Is Anybody Listening to Our Children?

Last night, The News Hour reported on the video project of Michael Steinman's AP English class at Village Academy High School in Pomona, California. Steinman sensed that the economic downturn was impacting the lives of his students. So, when he asked them to write about their experiences with the current recession, he was stunned by the emotions and fear that filled their essays.

Steinman asked them if they would agree to be filmed while sharing their experiences on camera. They did so, and when the project was completed, he posted the result, "Is Anybody Listening?," on YouTube:



The students' fears for their families and their sense of abandonment personalize the unemployment and foreclosures in a state with some of the worst statistics in the country. After the New Hour's presentation of Steinman's video, Mark Shields stated a truism: "Unemployment rates don't bleed; statistics don't cry."

The response to "Is Anybody Listening?" has been extraordinary. Not only have national newscasts covered the story, but President Obama also referred to the project in his address to the Hispanic Chamber of Congress.

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As a follow up to his speech, the president met with the students of Village Academy this week during his trip to California, and he personally answered their questions concerning the economy.




One thing that is clear to me is that President Obama is listening because he has presented plans to change the way we operate in our country regarding energy, health care and education.

But are other politicians and pundits listening? Or, are they only looking at the quantitative effects of the recession? Are they proposing failed approaches, such as tax cuts for the wealthy, which have failed in the past?

Many of those same politicos have stated that, as a country, we must confront the recession as "war." I would beg them not to treat our country's children as expendable, "collateral damage," in this "war of economics." If that were to happen, our country would continue to suffer the following long-term negative effects on this generation of children:

• school absenteeism
• low graduation rates
  
• high teen pregnancy
  
• high unemployment
  
• low taxes
  
• shattered dreams
  

The recent Japanese recession is often referred to as a "lost decade". Our country's economy is also in danger of suffering long-term negative consequences. On top of years of negative economic growth, I fear that we will continue the legacy of "lost generations" of young people.

But, how long will the recession last? How long will it be until the parents of these children once again have the security of a job and comfort of their own home? I am confident that the president is on the right path to solving our economic woes, but many - Republicans and Democrats - oppose him.

I encourage all politicians to watch this video, especially those Republican governors who have refused stimulus funds for their states and those Democrats who are threatening to block the changes President Obama is proposing. If they were to watch it, they would understand that their political decisions are failing those who need our care most desperately: our children.

What is particularly sad is that such a video could have been filmed in any state, any congressional district, of our country. The Village Academy students' tears grip our hearts and remind us that we must never ignore the faces of those who are suffering through this economic crisis, wherever they may reside.

We must lobby our congressional representatives to support President Obama's budget to bring about the change he has promised. I, for one, do not want to experience more lost generations of children.