Friday, January 7, 2011

Issues in St. Louis

1. sexual abuses and whether or not offenders are being locked away long enough
    what the sexual abuse rate is in St. Louis and what is being done to prevent it or bring awareness about it. What is being done about the recent teachers found with child porn? How were these men hired? Do schools need to re-examine their hiring policies?
I'm interested in this because St. Louis has so many organizations specifically for abuse and preventing abuse, it makes me wonder how big of an issue this is. Also, whether it is specific to a demographic or geographical region. It's an issue of why are their so many cases in St. Louis and relating it to regions surrounding St. Louis.

2. Childhood obesity - how high the rates are in St. Louis
     What is being done to prevent it? Why are the rates so high?
Obesity is all over the national news and is becoming a major concern in society. All the celebrities who were over weight are all trying to slim down and its is based more on a health issue because the risk of being over weight are so high now. My question is how high are the rates specifically in St. Louis and why are the rates the way they are. Is it due to the lack of exercise activities in the winter, their lifestyle, or based on the way their parents influence them?

3. what the teenage mother rate is? how big of an issue is it? does this contribute to drop out rates?
Is this even an issue in St. Louis? From the show 16 and pregnant/teen mom premiering on MTV in the past couple years it raises the issue of how prominent of an issue it really is. Where is it present in St. Louis? Does it pertain to a specific demographic? What are the most common events leading up to the pregnancy?
note - I haven't been able to find much information on this, but would like to.