Young Adults and College

How many young adults are missing out on college? It's extremely unfortunate that young adults are missing out on going to college due to financial issues. I know what people are thinking, that there are so many loans and grants out there to help young adults get through college. Most of the money that is available for young adults is through different corporations that are offering a student with the highest G.P.A. in there class or high SAT. What about the young adults who get into these major universities but there family background does not allow them financially to go to college.

One of the major grants today that numerous young adults receive is through the government which is the Pell Grant. The Pell Grant is a grant that college students receive only if the student qualifies through the system. The student most come from a family in which the student and the family can prove that they can not afford for college. In 2008 the government has announced that more money will be issued to college student that qualify for Pell Grant. With that helping college students a little more there is still a numerous number of young adults that are finding themselves unable to afford college.

Another major issue to look at is the difference between a public school and a private school. The cost for private school is extremely more expensive than the cost of public schools. Because private schools can raise their tuition more every year than public schools, it's becoming a major problem if college is affordable even after loans and grants. I found that 39% of first year college students borrowed money in 1999-2000. I also found within the same article that student loans rates are extremely high with $23,000 for dependent undergrads. As a result we are finding that there are helping hands to get by for college students, but many still find themselves unable to live off what is provided for them through different grants and loans. The picture here to the left is a chart that shows the average cost of public colleges and the out of pocket money that these families can afford for their college students.

Overall, the high demand for young adults to attend college today is over 70 percent. The problems that one has to face is the cost! It's extremely unfortunate that young adults miss out of an opporuity of a life time because college is too expensive. Or even have to settle for less because of the cost. Something that everyone should keep in mind is the fact that college is only getting more expensive everyday. Think about the next generation in your family and how you can start saving for them now.

Young Stars With Server Problems

Today when young children turn on the television today, they see their favorite young stars on the big screen. But, are they viewing the right things? Now a days, it is well known that young Hollywood stars are finding themselves with more issues than ever before. Why is this happening? And are these the ideal "young celebrities" parents want their children to look up to? Its obvious that these young stars have many issues such as drug and alcohol problems and some eating disorders. The photo here to the right is a picture of Lindsay Lohan a childhood star and "ideal role model" for young adults today. In this photo we have Lindsay with a bottle of whiskey and a bag of coke. Do parents find her an ideal role model?

First of all, to touch on the drug and alcohol problems I would like to focus on a few main celebrity's that children look up to today. With the main one being Lindsay Lohan who is famous from her childhood movie "Parent Trap and Herbie." It started off with her moving to Los Angeles on her own at age eighteen. When she got to LA we can say she was hanging around the "party crowd" with people such as Paris Hilton and even Nicole Richie. Right away we see Lindsay partying all hours of the night and losing tremendous weight extremely fast. The picture here to the right is a picture of Lindsay and Nicole Richie extremely skinny and unhealthy. So one can say would children really be able to read and understand what Vanity Fair magazine is saying about these two young Hollywood stars. Probably not, but I'm sure concerned parents will tend to dislike these images and most likely not support their children's likings for these young stars. The young Hollywood star was seen all over Los Angeles nightlife doing and saying the most outrageous things, the only answer for her actions, was drugs! It's unfortunate that these young Hollywood stars are going through these experiences. But, is it because they want the action or maybe the pressure of success as a young actress?

We can also discuss the whole idea of "image" within young Hollywood stars. What is the "ideal weight" to look good in Hollywood? Looking at some of these young stars one can say to themselves are these young adults on drugs or have possible eating disorders or even a combination of both. Looking at young star Mary Kat Olsen (in the picture to the left) who grow up on the television series Full House, checked herself into rehab at only eighteen years old for having an eating disorders. As shown here to the left Mary Kat is signing autographs for a group of fans and looks extremely skinny. The problem with this is , Mary Kat is an "role model" for young adults and going in public as skinny as she is portrays being skinny is "cool" makes children think that is the way their suppose to look. She is not healthy and is showing how unnourished she is with a backless dress on. The sad thing with Mary Kat is between her twin sister and her alone she's worth thirty eight million dollars. With a young Hollywood star being worth that much money at such a young age, the issue that also has came up was are these children getting themselves into trouble thinking they can pay their way out of things?


Overall, the scary thought is with all the problems that has been coming out about these young Hollywood stars and their problematic life styles, are parents comfortable with there children watching "coked out" Lindsay Lohan's movie "Herbie" or Mary Kat Olsen's Disney channel movies with eating disorders. I can not speak for everyone but there are parents that have now not allowed their children to be "fans" of these young Hollywood problematic stars. I must say that is it a worry for parents to allow their children to be fans of these young stars that find themselves being arrested or in trouble with the law every week. The only way to possible get through to these young stars is to maybe stop supporting the problems they bring to their lives. By this I mean, stop taking children to see maybe Lindsay Lohan's latest movie, or buy Paris Hilton's new cd, and even allow their children to watch the "Simple Life" with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie on television. There are ways to prevent our youth today to not be so focused on these non focused young Hollywood stars today. Our youth is our future, we need to do everything possible to protect them from being "brain washed" with nonsense Hollywood drama.

The Government Playing as Parent: Are Children Safe?

Are children safe today? This is a question that runs through a parent’s head every time their child is out of sight from them. Now a days, you can never be so sure if your child is save or not. In 2001, 837,055 people in the United States were missing at one point, out of that number 80 percent were children. The government has created systems that help parents today make sure there is safety for their children. I want to focus on two very different government ran systems that are extremely effective to help parents have more safety over their children.


The first effective government system I want to focus on for the safety of children would be the system to have registered sex offenders be known. This system is extremely effective in which it is open to the public to know whether or not parents are moving next door to a sex offender who possibly has a thing for young children. The picture shown to the left is a photo of Abel Quero who is a registered sex offender in the two mile radius of USC. By having this system it helps parents to be more aware of their surroundings to keep their children safe and secure. If I was a parent I would not want to be stressed out when my child are outside playing, because I lived in a neighborhood were there was a numerous amount of registered sex offenders. When I researched this topic I typed in the zip code of USC area and found that in a two block radius of the campus there was 93 registered sex offenders. I found that this system is extremely helpful to concerned parents who want to live within a community were their children are safe while they’re outside playing. With the help from the government on making sex offenders register helps parents to know if they are living next door to someone who has been convicted of violating a child’s youth.


On the other hand, I decided to also focus on the wonderful system that the government created which is the amber alert. The picture shown here to the right is the breaking news reports when the amber alert is put into effect. This system has been able to send out an alert across the interstate highways when a child have been kidnapped. This system has saved over a hundred children since activated in 2002. This program has helped parents feel that the government is playing a major role in keeping children as safe as possible. The power of keeping our children safe is one of the most important feelings that any parents can possibly have. It’s hard for parents to feel safe with letting their children go outside and play or even head off to school now a days with the craziness that our world has come to. I personally feel that the amber alert is a great success for parents to feel more comfortable with the government helping to protect children.

With the government playing as a parent, can a sure that children now a days are far more protected than ever before. With the focus of these two systems, parents can feel more comfortable for the safety of their children. For any parent, the concern of safety has to cross their minds everyday when their child is out of their sight. But, with the governments help behind them it makes them feel a sort of comfort.

Children In Poverty

It seems as though today society is oblivious to the fact that there are so many children in the world living within poverty. Now a days, we have numerous foundations that cater to helping orphan children on the streets. There is one particular city that I want to focus more on which is Mexico City in Mexico. Mexico City is the largest city within the country of Mexico with a population of twenty million people. With that being said one fifth of Mexican children in Mexico City are living in poverty.
There are many issues that come along with one fifth of Mexican children in Mexico City living within poverty. The main issue that I want to focus on is the lack of education that these children are not receiving because they have no birth certificates which means there is no identification of these kids. These children are roaming the streets of Mexico City begging for money and putting on tricks or shows are various stop lights. While these children are living on the streets and hanging around during the day with nothing to do, other children are receiving an education that these children are not able to get. I also want to focus on another point, these children have no parental guidance and find themselves doing anything to be on drugs everyday. This is a major issue with children using various drugs on the streets on Mexico City causing it to be a dangerous place for anyone to be. The issue with this is the fact that these children are sharing needles to get high which can spread HIV. It’s hard for uneducated young adults to know these things when you learn that in school. I also want to touch on the fact that these children are in desperate help. I actually have gone to Mexico City numerous times to help build homes for these children and work with them on educational issue that they are lacking. This is a serious issue that has been going on in Mexico City and I find it that people are unaware of the situation that is acquiring there.

So America says to themselves why should we be concerned with Mexico City? One main reason we should help is the simple fact that Mexico City has the highest poverty and homeless children in the world. Which not only says how the country is doing with trying to help get these kids off the streets, but how much the government cares. Secondly, because they’re our neighbors and the concern with some of these children coming across into our country with all the issues they have gone through is scary and a risk factor for our country. Possibly sending them help could keep some of them from trying to come across to the United States. The United States has had 11.2 million immigrants come into the country since 1990 to 2000. Out of those 11.2 million immigrants 8 million of them are Mexicans.

After researching on the poverty rates that children are living in today, it’s hard to believe that there could be such a thing as children who are homeless and on the streets. With all the money that runs through the market place today how could any person that’s worth millions or even billions of dollars not want to make enough programs to bring down the poverty rate or almost make homeless children on the streets vanish to what every child should be entitled to which is a the right to an education and a roof over their heads. Also, researching on the Mexican poverty rate in Mexico City amongst children I also discovered that the richest man in the world as of October of 2007 is from Mexico City. Carlos Slim who is a Mexican who runs a cell phone company resides in Mexico City is helping as much as he can, by donating 250,000 laptops to libraries and schools. With that being said, there is someone at least recognizing that it is important for the “future” which is our youth today to have an education to keep the turning point of our world market to get better every generation.