Children at risk.

We are fond of saying how much we value and respect our children and how we want the best for them. This is true, especially for those likely to read this journal. However, our desire for children's well-being doesn't necessarily translate into policies that are helpful to them.

The three videos/DVDs reviewed here are prime examples of how well-meaning ideas get translated into policies that are toxic for the children they are intended to help. Often, this comes from inadequate budgeting, inappropriate allocation of funds, ignorance, corporate greed, and misuse of power, as well as total misunderstanding of what children are about and what promotes healthy growth and development. Essentially, those who are knowledgeable need to work more effectively to keep policymakers informed of what children need to enable them to develop into contributing citizens.

Each of the videos/DVDs reviewed tackles "at-risk" children from a different perspective: cultural, social, and health. Many children are unfortunate enough to fit under each of these categories. When viewing Rabbit-Proof Fence, it is easy to think "we don't do that kind of thing anymore." While that may be technically true, Jonathan Kozol, in his most recent book, Shame of the Nation, points out how we segregate and create disadvantage for children in U.S. school systems on a daily basis.

Perhaps we like to think our children are well-nourished. Certainly, height and weight charts could lend support to that fallacy. Viewing Good Food/Bad Food: Obesity in American Children is likely to burst that myth. Obesity, as the DVD points out, is a form of malnutrition. Its incidence has tripled and the average 11-year-old child in 2003 weighed 11 pounds more than in 1973. Childhood obesity also leads to Type II diabetes, because children's insulin production is insufficient for overweight bodies.

Finally, we surely take care of children's mental health needs, don't we? We certainly don't want our children to grow up mentally dysfunctional or become criminals. In Are the Kids Al-right?, we are encouraged to face up to another failure in caring for the most vulnerable "at-risk" children. While government policy is to improve the achievement of schoolchildren, some need mental health problems addressed before greater achievement is even on the horizon. Together, these three videos/DVDs are powerful and cause caring adults--parents, educators, caregivers--to stop and think about how disparate are our ideals and policies. Let's bring the policymakers on board!

RABBIT-PROOF FENCE

Miramax Home Entertainment, 93 min., DVD 2003 Australia's aboriginal eradication program in the 1930s was a demonstration of how well-meaning people who see themselves as decent and self-righteous can disrupt a culture they deem inferior. This astounding story about the horrible racist policies in Australia centers on three young mixed-race aboriginal girls, Molly (Evelyn Sampi), Gracie (Laura Monaghan), and Daisy (Tiana Sansbury), who were brutally taken from their families and sent to an abusive "education" camp to train them as servants and eventually marry them to whites in an effort to "breed the blackness out of them" and eradicate their culture. The distress of these three girls and the families they were torn from holds the viewer riveted.

Molly, Gracie, and Daisy (12, 9, and 7 years old, respectively) endured wretched experiences at the hands of their keepers at the camp. Withholding of food, water, adequate shelter, and sleep were but a few of the indignities they experienced. Throughout their time at the camp, they expressed their distress in ways that resulted in more punishment until they finally dared to leave and attempt the 1,500-mile trek back to their home village. In many ways, their trip was more punishing than the school had been, but the freedom they experienced as they walked kept them motivated. All the while, a reluctant tracker (played by Kenneth Branagh) representing the government stalked them. The force of will to overcome unfair treatment and adversity is compelling, especially when it comes from children.

This is a great movie for several reasons. It brings to light a brutal and unethical policy that continued until the 1970s. It is a true story and two of the girls (now elderly women) appear in the movie. The story provides both adventure and political commentary. The "true" story is actually much worse than portrayed, because the white supremacy program affected these girls and countless others like them throughout their lives. To add to these strengths, the girls, inexperienced actresses, present as charming and believable.

This powerful movie could be enjoyed by children the ages of the girls portrayed. It is important to remember that this was not a onetime event, but the carrying out of a policy that stood for over 100 years. It seems likely that American children familiar with the African American experience will see this as something analogous to their own history.

The movie leaves one wondering if there are any limits to "man's inhumanity to man," especially in terms of setting one culture over another.

GOOD FOOD/BAD FOOD: Obesity in American Children By Allie Light, Irving Saraf, & Nancy Evans; Fanlight Productions; Light-Saraf Films, 31 min., 2005. http://fanlight.com/catalog/films/429_ gfbf.php1-800-937-4113; ISBN: 1-57295-811-1 A peek into almost any classroom in the United States will confirm what you have been hearing for some time. Many American children are overweight or obese. This 31-minute video gives insight into how obesity among children and adolescents has become such a major epidemic in the United States, why it must be stopped, and how difficult it can be to achieve that task.

For most people, losing weight isn't easy. Why? The answer lies in our attitudes toward food, our food histories, lack of physical activity, and busy lifestyles. Our children learn from the adults who care for them. If permitted in early life, they will choose the types of food they need on their own, and can be trusted to eat a reasonably balanced diet even though they may also engage in "food jags." Thus, when adults--parents, teachers, other caregivers, and those marketing food products--provide or encourage food choices that are not healthy, children are learning to eat foods that may not be nutritious for them. These choices become habits.

Overweight or obesity begins very early in children's lives. If one parent is obese, a high probability exists that the child will be as well. Other contributing factors include: lack of exercise (these days, children rarely play outdoors after school often for safety reasons); television advertisements intended to engage children in family buying decisions; severe reductions in recess and physical education in favor of test preparation in schools; the decline of home-cooked meals in favor of fast food; and many other contributors.

In Good Food/Bad Food, the issues around childhood obesity are addressed in powerful demonstrations, interviews with young people who are battling or would like to battle being overweight, and even humor. This video (on VHS or DVD) could be used with children, especially those in middle to late childhood, very effectively. Some of the demonstrations could be carried out in a classroom for even greater impact. The film could be the beginning of a serious campaign to reduce childhood obesity and set a course for healthier eating.

ARE THE KIDS ALRIGHT? Karen Bernstein & Ellen Spiro, ISBN: 1-57295-810-3 Catalogue No. DVD-428, Mobilus Media, 57 min., DVD 2004 Children's mental health is in crisis! This documentary, which is set in Texas, presents the cases of three children--a boy about 8 years old, a girl about 13 years of age, and a boy age 16--and follows them from initial or early contact with the children's mental health system through efforts to obtain effective treatment and rehabilitation. Throughout the film, the pain and frustration faced by children and their families when a mental health crisis arises feels palpable. Parents are worried about their children's future, even considering relinquishing their rights as parents in hopes of their child obtaining mental health treatment as wards of the state. Other parents are afraid to take their overtly suicidal children home because they fear the child is a danger to himself or others. But there is no choice: there are no beds for children in the local mental health hospital.

The audience is present in the courtroom when the judge, a caring woman who minces no words as she talks with parent(s) and child about what will happen if the behavior doesn't change. She tells families what they need to do, apologizes for the lack of state financial support, and devises plans for the families and children to follow.

At the Texas Statehouse, legislators are asked by concerned constituents (some of them affected parents) and heads of government agencies charged with providing services for children to deal with this critical issue. Tellingly, these very articulate advocates are met with such statements as, "We don't have the money" and "We don't want to raise taxes." Although only 20 percent of children in need of mental health services can receive them because of budget constraints, there are no current plans for change. The viewer gets the impression that being reelected is of prime importance to the legislators and that raising taxes, or even suggesting such a thing, will be the kiss of death to their political careers. Charities are no longer a strong option, because they have been burned out and are receiving fewer and smaller donations as the income levels of middle-class people decline. The hidden message is that children don't vote, so they don't have any power.

The crisis in children's mental health is also linked to poverty. Such diseases as asthma, cancer, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes contribute to the stresses on families, making it doubly difficult for them to seek, find, or pay for services. Another problem is that mental health problems are often denied because they tend to be stigmatized and associated with "craziness." Thus, many people with mental health problems avoid seeking help.

This DVD is a must-watch for those concerned with the whole child. Mental health concerns are serious and don't exist in a vacuum. Denial is not a way to raise children who will be equipped to succeed in today's and tomorrow's worlds.