South High School - Sabre Yearbook (Wichita, KS)

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Social issues affect lives, environment Our society was a throwaway society. We discarded everything from soda bottles to automobiles when their usefulness or novelty ended. Some parents even discarded their kids. Most kids who were on the streets had either run away from parents or guard- ians who abused them or they were throwaways whose parents kicked them out. Of the estimated two million prostitutes in the United States, 600,000 of them were 18 years old or younger. They came from every status and every state, from good and bad backgrounds, from large towns and small ones. Every year there seemed to be more. Statistics from the FBI showed that between 1967 and 1976, teenage girls entering prostitution jumped 242 percent. Drugs and alcohol con- tinued to be a problem with runaways. Suicide is never a pleas- ant subject, but perhaps the most tragic suicides are those of the adolescent age group, and the number in- creased as more and more young people decided that life was more than they wanted to face. Depression and suicide were two of the most massive health problems as well as being social prob- lems with American youth. For young people between the ages of 15 and 24, suicide was the second most common cause of death with only accident- related deaths coming before it. Male adolescents com- mitted suicide three times as often as females and ten times as many whites committed suicide as non- whites. Although these figures seem unreal, they were not the total picture. Most pro- fessionals said that the number of adolescent suicides was under-reported because of social and family considerations. Almost all child suicides were impulsive acts and not premeditated. The apparent cause was almost always trivial, something like poor grades in school or even something like a minor embarrassment at a party. Even more sad were the cases in which a child took Several cars in the school parking lot bear the tag of the South High Car Club. Members got together to be part of the St. Patrick's Day Parade. 14 Social Issues his own life to join an already dead loved one. For most, suicide seemed to be an escape, a way to get out of a situation which they did not understand or could not deal with. How could friends, parents or teachers see something like that coming in a young person? Studies showed that about two- thirds of the suicides had given off serious clues of distress or pain of some kind. Friends and adults could remember those clues when it was too late. Perhaps a contributing factor to the increase in teenage suicides was the young person's isolation from meaningful relation- ships so that he saw death as the only solution. Sometimes drugs were used as a means of helping to solve a problem. Other methods included counsel- ing and psychotherapy. While drugs helped some, others turned to drugs and abused them as a way to avoid facing reality. Alcoholism was the leading disease affecting Americans. More than nine million citizens were addicted to alcohol. ln Kansas alone there were 155,700 problem drinkers representing young children to senior citizens, its 1973 court decision rul- ing, women have a right to have an abortion for as long as the child lives in the womb. Pro-life groups tried to eliminate choice saying that abortion for any reason was wrong. Courts continued to uphold the rights of the mother to have an abortion Wichita had its share of anti-abortion marchers as they paraded before Wesley Medical Center protesting Wesley's policy of doing abortions. Child abuse continued to be a problem with many children being abused by their parents each year. One yet nearly 85 percent of these people never received help. Overall, alcohol was blamed for 68 percent of drownings, 25-37 percent of suicides, 26 percent of adult fire deaths, 40 percent of the divorce rate and nearly 33 percent of all reported child abuse cases. Kansas statistics im- proved, however. While more miles were driven, the number of motor vehicle fatalities dropped from 578 to 486. The improvement was attributed to better law enforcement, increased public awareness and com- pliance with new drinking and driving laws. Abortion continued to be one of the most emotional issues of politics and morality facing the nation. The political battle over abortion involved the role that Government should play in the decision by a woman to terminate her pregnancy. The Supreme Court clear- ly intended to forestall just this kind of confrontation by of the most common rea- sons for abuse was prob- ably that the parent simply had a bad day and the child was there when tempers flared. The Youth Crisis Center, a project of the Kansas Children's Service League, was a community-based crisis intervention and short-term counseling pro- gram directed toward the problems of youth and their families. lt was an alter- native to locked detention and Juvenile Court involvement.

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W ,W x I-2: 9 Q' ' 9 ' . MMM any 5 1 f Annika Wm V 7 'JV at 1 . Z Pep assemblies for the teams were held at the beginning of each seasong juniors Mike Havenar, Greg Boothe and Gret McHargue sit on the basketball court talking to friends before they are introduced as football players. 'Micke , , i q W it K .0 if if .15 meg L7 Susan Castleberry, sr., and Kendra Watson, sr., lead some of the children who are visiting the Home and Family Mark Shalloup, soph., chats with classes during the Halloween season. The leaders painted their faces and the kids dressed up in costumes. S0me friends during a fire drill. During passing periods, many students can be found on the bus ramps school grounds, some always took the chance and got caught by Gloria outside grabbing a quick cigarette. Although smoking is prohibited on Godinez, security specialist, who would assign three hours of conference. 7' MH, My

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Tr.. .L ... fm 4 V X ':::.:'S.t':af.fff1'.fE.r If ::x::i'i7i53Ti'. , f W . ...... 119:-Y41'f '1Q1-HE'2S.??iM.?.:EEl'EE J- L-i2:::.:r.-2-v::J 1',S', .,'1'fm-Wi' .ZW AW- , eniors Jeff Means and Cary Awtrey pose to show how it is to get arrested. the parking lot to issue tickets for 'lembers ofthe Wichita Police Department are now allowed to come into and fines rnust be paid to the City 'R both parking and moving violations of Wichita instead of to the school. . ,X bnusqf iossip isa big social issue everywhere and the school is no exception. happening in the building and off campus as well. Two sophomores enjoy Vithout it, people would have a difficult time finding out what is a short visit before aclass begins and they have to be quiet forthe lecture Social Issues 15