It is really really important to get the message out to students that there is hope, and there are ways out of a trap. Some places are harder than others, say Appalachia or remote Indian reservations. It may be impossible for some, but not for all. Our ancestors did arrive here in poverty, unless they were Native, and they escaped unbelieveably bad circumstances. For one thing, almost everyone can get a high school degree now, even if they have dropped out. They can go to a community college hopefully. Everyone who thinks things are hopeless needs to talk to the folks at the community colleges. That is their mission, at least in Washington....to provide these opportunities to people. Some classes are free. There are loans and grants and work study. I have worked at 2 colleges who didn't even put out notices for work study students because there were so many more jobs than students to fill them. There were community college courses going unfilled sometimes for lack of students. There is at least one state ( I think it was North Carolina) where someone..the governor??? said students can graduate from a 4 year college debt free by working 10 hours a week and taking the grants available and going to a community college the first two years.

One of the tragedies is not having sufficient resources, but another great tragedy is there being resources that people do not know about. They have to know the plan, the escape route, from these situations. They have to know how a pregnancy can certainly alter their plans and should be told how to avoid it. Things, at least on the fringes of cities, are not totally hopeless. There are jobs for LPNs and mechanics and dental hygenists and plumbers and legal secretaries. In two years someone is out of poverty. Maybe not in a great place, but out of the direst situations.

It sounds to me like people need to coordinate more with the community colleges..not every state is as blessed as Washington but there are good programs here and there. PLEASE DO NOT LOOK AT THIS THROUGH SHE IS BLAMING THE VICTIM BLINDERS YOU MIGHT HAVE On. TAKE OFF THE BLINDERS. We still need lots of social programs, we need more policing of dangerous neighborhoods so people can get to and fro safely (that alone would be such an improvement to peoples' lives) and we need to pass on messages of hope to young people. Tell them this again: no drugs, no pregnancies, graduate from high school and then two years of a community college. I'm not one to believe the sky is the limit and people have endless opportunities, but sending out this message of hopelessness is not healthy for them....we need to fix things, crack some heads, send General Honore down to wherever to inspect the rat infested places...and let people know the way out of these situations.....

P.S. If you are in touch with these people in dire circumstances, please to print this out and give it to them. They need to hear there is hope. If I can, I will try to search out specific programs for them. mg