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Show "BLACK BABIES DIE at a rate nearly twice that of white babies," Dr. Calvin Slnnette told members of Phi Beta Sigma during an "Education "Edu-cation for Parenthood" workshop. Dr. Sinnette is professor of pediatrics pedi-atrics and director of community pediatrics at Harlem Hospital Center In New York City. Health Education Project Directed at Urban Youth Speaking to sixteen college men at the March of Dimes ( MOD ) headquarters in White Plains, (N. Y.), Charles Wright, MOD assistant director di-rector of youth activities, explored ex-plored the psyche of the urban ur-ban youth. "A day in the life of a black city boy can often be confusing confus-ing and unfulfilling," says Mr. Wright. "He is uncertain about what the future holds, his family fam-ily and friends are on his back, and he's not feeling too well because he doesn't know how to take proper care of himself. "Your job as counselors and big brothers in the Boys' Clubs of America facilities around the country is to pick up the pieces in this boy's life and help him put himself back together." to-gether." This talk was part of an orientation workshop launching launch-ing a pilot project, "Education for Parenthood". The young men, all members of Phi Beta Sigma, a predominantly black service fraternity, are very interested in-terested in focusing on black city boys and educating them about the present and future importance in their lives of good health habits. The "Education for Parenthood" Parent-hood" program is a cooperative effort of Phi Beta Sigma, the -Boys' Clubs of America, and the March of Dimes. The fraternity fra-ternity provides volunteers; the Boys' Clubs has arranged for program testing at their sites in Chicago, Houston, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C.; and the March of Dimes gives funds for training and educational aids. "The four-day workshop marks the beginning of an exciting, ex-citing, innovative program," says Mr. Wright. "Between the enthusiasm of the students and the knowledge we gained from the speakers,- we are well on our way to meeting health education edu-cation needs of boys who will be tomorrow's fathers." Dr. Calvin Sinnette, Professor Pro-fessor of Pediatrics and Director Di-rector of Community Pediatrics at Harlem Hospital Center in New York City, gave some significant facts in his medical presentation. "Did you know that black babies die at a rate nearly twice as high as that of white babies," asked the doctor, doc-tor, "and that many infants are born junkies?" He pointed out that the non-white non-white population has an infant mortality rate of 30 per 1,000 births, as opposed to the white infant mortality rate of 15 per 1,000 births. Dr. Sinnette said that prematurity, prenatal infection, in-fection, poor nutrition, congenital con-genital disorders, narcotic withdrawal with-drawal syndrome, accidents, child abuse, and environmental hazards are underlying causes of this wide discrepancy. Boys in the cities can be made aware of these factors and fully appreciate ap-preciate the need for devel oping proper health care and good nutrition early in life. To help the students better understand the boys they will be counseling, Herbert Lowe, assistant director of programs for the Boys' Clubs, coordinated coordi-nated role-playing skits with the trainees. Through value-probing value-probing exercises directed by Dr. Cynthia Morton, project consultant, the young men ex- plored other forces at work on both themselves and the boys, like peer pressure, self-identity, and family background. "Although results will not occur overnight," says Mr. Wright, "we believe the program pro-gram will be successful and intend to expand it to the more than 250 cities where there are Phi Beta Sigma chapters." |
