Administration and Management, teaching courses in policy analysis and social policy. Previously, she worked on the integration of early childhood programs for the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning. She also is a Key Advocate for Congregations Concerned for Children and a mom to daughter, Marissa, 8, and son, Elijah, 4.