Right on, Lezlie Lowe!
Your article, "Youth crime and you" (May 15), pointed out many factors that contribute to the youth crime problem. One of the most significant from my vantage point is the issue of child poverty.
In Canada, 20 percent of children live in poverty; in Nova Scotia, according to the Nova Scotia Report Card on Child Poverty, 34,000 of our children live in poverty, where their basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, etc.) are not being met. How can children flourish where the financial stress is so great? If it's a question of paying now or later, the human and financial costs later are staggering. The projected path for these children is not good, as is evidenced by their over-representation in our child protection agencies, our mental health system and our youth criminal justice system. Let's hold our politicians accountable for our future and let's do all we can to end child poverty, for the good of the entire village.
By ---Joan M. Rankin, social worker, Child Protection Team, IWK Health Centre
