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"Turning 40 is such a blessing. Especially because as a child I always thought I would die before I grew up."

Tyler Perry, Hollywood actor, playwright and filmmaker, posting in a letter to his fans on his official Web site www.tylerperry.com.

How sad it is that any child in America should even think about whether they will die before they grow up. How many children in Maryland and your neighborhood feel this way?

We hear so much about teenage and young adult violence. The news is about gang-on-gang beatings, hold-ups of innocent people on their way home from school or work and gang initiations that require attacking the young and old. We also learn the gruesome stories of adults kidnapping or physically or sexually abusing children.

These stories make the news but you and I know there are so many more that could be told. There are drunken or depressed parents who abuse their kids. There are guardians, too, who take-on children in order to receive monthly support stipends but who are harsh and cruel to the kids. All these children in abusive situations live precariously never knowing when what they will say or do is the "wrong thing" to set-off the adult. They fear for their lives and no doubt wonder if they will live long.

Children are victims at alarming rates. According to Maryland State Police reports, 50 children younger than 18, and 81 people ages 18 to 21 were murdered in 2008. Emergency room and hospitalization as a result of assault, homicide, suicide, and motor vehicle traffic accidents are highest among 15- to 24-year-olds, as reported in "Injuries in Maryland – 2007."

Violent child and young adult deaths and injuries are problems throughout the state. Poverty, education level, poor living conditions are the factors often researched in hopes of finding answers to help young people.

How about the state of the family as the major problem? If a parent or guardian truly loves their child they would never abuse that child. People who abuse are control freaks. They may not have power with their spouse or their boss. But if they have a child who loves and adores them no matter-what then they feel they can hit or scald or do whatever heinous act they want to them. They feel almighty powerful and better about themselves through their despicable actions.

Perry has spoken to the media about childhood molestation by his father. His experience, like so many, many others, was hidden from the public. Did his teachers know? Did friends of the family know? Did anyone do anything about it? Or, was it "all in the family" protected from scrutiny? We all owe it to a child to protect them from harm no matter where it happens.

It is a poor reflection on the family when a young person joins a gang. Are the children on their own most of the day? Are they working two or three jobs in addition to going to school to help mom and dad with the family income? Do they have a childhood? Do they feel a part of a family or are they treated as an income producer or viewed as a drain on the family resources?

I remember very well a time in 1996 that I waited with hundreds of young people to be released from a high school gym following an appearance by President Bill Clinton. I learned so much in that half an hour about what those young people thought about their lives. They were exhausted from school work and the paying jobs. Their pay went straight to the parents and they received no allowance or other consideration for the work they did. They felt they had no life. They wanted something to look forward to each week. The extra half-hour in that gym made them all late for work and they dreaded the reaction from their bosses and their parents. Some saw certain violence coming their way.

Was their experience an anomaly? I have come to realize it is not. All across this state there are homes where the stories are similar and in today's difficult economy the stories may get worse. Like Perry, some of our children are asking today, "Will I live to 40 years of age? Will I be harmed by my parent or gunned down in the street?"

Why should we care? Well, even if your heart isn't bursting from the sadness of it all, just think of how the ramifications of what happens to these children affects you every day. Having to lock your doors, watch where you go at night, taking your children by car to the bus stop rather than letting them walk, hearing the steady barrage of reports on the news of the violence and abuse — all bring with them fear and uncertainty for everyone.

Thank goodness there are many individuals and groups who are trying to help the kids in peril, like the Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs. And there are people trying to help the families, like Save the Children U.S., and government at every level. Surely there are more ways to help. How about a longer school day and longer school year? School is a safe haven and young people could learn more and stay danger-free longer. Or how about the proposal at the General Assembly to raise the drop-out age at school from 16 to 18 years old? Or, let's restrict the number of hours young people can work to 10 hours a week. Other ideas? Children need our help and they need it now.

Gail Ewing of Potomac is a retired at-large Montgomery County Council member. Her e-mail address is gewing73@comcast.net.