[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 12, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S1886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO DESTROY A CHILD

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, a few years ago I read a book by 
Alex Kotlowitz, then a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, titled 
``There are no Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the 
Other America.'' It is one of the best books I have read in the last 
few years.
  It tells with gnawing detail how the lives of people deteriorate in 
our central cities.
  Recently, he had an excellent op-ed piece in the New York Times 
titled ``It Takes a Village to Destroy a Child,'' which I ask to be 
printed in the Record.
  His title is obviously a take-off on the title of the book by Mrs. 
Clinton, but what he has to say ought to disturb the consciences of all 
of us.
  The article follows:

                [From the New York Times, Feb. 8, 1996]

                 It Takes a Village to Destroy a Child

                          (By Alex Kotlowitz)

       Oak Park, Ill.--The crime is so heinous it makes me shake 
     with anger. In the early evening hours of Oct. 13, 1994, two 
     boys, 10 and 11 years old, dangled and then dropped 5-year-
     old Eric Morse from the 14th floor of a Chicago public 
     housing complex, because Eric wouldn't steal candy for them.
       His killers displayed no remorse. In court, the younger of 
     the two, who could barely see the judge above the partition, 
     mouthed obscenities at reporters covering the trial. Last 
     week, they became the youngest offenders ever sent to prison 
     in Illinois. And they have come to symbolize the so-called 
     super-predators, children accused of maiming or killing 
     without a second thought.
       Unsurprisingly, both boys had fathers who were in prison. 
     One had a mother who, according to school records, repeatedly 
     missed counseling sessions. The other mother, according to 
     court records, battled a drug addiction. I don't mention the 
     parents of these children to excuse the crime. Nor do I 
     mention this to state the obvious: In the absence of loving, 
     nurturing, discipline-minded adults, children become lost.
       Rather, I want to point out that while we can talk about 
     strengthening families, there will be little success until we 
     also find a way to strengthen our communities. We profess 
     homage to the well-worn aphorism that it takes a village to 
     raise a child. But where in the case of these boys--and 
     ultimately in the case of Eric Morse--was the village?
       Let's take a look at the older of the two boys, whom I will 
     call James. He attended the primary and intermediate J.R. 
     Doolittle Schools, two buildings which butt up against the 
     drab-looking Ida B. Wells public housing complex. According 
     to school documents, James earned mediocre grades, mostly 
     C's, and then in the third grade, when his father was 
     arrested, his grades plunged. He couldn't sit still in class. 
     He fought other students.
       In fourth grade, the school ordered a psychological 
     evaluation, which recommended only tutoring. That same year, 
     he flunked every subject, including gym and music. 
     Nonetheless, the school promoted him. The next year at his 
     new school, he missed 23 days. Because of low marks, he 
     repeated the fifth grade.
       Why didn't the school administrators sense that something 
     was amiss in this child's life? Part of the problem may be 
     that the primary school of 700 students could afford only 
     once-a-week visits by a psychologist and social worker. And 
     truant officers were axed three years ago by the financially 
     strapped Chicago Public Schools.
       One afternoon when James was on his way to pick up his 
     cousin, he witnessed a gang member shoot and kill a rival. 
     James was 9 at the time. His lawyer, Michelle Kaplan, said he 
     was standing 10 feet from the victim. No adult offered him 
     counseling. No one stepped in to make sure that such an 
     incident didn't happen again.
       In most communities, such an event would have brought 
     quick attention, I'm reminded of the day in 1988, when 
     Laurie Dann, a deranged woman, walked into an elementary 
     School in Winnetka, Ill., and shot six children, killing 
     an 8-year-old boy. Psychologists were brought in to 
     counsel the students, their parents and teachers. The 
     governor called for tighter school security. Some 
     politicians demanded tougher gun control laws.
       James received no such attention. In the six months before 
     Eric's murder, the police arrested James eight times on 
     relatively minor charges from shoplifting to possession of 
     ammunition, presumably bullets. Each time the police released 
     him.
       After three arrests in one year, the police are supposed 
     to--by their own guidelines--refer a child to juvenile court 
     in the hope that he or she might receive help. That was never 
     done in James's case. ``This was a child in crisis,'' Ms. 
     Kaplan said. ``Here's an 11-year-old child who was expressing 
     in the only way a child can that something's wrong.''
       Now the village vigorously debates not how we failed James 
     but what we should do with him: Send him to a youth prison or 
     to a residential center, where the emphasis is on 
     rehabilitation? The judge who presided over this case, Carol 
     Kelly, has a reputation for siding with the prosecution. 
     Indeed, she chose to send the two boys to prison, stipulating 
     that they receive therapy. But when asked what could be 
     learned from this case, Judge Kelly says: ``Let's focus on 
     what brought them to this point. What happened to them? What 
     didn't happen to them? What can we do so we don't have other 
     Eric Morses?''
       I'm haunted by one image in particular. When the two boys 
     dropped Eric from the window, Eric's 8-year-old brother ran 
     down the 14 flights as fast as he could. He later testified 
     that he was hoping to catch Eric. Eric's brother did more 
     than any one else to try to save his little brother.
       He and Eric are victims of James and his cohort--and of the 
     village guardians who failed them. James and his 10-year-old 
     partner were not headed for trouble, they were well into it. 
     Yet, no adult intervened.
       These boys come from a neighborhood poor in spirit and 
     resources. It we can't help rebuild their community, using 
     schools as a foundation, we'll all end up running furiously 
     down those stairs hoping, praying, that we can catch yet one 
     more child dropped by their families and by the institutions 
     that presumably serve them. It will almost always be too 
     late. 

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