Caring for Utah's children

According to national KIDS COUNT data, Utah has gone from ninth in the nation for "child well-being" up to sixth. Utahns should be pleased. But they should also be far from satisfied. Finishing sixth means five states are doing things Utah is not. We should study their programs and adopt what fits. To paraphrase Terry Haven of KIDS COUNT, hungry kids in Utah don't care that there are hungrier kids in 44 other states. And though Utah improved its care for children living in single-parent families, infant mortality problems, teen birth rate and other areas, Utah's child poverty rate also shot up 30 percent. Cutbacks in vital federal programs helped drive that increase. The difference must be made up.

Utah also struggles with its child death rate. Those deaths are usually associated with automobiles. The figures show a need for parents to spend more time talking to their children about safety around cars and practicing safety measures themselves.

Nevertheless, Utah did show a marked improvement in caring for low-birthweight babies and the number of teens dropping out of school. The figures speak well of Utah's proactive approach to not only educating its citizens about problems, but the willingness of Utahns to intervene with hands-on help whenever possible.

In the end, with a little work, Utah could move up a notch or two again next year — perhaps eventually earning the No. 1 spot.

That's the bright side of the situation.

The dim side is that Utahns will never be giving enough, trying enough or caring enough until every child in the state is being nurtured. It was John Dewey who said, "What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, the community must want for all its children."

It's not a bad motto.

We commend all those whose efforts have helped Utah to do such an admirable job watching out for its youngest citizens.

We urge everyone — from parents to public servants — to keep working hard and imagining fresh ways to help the state's children get a fair shake at the beginning of their lives.