Problems in Baltimore

Balti much is a port metropolis that is filled with some popular tourist attractions such as its m drillums, aquarium, and sports teams. It is also a urban center that has been on the decline for many days. The criminal offence, drugs, and unemployment levels subscribe all risen everywhere the past cardinal decades. Back in the Baltimore heyday, it was a palmy metropolis with eminent levels of port traffic. Today however, the ports atomic number 18 not seeing as much activity as in the first place and that has led to an increase in unemployment and crime. Could Baltimore be on the homogeneous path Camden, NJ was on booming port overtaken by crime and drugs?The television series The Wire was ground in and on Baltimore. Created and written by a former diarist for the The Baltimore Sun, David Simon, each season foc hires on a different facet of the city the illegal drug trade, the sea port system, the city disposal and bureaucracy, the condition system, and the print c urrents media. The battle array tried to create a veridical vision of an American city through truthful characters. at that place are good cops portrayed in the channelise, however many of the officers are incompetent, guide excessive force, and are portrayed as having human qualities.Some residents and city officials credit the series for increased scrutiny by the media on its government, command system, drug problem, and crime. It did shed light on the illicit drug use in the city and its effects on the lower manikins ability to gravel in the fields of teaching method and organization. In 2011, the U. S. Census Bureau describe that Baltimore County, MD had a population consisting of 65. 4% white and 26. 8% unrelenting/African American residents. The median household income in Baltimore County is $63,959.Broken dash off further, minority median income is $31,400 versus $57,048 for white/caucasian residents. Across the country, taxes and costs of goods and run is on t he rise. It is very difficult for a family of four to live on $31,000 a year with appear public housing assistance and welfare programs. The me matu computerness statistics are very interesting. According to the census data, 28% of Baltimore families with children under the get along of 18 are living below the impoverishment level. That number increases to 40. % for female-headed families with no father present.The blame for meagreness is an age-old question which usually produces the same answers high taxes, barriers to occupational entry, and other economic factors. When you factor choice into the equation, the number change significantly. The privation rate diminishes greatly for households that choose to marry and catch children later in life, obtain a higher schooling, and stay of break jail. The poverty rate for married households with children under the age of 18 is 7. 4%.The answer seems simple obtain higher education and marry later in life. Cecelia Elena Rouse, a n economist and Dean of the Woodrow WilsonSchool of Public and International affairs at Princeton University, conducted focus groups in Baltimore City, MD. She was looking at income expectations to determine if thither was a correlation between expected income and college attendance. The sample consisted of low-income minority high take aim seniors. She found that income expectations of low-income minority students are not so different from higher-income students.Low-income students are less able to turn their college plans into college attendance (Rouse 1314). The Maryland State surgical incision of Education has reported that starting in 2007, city trails were beginning to show establish in its school reform effort graduation rank were rising epoch dropout rates were decreasing. While progress has been made, more melt down and focus ask to be d one in the Baltimore education system. The non-attendance rate has been recognized as a problem among low income students. Poor stu dents are four times more likely to be inveterateally absent-minded than their peers.Problems standing in the way of good school attendance acknowledge inadequate transportation, unstable housing, lack of health care, high incidence of chronic illness, and poor nutrition and safety concerns (Chang 7). Baltimore is one of deuce-ace cities that have attempt to address the issue of absenteeism. The school districts and the community have partnered in expression a ending of attendance. Strategic grants and investments have helped to make this possible. Franklin Square elementary and Middle School is a successful model in Baltimore. roughly 91% of its students receive free or reduced cost lunches and the class sizes are large, often 40 or more students in a class. Despite that, the school has one of the highest attendance rates in the city. There is an outreach program that holds students accountable and creates an environment of wanting to go to school. The school provides unmor tgaged uniforms, dental care, after school activities, and free haircuts to help boost attendance (Chang 9). The question that needs to be answered is can the high school culture in Baltimore continue to cultivate this safe, nurturing environment such as the one created at the Franklin School.Upper elementary and high school students offer new problems that need to be addressed teen pregnancy, drug use, and gangs being three that stand out the intimately. In the early 1990s, a deliberate was instituteed in Baltimore that focused on teen mothers. It started in the late 1960s and followed two hundred fifty teenage mothers who gave birth during that time. In 1988, the first innate(p) of the teenage mothers were in their teen historic period and the sample statistics showed 37% had dropped out of school, 46% had completed high school, and 17% went on to higher education.This study concluded thither was a direct correlation to the number of years the father was present, high matern al education aspirations, a couple of(prenominal) years on welfare, high preschool cognitive ability, attendance in preschool, and no grade trouble in elementary school and continued education beyond high school (Brooks-Gunn 278). In its fourth season, The Wire focused on the education system in Baltimore. A first year middle school math teacher, who was a former police detective, struggles to connect with his students. Many of these students were schooled in drug dealing and gang activities.He came to the realization that in crop to get them to learn, he had to trick them into learning. The fourth season of The Wire focused on the social conditions that cripple the Baltimore education system fragmented families, declining neighborhoods with few legitimate jobs, indifferent city leaders, and a lack of educational resources. sluice the students who want to learn face enormous obstacles, one of the biggest being the Baltimore education system compared to others in the country, is far behind. The Wire portrayed the problems plaguing the students and teachers.It is a ensample that will continue to be repeated multiplication after generation until the city, state, and federal governments make a commitment to rebuild it. According to the FBI crime statistics released in 2011, Baltimore is the fifth deadliest city in the country and the seventh most dangerous in overall violent crime despite its final homicide rate since the 1980s. It has taken decades of poverty, disinvestment in the community, and a general sense of desperation for Baltimore to become known as such a violent city. prehend and prosecuting criminals is a crucial step in combating crime, however reinvestment into the community by federal, state, and local anesthetic governments is also needed to turn the city into a safe, comfy environment. There is a long-standing theory that suggests that teens are more likely to use heroin, crack, and/or cocaine if they have first used alcohol or marijua na, the latter which is preceded by alcohol and tobacco. In a study that was conducted in Baltimore, the median age for first drug use (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) was 14 years of ago and first heroin, crack, and cocaine use was 17 years of age (Curry 441).Parental drug use was a determining factor in predicting childhood drug users and also peer influence (Curry 442). There needs to be continued focus on educating and rehabilitating the young drug users before they begin exploring with injection drug use. The Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance was launched in 2002 to establish a way of understanding the changing neighborhoods and quality of life in spite of appearance the city. Forty outcome indicators were developed in order to measure progress and to hold the city leadership accountable (Bembry 97).A study was conducted compare five US cities, Baltimore being one of them, and the effects of federal disbursement on the cities over time. Two health checks were take n, six years aside and looked at hardship factors poverty, unemployment, dependency, housing built before 1939, percentage without a high school diploma, and the crime rate (Parker 1844). In each city, there was significant progress over the span of six years which show that federal spending, or any spending at the federal, state, and/or local levels, can help revitalize the community.In tough economic times, there is more need for government funds to help the community as unemployment rates are high. High unemployment creates desperation which spurs crime. According to the Census Bureau, in 2011 one in four Baltimore residents lives in poverty leaving more than 37% of Baltimores children live in poverty. Being born into poverty is a good marker for being poor throughout life and creates an unblemished host of problems high school dropouts, high crime rates, high poverty rates.Similar to various historical periods in history, being born into poverty creates a high predisposition fo r remaining in poverty. Federal, state, and local programs have created positive change and effects in cities like Baltimore where crime and poverty are some of the highest in the country. However during difficult economic times, government spending is difficult to procure and if it is being spent incorrectly or ineffectually it is not reaching as many people as it could. Rebuilding a city that has been mired in poverty is a difficult task with high costs.History shows us that initiating change while children are young and reinforcing that change can foster growth inwardly a community. In Baltimore, urban planners are striving to rebuild communities with a mix of lower and middle income families. They feel this will improve the chances of residents maintaining their homes, patronise local business, going on to post high school education, and retentiveness their neighborhoods safe. Despite ominous statistics, Baltimore has shown some improvement through programs implemented by the government. A dedication by leaders and the community will be key in the rebuilding of Baltimore.