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While some high school students are preparing to walk down the aisle in cap and gown this time of year, a new study shows that more teens in Greene County are dropping out of school or getting pregnant than they were just four years earlier. KSMU’s Kristian Kriner reports.
Citizens for Missouri’s Children, or CMC, is a non-profit organization that studies the well-being of kids in every county of Missouri.
The CMC compares and ranks all 114 counties in Missouri on 10 different problems kids encounter like teenage pregnancy, dropout rates and poverty.
The latest data is from 2007.
The non-profit organization puts all the data into a booklet called “Kids Count.”
Then the group uses the statistics to talk to legislative leaders about what improvements should be made for kids in Missouri.
Emily Schwartze is the director of program and policies for CMC.
Schwartze says in 2007, over 500 students in Greene County dropped out of high school.
She says that’s 100 more students than in years past.
Schwartz says another problem that’s on the rise in Greene County is teenage pregnancy.“The number of teenage girls who gave birth between the ages of 15 and 19 increased by about 60 girls. In a county such as Greene County that has a significant child population, but maybe not as big as some of the other counties in the state. I think it’s unfortunate to see an increase in the number of girls giving birth,” Schwartze said.There are some areas where Greene County has seen improvements.
Schwartze says Greene County has seen a decrease in child deaths, infant mortality rates and births to mothers without high school diplomas.“Overall, Greene County is ranked in the top half of the state and that’s wonderful for children growing up in that area. But, we would like to encourage the residents of Greene County to recognize the importance of investing in their local children and also in children across the state,” Schwartze said.Schwartz says she hopes these statistics will help political leaders around the state find better ways to educate and serve children in Missouri.
For KSMU News, I’m Kristian Kriner.