Letting The Gini Out of the Bottle

 

The front page headline of the March 2, 2012 edition of Parker Chronicle proclaimed the fact that Douglas County has one of the highest median incomes in the United States. It’s true that both median and mean income is well and away above average but that is only part of the story. Per capita and other indexes paint a more complex picture. Per capita income is a measure of what everyone would receive if all income were divided equally among everyone in the county. The disparity between the much higher median income and much lower per capita income indicate a particularly uneven distribution of wealth in Douglas County. For example, in Arapahoe County median minus per capita income was about $9,000. In Douglas County the difference was in the ballpark of $54,000. The Gini Index is a tool specifically designed to measure income inequality in communities.

Another column in the same issue of the paper illustrates why we cannot afford to simply stuff the Gini back in the bottle. This piece was a mention of the Empty Bowl fundraiser for the Women’s Crisis Center. It would be difficult to look at one of those empty bowls without thinking of Donna Royer, a Parker woman who was gunned down on Main Street by her spouse. It’s entirely possible that lady was aware of all the domestic violence resources and help available to her and she chose not to take advantage of them. It’s equally possible she was not. Research done by the Omni Institute in 2009 found that many Douglas families did not know how to find help when they needed it or services were not in place when they were needed. Because of the perception that Douglas County folk are economically self-sufficient and doing fine, even the wealthiest families had trouble finding help for challenges such as having a child with a disability, divorce, mental health issues, or substance abuse. The myth of self-sufficiency makes residents reluctant to ask for help, public bodies to mandate it, or private grants to fund it.

As we all know from folktales, genies are sly creatures who can wreak havoc on the unwary. Like those desert wraiths, the Gini can run amok in Douglas County unless we get it firmly by the tail.

 

Article Contributed By:

 

Tobey Stein

Oracles @ Insourced

Personal Economy

(The following was contributed by Sarah Senst with Families First - - you can check out their blog at www.FamiliesFirstBlog.blogspot.com!)

 

Our country continues to be in a strained economy. These past few years have been a humbling experience for me and my children. And while it has been a stressful time, many good things have come of it. We have found ways to do without, redefined our true needs and have a better understanding of what are our priorities. For example, in our family, we value time together now more than ever. And through difficult times we have grown closer and work much better as a team.

It is important, that at times like these, we continue to build that team. Now is a great time to learn about and understand our local resources. In uncertain and unfamiliar times it is also important to reach out for support. This support may go beyond your immediate family and may include extended family, friends and neighbors, church, mental health professionals, school, support groups, community resources and telephone help lines. It is beneficial to discover that other people have had or are having similar situations and to learn how others have learned to cope and adjust.

So many people have been faced with new challenges in these changing times and have been forced to find new ways to manage. Some are faced with unemployment, foreclosure, moving away from family, changing schools, adjusting to a new lifestyle, or simply finding a new way of doing things. I heard an interesting term recently called a “personal economy”. This idea is founded on not only personal finances but focuses on assigning new and improved value to things and the people in our lives. It is reestablishing the economics in your household, both literally and figuratively. This is a great dinner time discussion to have with your family, consider some of the following; “What do we enjoy doing?” “Is there another, less expensive way to enjoy that same thing” “Is there something new we would like to try” “What do we have time to do now that we didn’t have time to do before?” “What do we actually need versus what do we ‘want’?” Come together as a team to define your personal economy and utilize your external supports and resources to do so. This creates familial strength and resiliency!

For other great tips about talking to your kids call… 1-800-CHILDREN(800-244-5373) or e-mail
Sarah@FamiliesFirstColorado.org . For support in Spanish please call 1-866-LAS FAMILIAS. Both Family Support Lines offer parenting tips, community resources and information only and does not serve as legal or mental health advice.

Our Generation "Wired"

By Claudette Anderson, Prescription for Success

For today’s youth, technology involvement with smart phones, iPods, video games and Internet is an integral part of their life. The average teen sends more than 50 texts a day; younger children spend over 10 hours a week playing video games; and the amount of time all kids spend online daily has tripled in the past 10 years. 51% of American teens log on to a social network site more than once a day. 22% of American teens log on more than 10 times a day, according to Common Sense Media.

How does this activity affect our kids’ social and intellectual development? Research shows us:

·       The nature of children’s relationships to each, to their families and to the world around them is changing.

·       Our youths’ brains may even be rewired.

·        Social media sites like Facebook, as well as texting, can lead to cyber-bullying.

·       The biggest behavioral change that is being experienced is a preference for texting over talking. Kids 11-14 spend an average of 73 minutes a day texting and older teens spend close to 2 hours. This may be an addiction because dopamine cells in the brain have been shown to fire up.  This neurotransmitter is associated with pleasure feelings.

·       With little talking on the phone, experts worry that communication skills that are needed in life-how to converse, read cues from vocal intonations, and even how to negotiate-are not being developed in today’s society.

·       67% of parents say texting is hurting their kids’ school performance.

·       Another danger is that children may never learn how to be content spending time on their own, which is crucial for healthy psychological development. If you don’t learn to be alone, you will only know how to be lonely. Parents who constantly text their children add to the problems.

·       92% of kids ages 8-18 play video games and 8.5% can be classified as addicted. 12% of boys and 3% of girls who play will get addicted. Increased playing of video games is related to poorer school performance.

In conclusion, moderation is the key for our youths’ technological involvement and parent’s guidance is a critical part of the solution, too.

The Adolescent Brain: Mystery Solved?

The Adolescent Brain: Mystery Solved?

By Carla Turner, Parenting Coalition Member

Think back (for some of us, WAAAAY back) to what it was like - - adolescence.  Leaps of physical growth that are sometimes painful in the literal sense, simmering hormones that seem to have a life of their own and whisper demands that are entirely contradictory to everything your parents ever said, a posse of friends who are flailing around in the same Petri dish of a social, biological and hormonal chemistry experiment.  And the capper?  A still-developing brain that hasn't quite reached the point where it can guide decision making with calm, reasoned judgment. 

These aren't character flaws; it's the way kids ARE, and the way it has always been.  Relatively recent advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology have given researchers new insight into teen brain development, which the National Institute of Health refers to as "...a work in progress."  In 1999, the National Institute of Mental Health reported conclusions from a longitudinal study in which children's brains were scanned via MRI every two years to observe patterns of growth and development.  The NIMH researchers noted a significant surge in production of gray matter - - the part of the brain that is responsible for thinking functions - - correlated to the onset of puberty.  When a team of UCLA researchers took the NIMH brain scans and configured them as four-dimensional, time-lapse images, it became possible to watch the virtual evolution of children's gray matter from age 4 to age 20.  The UCLA team found that gray matter develops first at the rear of the brain and progressively moves forward, with the frontal lobe not reaching full maturity until the mid-20s.  So, the next time your teen is provoking you, feel free to yell, "Well, you only have a partial BRAIN!!!"  OK, don't yell that, even if it's kinda true.  That missing link, the frontal lobe, influences how much effort someone is willing to invest in a task, and the ability of an individual to think through the consequences of any given decision, and the capacity of that person to control impulses and reactions.

The greatest thing about this research may be that it lets us all off the hook a bit (but not completely) - - adolescent risk-taking behavior and lack of impulse control are natural responses to a natural process.  Rebellious, challenging teens aren't bad people, and those teens' custodial figures aren't bad parents....it's just the way the organism is constructed.  And there's also reaffirmed hope that the maturation process will END, which is a relief for parents and teens alike.  It's a challenging place to be, adolescence - - logically, you know what you SHOULD be doing, but almost everything within you screams out for you to do just the opposite.  Yo, adults - - remember back and try to hang onto that compassion and empathy.

So, we know what we have to work with.  We have adolescents who are socially, biologically, hormonally and neurologically predisposed to experiment and take risks and challenge the status quo.  We have adults who ideally are in possession of fully developed gray matter complete with the capability to control impulses, temper, reactions, judgments.  The smart money is on the adults to create protective frameworks (such as after-school supervision, driving regulations and service activities that reinforce character and ethics) around our community's children, within which they can test their limits and practice their critical thinking skills and learn to accept responsibility for their actions and hone that internal locus of control.  Yes, adolescents need to feel the consequences of their actions; but it's up to us as adults to minimize the opportunties for those consequencese to be fatal or life-altering.  We can do it.....WE have fully developed brains!