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EDUCATION
Wipe Out Crime, Drug Use and Poverty Through Education by Kristin Gabriel
Once man from Brooklyn, New York has impressed me
tremendously with regard to his beliefs about education and how we can
all help to make changes in our world today.
Rocco Basile noted something that Gandhi believed. Real education
consists in drawing the best out of yourself. What better book can there
be than the book of humanity? (Mahatma K. Gandhi)
"My education taught me to be sympathetic to the needs of others and
helped me understand how that can change a world. Like Gandhi said it is
important for us to be the change we want to see in the world," said
Rocco Basile.
The US Department of Education (ED) tagline states, "Promoting
educational excellence for all Americans." This organization was created
in 1980 and the ED mission is "to promote student achievement and
preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational
excellence and ensuring equal access."
Some 4,500 ED employees and a $71.5 billion budget dedicated to
establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, as well as
distributing and monitoring the funds; collecting data on America's
schools and disseminating research; focusing national attention on key
educational issues; and prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal
access to education.
For example, in Brooklyn, New York, gang violence is just part of
everyday life. There are 17 thousand child abuse cases in this community
that have been documented. One out of every three families lives below
the poverty line. There is a 48 percent drop out rate among high school
students, so out of the 30 thousand students, 15 thousand are dropouts.
Drugs, disease, gang violence, and crime contribute to about a thousand
deaths annually. More and more people are realizing that the answer is
education.
"I feel my education has allowed me to understand the adverse effects it
had on my life. I was educated, therefore I was able to read many books
from every culture and religion, which inspired me to make positive
changes," he continued. "It has given me the intuition to see how
positive change circulates back into my life."
What happens to those in society that don't invest in education? Does it
make a difference to the overall social structure and eventually affect
our economy? Author of a book entitled "Smart Money," William Schweke:
Education and Economic Development" believes that prevention is almost
always cheaper than treatment. He believes that if we don't invest now,
we will pay later and he discusses the social costs of inadequate
educational and workforce preparation opportunities, believing that
education can lower social costs.
Schweke notes that there is a strong relationship between low basic
skills and welfare dependency. 60 percent of out-of-wedlock births among
19 to 23-year-olds are to those who score in the lowest 20 percent on
basic skills tests. Around 82 percent of Americans in prison have
dropped out of high school. Sadly, he also points out that the United
States spends almost 10 times as much as Western European countries on
security services, arrest, incarceration and parole, while these same
countries spend comparable amounts on subsidized employment and
training.
Many people like these men believe that educating our youth is the
answer to will break the cycle of poverty, crime and drugs. "Educating
our youth is the foundation for prosperity ... Economic problems, in
turn, exacerbate social problems, such as crime, drug abuse, gangs,
reliance on government assistance, and family break-ups. To ameliorate
these weaknesses in the social fabric, public funds that might otherwise
go toward productive investment are spent instead on crime control, drug
treatment and income support programs," says Schweke. "Education
positively affects income distribution."
In the darkness, there is an organization in Brooklyn, New York that is
bringing light and making a difference to help do something about these
statistics. There are hundreds of people in need of intervention,
children in need of education, and families in need of counseling, and
hope, and Children of the City is an organization making a difference.
Founded in 1981, the volunteer-based outreach connects people in need
with basic services, educational and employment training, health care,
counseling, and many other personal growth opportunities. People like
Rocco Basile are working through organizations like this helping to
reach children at risk and who can be resilient if they are given the
right intervention and education.
About the Author
Kristin Gabriel has written about non-profits for over 20 years and has
taken an interest in the work being done by the Joe DiMaggio Committee
for Xaverian High School and Children of the City (http://www.childrenofthecity.org
) along with their Board Member Rocco Basile.
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