Our Kids Need Support Network

Before she disappeared a month ago, Valiree Jackson was invisible, at least to the broader community.

Then tragedy struck and she was seen everywhere. Television, fliers, the newspaper. That innocent half-smile. That hopeful, upward gaze.

By then, however, it was too late to protect her.

The investigation of Valiree’s killing will reveal details about her death, but it won’t tell us about the life she might have lived.

Maybe she would have grown into a healthy, productive, well-adjusted citizen. Maybe not.

As with all kids, her world was full of risks, and her chances of overcoming them depended on how many resources her family, her neighborhood and her community could provide for her. Valiree was but one of Spokane County’s 110,000 children and youth, most of them just as invisible as she was for her nine years. Some will grow up and go to work, some will go to college, and some will go to prison. Some won’t grow up at all.

It’s not hard to see when the paths diverge. Statisticians can swamp us with data about child abuse, juvenile crime, teenage pregnancy, truancy, substance abuse. They also can point out links between a socially or economically impoverished environment and inappropriate adolescent behaviors that generate the data.

But by the time those signals are apparent, there’s no way to prevent the damage, only to mitigate it.

Prevention, real prevention, means paying attention to - and investing the necessary time, money and energy in - the support network that helps kids navigate around life’s potholes.

Abundant research, such as that compiled by the Search Institute of Minneapolis, shows clearly that the more youngsters are surrounded by a supportive environment, the more likely they are to exhibit positive behaviors and make wise choices, and to rebound from setbacks.

Too often, however, communities are quicker to support measures that deal with kids after they’ve tripped than to invest in resources that keep kids from stumbling in the first place.

Resources such as places and programs for safe, structured after-school activities. Or high-quality day care for families at all economic levels. Or simply the conviction to establish reasonable expectations and solid values that will be reinforced throughout the community.

Everyone has a role - families, neighbors, churches, schools, government, business.

The key is that caring communities don’t wait until the damage is done before they respond to specific instances involving individual youngsters whose faces and circumstances they recognize. Caring communities keep a structure in place to assure as much support as possible for all youngsters, even if they don’t need it - yet.