January 12th, '03
Scary Statistics

Driving to work this morning, I heard the following news on the radio:

Over the past year in Jerusalem, there has been a thirty percent increase in the number of school-age children that have been referred to the social services because they have been caught drinking alcohol during school hours.

It has become increasingly hard to shock me these days, but this really threw me for a loop.

On the other hand, why should I be surprised? Everyone in Israel, not just in Jerusalem, is under tremendous stress. The security situation hasn't been this bad since the 1950s. The economy is in a shambles. And constant reports of government corruption are chipping away at our already low morale. Even the most die-hard Zionists are beginning to fear that there's no one steering this ship.

I'm sure that many parents are handling this sense of helplessness by hitting the bottle (and hopefully, they're not hitting their spouses at the same time... another grim phenomenon that has been documented as being on the rise). If they see it at home, the kids follow suit.

If they are not shielded by their parents, Israeli children are exposed to horrific news on a daily basis. And no matter how "gently" or "professionally" kids are prepared for the possibility of war in the region, it cannot add to their confidence to be drilled on the proper way to put on a gas mask.

Sigh. I wish there was some way I could end this diary entry on an "up" note.

Maybe tomorrow.

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