Abuse, neglect, family violence, juvenile delinquency and risky behavior are problems that continue to place at risk the health, safety and even the lives of Darlington County teens, according to the latest Kids Count report. While some problem areas are showing signs of improvement, others, such as juvenile delinquency and deteriorating family conditions, are not, and some are getting worse, according to the 2001 Kids Count report, which monitors the conditions of children in South Carolina. Overall, the family support system is a good deal weaker than would normally be healthy for children. Beneath all of these problems, Holmes said, is a poverty rate that remains unacceptably high and well above the state average. Not only in Darlington County but throughout much of the Pee Dee, he said, the economic base is not sufficient to provide the support needed to improve education or to provide the kind of jobs that encourage strong family units.
Children depend on their families for material needs, stimulation and guidance.
Family life is different in numerous ways from previous generations, and many families now face exceptional challenges. Overall, 59.6 percent of all domestic assaults involve spouse abuse. In 1990, the rate was 22 percent above the state average. Of the babies born to teen mothers in 1998, 96.4 percent were born to single mothers, including babies whose fathers acknowledged paternity but had not married the mothers, the report says. Those figures are significant, the report says, because the success of children in school is strongly influenced by the education of their parents.