Impact of Spartanburg Youth

• | Print |
•  Email

1)Here is some information on Education in our community:

High School Achievement:
A higher percentage of students in Spartanburg County are graduating high school and a lower percentage of students are dropping out of school.

HS Grad Rate, 2007
Spartanburg                                                  76.1%
Greenville                                                     69.6%
Richland                                                       71.1%
Charleston                                                    61.3%    
SC Average                                                   70.9%

Our schools are doing a good job of retaining and graduating its students, and our students are working hard to achieve. (Community Indicators)

Drop Out Rate:
30% of all high school students drop out of school before graduation.
--This is too great a number and, unfortunately, this statistic is true nationwide as well.
(Community Indicators)

Dropouts are more likely to be:
Unemployed
In Poor Health
Living in Poverty
On Public Assistance
Single Parents with Children who also drop out of high school
Nearly completely missing from the civic lives of their communities.

Dropouts are also:
3 Times more likely than college graduates to be unemployed
Twice as likely as high school graduates to slip into poverty
8 Times more likely to be in jail or prison as a high school graduate
(The Silent Epidemic www.silentepidemic.org )

College Attainment
A lower percentage of our population have attained a bachelor’s degree than our peer
counties. (Community Indicators)

Population over 25 who hold bachelor’s degrees or above:

Spartanburg                                            19.2%                
Greenville                                               27.1%                
Richland                                                 35.5%        
Charleston                                              36.1%                
SC Average                                             22.7%

Here is some information on Teen Pregnancy:

Last year, there were 690 teen pregnancies in our county alone.
That’s enough kids to fill 35 kindergarten classrooms in just a few years.
In 2007, the rate of Adolescent Pregnancy (Ages 10-19) was 37.7 per 1,000.
The good news: That rate has decreased from 46.4 per 1,000 in 1997.

This means that more young MEN and WOMEN are deciding that youth is a time to be young,
to be educated, to work towards their futures—not a time to become parents before they are
ready. The more young people who are willing to make that decision, the better.
(www.teenpregnancy.org )

But, the annual direct costs of adolescent pregnancy in Spartanburg County, excluding private
insurance costs, totals over $20 million. That cost our county $2.5 million in child bearing
expenses alone. Think this doesn’t affect you? It affects every single one of us.
(Community Indicators)

Here is some information on how Alcohol/Tobacco/and Other Drugs affects youth and affects us all locally:

Think underage drinking doesn’t lead to problems?

A person is 4 times more likely to develop a drinking disorder later in life if they take their first
drink by age 16. (United Way of the Piedmont)

Of the people the Spartanburg Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (SADAC) see for alcohol
problems, 89% started drinking before they were age 21.

The truth is, people’s brains continue to develop until they are about 25 years old. Introducing
an addictive substance to a person’s brain while it is still growing makes it much, much more
susceptible to addiction than waiting until the legal age to drink.

Here are some statistics on Teen Violence/Crime:

Number of school aged youth in county aged 10-16 (07-08):  26,850    
Number of youth on probation: 180
Number of youth on intensive supervision (current):  40
Bottom Line: Most Youth are not involved in crimes.
(Spartanburg County SCDJJ, 2008)

For fiscal year 2006, there were 1,020 Juvenile Cases in Spartanburg County.
This rate is less than all our peer counties except Richland County, and significantly lower than
Charleston, SC.

In 2007, there were 440 Crimes with Juvenile Suspects in the city of Spartanburg alone.
Although significant, that number has decreased from 804 in 2006, and 898 in 2005!
(City of Spartanburg Public Safety Department)

Poverty impact us all in many ways, and especially impacts young people:

In our county, 15.2% of our youth under 18 years live in poverty.
This compares to 12.3 % of our citizens, adults and young people.
(2006 American Community Survey www.factfinder.census.gov )

What are the chances of a child growing up in poverty if:

1)    the mother gave birth as a teen
2)    the parents were unmarried when the child was born
3)    the mother did not receive a high school diploma or GED

ANSWER:

27% if 1 of these things happens
42% if 2 of these things happen
64% if 3 of these things happen

BUT, if none of these things happen, a child’s chance of growing up in poverty is 7%.