20/20 A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains

[kantuckyII]

I did NOT see it but I did see Diane Sawyer on The O'Reilly Factor last night and I was pretty upset about that. I have been all over Kentucky, from it's eastern tip to the Paducah region and all of southern Kentucky, everywhere but the Louisville area and I have to say, they had to work mighty darned hard to find the images they did (again, this was just what I saw on O'Reilly).

I laughed cause, I've watched enough of 'COPS' on TV to know that you find this same sort of thing in larger cities all over the United States. Yeah, you can find this sort of thing but you can find it everywhere in the country. She was discussing the Berea area last night which is right outside of Lexington and right off I -75. She made it look like it's in the jungle somewhere.

[orange-n-brown 365]

I watched and yes its in all area's now there are kids here in the hills of southeastern ohio that deals with the same poverty same drugs and alcohol abuse..
i was in tears over the young man that I thought was going to escape by going to college it was so sad that he couldn't make it..

[85inside]

Isnt Sawyer from Glasgow Kentucky?

[BubbleGumTiger]

Isnt Sawyer from Glasgow Kentucky?

A native of Glasgow, Ky., and raised in Louisville, Sawyer received a B.A. from Wellesley College in 1967 and completed a semester of law school before deciding on a career in broadcasting.

[ballparent]

I watched it and it was heartbreaking, but something that a few of us see everyday. Even though it was filmed in Eastern Kentucky it reflected the lives of many of the children of Appalachia, including those in the Ironton area.
If you're in any profession or even a volunteer position that deals with working with children of our region I can highly recommend reading the books by Ruby Payne. They are eye opening. Here are two of her best:

http://www.amazon.com/Framework-Understanding-Poverty-Ruby-Payne/dp/1929229488/ref=sr_1_1/181-8171713-2953745?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234626801&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Bridges-Poverty-Philip-DeVol-Dreussi/dp/1929229690/ref=sr_1_7/178-4260537-6991134?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234626943&sr=1-7

[ballparent]

Did anyone see this last night? I found it very interesting. Even though it was a very harsh picture of Eastern Kentucky and the area, it is real. We have similiar issues with kids, drugs, and welfare dependence in southern Ohio as well. I was just wondering what everyone thought about it.

We have similiar issues with kids, drugs, and welfare dependence in southern Ohio as well.

It's generational, and it's very difficult to convince children that there is a life that can be lived in another way. It's all they and their parents have ever known.

[kantuckyII]

Sawyer is from Glasgow but raised in Louisville. I spent a week in Glasgow last spring. It's a very nice community. I don't know, maybe the show was better but if it was anything like the interview I saw on O'Reilly, she done a serious injustice to the state!

[orange-n-brown 365]

i know of a family who indeed has everyone in the family on ssi 5 kids(that is if they aren't added to or have added since the last time i saw them) and both parents.. they live just like those folks on the show last night but are hauling in 7 ssi checks... I know of 2 of my family members fought for 3 to 4 years to get ssi disability one due to a bad heart the other bad lungs and many other illness had to get lawyers to get them money to live.. had it not been for other family members my one family member would have died of starvation and from lack of medicines but with the family above it is a generation thing the dad and his girlfriends and other kids all receive it also why??? because we allow it to happen...

[footballfan]

There really needs to be a overhaul with SSI, Welfare, and other federal assistance programs....for every 1 deserving person that is benefitted there is 4 stealing from the system. Put these people to work for their benefits...they can do something for their check. I watched the program and wanted to puke. Lazy....LAZY, drug dependent Americans tearing our great country down 1 check at a time. I feel for the children...when born into these circumstances the government shouldn't award a bigger check but seize the child and place them in a better home....maybe this would stop this endless cycle or at least stop the crooks from having kids for a bigger check.