A unified effort is needed to address the risky behaviors threatening the lives of Union County’s children, was the message heard during a community forum Tuesday night.

Initiating such an effort was the goal of the forum, held at Union County High School’s Career and Technology Center. Dale Goff, assistant superintendent for instruction, said the purpose of the forum was to: first, create a community awareness of risky behaviors students are engaging in and, second, bring together the school district and community agencies to develop a plan to address those behaviors.

The next step would be an exchange of ideas between the forum’s participants who might possibly break up into smaller groups to tackle the various risky behaviors outlined, Mrs.Goff said. These would then be brought together address the behaviors and the factors that influence young people to engage in them.

The behaviors include:

• Sexual activity/teen pregnancy/sexually transmitted diseases

• Tobacco/drug, alcohol use and abuse

• Body image/weight management issues

• Violence including bullying, harassment and gang activity

• Domestic violence issues

Union County Sheriff David Taylor and Union Public Safety Director Sam White spoke on the problem of gang activity. Taylor presented a slide show which featured photos of local teenagers giving gang signs and wearing gang colors, tattoos and jewelry. Some of the pictures were taken on the grounds of Union County High School and one of the teens shown giving gang signs was pictured in another photo wearing a football uniform.

Taylor also showed news articles from around the Upstate about gang activities in other counties including one about a crime in Newberry involving members of Mexico’s MS-13, one of the world’s largest and most dangerous gangs. According to the FBI, there are 1 million gang members in America and 80 percent of the crime in this country is gang-related.

Risky behaviors such as bullying help fuel the growth of gangs. Taylor said a child bullied may very well turn to a gang for protection and then find themselves in other their head with no way out. Poverty can also play a role as a child needing money may go to a gang leader and offer to sell drugs for them, further swelling the gang’s numbers and coffers.

Taylor said his office is seeking a $60,000 federal grant to fund a program in which officers would go into the schools and talk to students about the dangers of gang activity. He said it would be similar to the D.A.R.E. program where officers talked to students about the dangers of drugs.

The forum also included a review of the indicators contributing to students engaging in risky behavior:

• 19 percent unemployment

• 75 percent of school age children in poverty

• 22 percent increase in pregnancies ages 10-19 from 2004-2006

• 29.7 percent of children in single-parent homes

• One-third of adults without a high school diploma

What’s working

The forum also reviewed the programs that have been initiated to combat risky behaviors including the district’s mentoring program; character education involving counselors, teachers and administrators; career awareness that helps students understand that the education they’re receiving matters and can make a difference in their lives; bullying curriculum; the truancy program which helps keeps children in school where they’re safe and can learn; and the Family Resource Center’s Outreach program.