I ask that our schools be not only a place to learn but a place to meet the complete developmental needs of our young people. I ask that our schools play a greater role in the emotional and cultural development of our children as well as carry out their function to develop our young people intellectually. The children of America are at greater risk today than at any time in recent memory. Changes in society and changes in family structure have diminished many of the traditional resources for nurturing our young people. Two-thirds of our children live in homes where both parents are working away from home.
Mother comes home from work to a house without a spouse, tired and depressed.
She is faced with the chatter of her latchkey child, about whom she has worried all the livelong day. Weary, she snaps at her child, telling him or her to shut up and go watch television. She has no one to comfort her, no one with whom to share the burden of parenting. Her mother is a long-distance telephone call away, and even a night call is more than she can afford. She is so alone and lonely.