Angry in the Great White North

Via Drudge, this report:

There are 490 female students at Timken High School, and 65 are pregnant, according to a recent report in the Canton Repository.

The article reported that some would say that movies, TV, videogames, lazy parents and lax discipline may all be to blame.

The newspaper reports that the non-Canton rate was 7 percent. Canton was 15 percent.

Here is a breakdown of what we know about Canton, Ohio:

As of the census of 2000, there are 80,806 people, 32,489 households, and 19,785 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,518.2/km² (3,933.0/mi²). There are 35,502 housing units at an average density of 667.0/km² (1,728.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 74.45% White, 21.04% African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 3.06% from two or more races. 1.24% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The median income for a household in the city is $28,730, and the median income for a family is $35,680. Males have a median income of $30,628 versus $21,581 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,544. 19.2% of the population and 15.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 27.4% of those under the age of 18 and 11.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Due to Canton's diverse demographic, many pollsters used Canton as a microcosm of the country as a whole. President George W. Bush visited Canton on a number of occasions, as well as Democratic Presidential Nominee and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in a effort to win Ohio, a vital state in the 2004 Election.

I can't believe a cluster of pregnancies is the only problem this school has. It must be a symptom. What can we find out about Timken High?

School Overview: Timken High School
School Level: High school
School Type: Regular (non-vocational) school
Grades Offered: Grades 9 - 12
Location of School: Mid-size City
County: Stark County, OH

Total Students: 973 students
% Male / % Female: 49% / 51%

Teacher : Student Ratio: 1:8 (vs 1:17 as a state average)

Students by Ethnicity
% American Indian: 1% (vs negligible for the state)
% Asian: negligible (vs 1% for the state)
% Hispanic; 1% (vs 2% for the state)
% Black: 39% (vs 13% for the state)
% White: 56% (vs 83% for the state)
% Unknown: 4% (vs 1% for the state)

Additional Student Information
% Eligible for Free Lunch: 45% (vs 14% for the state)
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch: 9% (vs 4% for the state)

Maybe we should throw money at the problem:

Agency Revenue / Student: $8,066 (vs $6,375 for the state)
Agency Expenditure / Student: $7,336 (vs $6,112 for the state)
Agency Graduation Rates: 51% (vs 86% for the state)

So more money is already being spent. And the net result is poor graduation rates and rampant teenage pregnancy.

What about the area?

Median Household Income: $9,455 (vs $41,758 for the state)
Avg. # of Rooms in Household: 3.1 rooms (vs 5.7 rooms for the state)
Median Age of Housing Structure: 63 years old (vs 43 years old for the state)
Median Value of Housing Unit: $30,300 (vs $103,563 for the state)
% Owning / % Renting: 4% / 96% (vs 67% / 33% for the state)
% Vacancy of Housing Units: 15% vacancy rate (vs 7% vacancy rate for the state)

So bottom line, how is this school rated?

Timken High School
Building IRN: 037267
District: Canton
County: Stark
District Rating: Academic Watch
Number of Performance Standards Met by the School Building (based on FY2005 data - 2004-05 Local Report Card): 0

The ratings are Academic Emergency, Academic Watch, Continuous Improvement, Effective, and Excellent.

Let's compare with Canton South High School, just 1.4 miles away:

School Overview: Canton South High School
School Level: High school
School Type: Regular (non-vocational) school
Grades Offered: Grades 9 - 12
Location of School: Mid-size City
County: Stark County, OH

Total Students: 890 students
% Male / % Female: 58% / 42%

Teacher : Student Ratio: 1:15 (vs 1:17 as a state average)

Students by Ethnicity
% American Indian: negligible (vs negligible for the state)
% Asian: negligible (vs 1% for the state)
% Hispanic; negligible (vs 2% for the state)
% Black: 7% (vs 13% for the state)
% White: 92% (vs 83% for the state)
% Unknown: 1% (vs 1% for the state)

Additional Student Information
% Eligible for Free Lunch: 8% (vs 14% for the state)
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch: 5% (vs 4% for the state)

Agency Revenue / Student: $6,811 (vs $6,375 for the state)
Agency Expenditure / Student: $6,118 (vs $6,112 for the state)
Agency Graduation Rates: 99% (vs 86% for the state)

Median Household Income: $22,654 (vs $41,758 for the state)
Avg. # of Rooms in Household: 5.4 rooms (vs 5.7 rooms for the state)
Median Age of Housing Structure: 53 years old (vs 43 years old for the state)
Median Value of Housing Unit: $68,100 (vs $103,563 for the state)
% Owning / % Renting: 58% / 42% (vs 67% / 33% for the state)
% Vacancy of Housing Units: 8% vacancy rate (vs 7% vacancy rate for the state)

Canton South High School
Building IRN: 004812
District: Canton
County: Stark
District Rating: Excellent
Number of Performance Standards Met by the School Building (based on FY2005 data - 2004-05 Local Report Card): 7

So another working class neighbourhood, walking distance away, that spends less on their kids for education in a high school of equal size, that actually has fewer teachers per student than Timken, and enjoys a graduation rate of 99%.

Clearly money spent at the school is not the issue. Clearly the sheer number of teachers is not helping solve the problem. That means we have to look outside of the school for solutions:

• how education is valued at home over other activities (TV, video games, basketball)


• how long term goals like home ownership are compared to short term gratification


• how work, and not just income (which can come from non-work sources like social assistance), is seen as a measure of success


• what is right and what is wrong -- morals and self-denial and self-respect and respect for others

But looking at the comparable numbers for income and for living conditions, I am going to go out on an limb and say that the kids at Canton South High School come from stable two-parent homes, where one or both parents hold down steady jobs (no one is rich, but they make ends meet), where they live in modest homes, and where they teach their kids to be responsible about sex. Teenage sex is probably strongly discouraged, not just by fiat, but by example, that is to say, few of the parents in that neighbourhood got pregnant in high school.

At Timken, the numbers tell a different story. If the kids are having sex now, it's because their parent were having reckless sex when they were teens. The result is apparent: low incomes as many of these families depend on social assistance, living in small rented apartments instead of homes. These kids come home to a household run by a single unemployed mom. If there are any siblings, fair chance that they have different fathers. Dad, any dad, is nowhere to be found.

The people in Ohio are going to have to address this problem in the homes, not in the schools. And needless to say, that is not the plan:

School officials are not sure they what has caused so many pregnancies, but in response to them, the school is launching a three-prong educational program to address pregnancy, prevention and parenting.

Not sure? I think they're sure. I think they know exactly where the problem lies. They just don't want to say anything, for fear of being politically incorrect. So they'll bring in a course on human reproductive biology taught to rap music, give out condoms, and educate 15- and 16-year-old girls on how to raise babies.

I guess they know they'll need the last one because the other two "prongs" aren't going to work.