It is appalling that 23,000 infants died in the United States in 2014 (and likely similar numbers in the years since). Those deaths compute to an infant mortality rate of 5.9 per thousand births which is about 50% higher than the average of 36 developed countries monitored by the 60-year-old Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Why do we, in the wealthiest country in the world, hear so little concern for these children?
I am also deeply saddened that American children between the ages of 15 and 19 are 82 times more likely to die from gun homicide than children from countries of similar wealth and government. If we care so much about our children’s lives, where is the public anger in defense of our children?
Perhaps it is because the American infants and children who die are seen as “other people’s children”? Indeed, the infant death rate for American children who are born to wealthy and better educated parents is about the same as the average of the other OECD countries. It is the infants of poor parents that are more likely to die, with limited access to prenatal care the leading reason. Of course, it is also the children from poor parents, in poor neighborhoods who are much more likely to be victims of gun homicide.
Why are the countries of Europe and Asia less selfish in taking care of all of the children? Like us, they are mostly capitalist democracies, but why are they more committed to income equality and access to healthcare for all families? Why are they much less obsessed with the acquisition of firearms?
The data is startling. Perhaps folks are stunned by the sheer volume of children in health crisis or the victims of violence. That in no way excused the blind eye most in the USA turn to the kids. We tend to insulate ourselves from the harsh realities of poor folks and their children. I hate hearing people say, “well she should not have had more children.” I, as an educator need to do more to connect all stakeholders with the stories of these kids. No longer just the stories of survival, we all love those. We need to tell the ones about those who did not, what we lost by not being part of the solution, what we lost by not speaking our outrage. What we lost by being selfishly content in our own lives. This post is a good wake up call.