- 2 infan are born into porty - 34 infan die - 1,334 teenagers become xually active for the first time - 827 teen ge women be­ come pregnant - 4 children die by firearms - 5 young adul ,ag 20 to 24, die by fireanr. - 1 child commits suicide -125 children are arrested for vlolentcri - 3,374 tudent are s peDded from public chool - 478 tuden drop out of school Please, won't you join us in bying to do omething about it? The 1992 National Observance of Children's Sabbaths wa recently celebrated in churche and ynagogues throughout the nation. I devoted an earlier column to the Children's Sabbath, but now, I w nt to reemphasize the importance of your involvement. This event was born out of the growing religious movement for children acros the range of denominations. Throughout the weekend, congregations cro nation _ol'lnblpk:rrteBir-r.I�"�Wri.1k Ices, r e4 ..... ___, rograms the needs of children and how people of faith can help to meet those needs. Your congregation may al­ ready be involved. Two dynamic ministers, Reverend Allegra S. Hoo and Dr. Susan Newman, have joined CDF as Religious Coordinators in the Black com­ munity. This summer, they at­ tended most of the all-Black denominational annual conven­ tions, organizing support nation­ ally and targeting Children's Sabbaths services in Baltimore, Boston, Cambridge, Dallas, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh aDd Washington, D.C. CHI ATCH An "AMEN" For Our Children OURSEVEN·DAY devotion­ al guide for observing the Children's Sabbath has been sent to thousands of Black churches, and to the more than 1,000 African-American congregations within predominately white denominations. The kits can be easily duplicated and inserted into each church's bulletin. We've sent general devotional guides to thousands of Catoolic and Protestant churches and Jewish synagogues. We've ask congregations and religious com­ munities throughout American to include our children in their prayers. And I am very thankful to those who have agreed to join us in this special observation. Encourage your minister to ob­ serve a Children's Sabbath. Ask your congregation to make a com­ mitment to helping our children overcome the death, drugs, crime and poverty that is devastating our communities. Remind your leaders of the need to contribute to your community's Child-serving and child-advocating agencies. Chal­ lenge your church to join those churches offering such exciting ministries as after-school tutorial programs, mentoring programs, adopt-a-teen programs, rites of passage ministries, parental sup­ port groups, college preparation workshops and spiritual dynamics for today's youth. S WltchA10 ·t HIGHLAND PARK I W . : - A 197.9 tudyby ancy WeItheimer and Ed Leeper t the Unive 'ty 0 Co orado following the Ii 0 344 children between 1950 nd 1973 revealed t there a two-thri incI1e1Se in leukemia, lymphoma and DCIVO ys m