No. The fact is children and students should not be guaranteed government health and dental coverages equal to what the prisoners receive. Children and students should receive health and dental that far exceeds what our prisoners receive! Why should we set such a low threshold? Our students and children are this country’s greatest assets. Many of these children and students are currently living in conditions that are despicable by any standard. Through no fault of their own they are not provided basic health and dental services due to lack of resources or insurance. Why should we compare our greatest future hope to common criminals and non-productive citizens? Should this really be our benchmark?
Every effort should be made to provide comprehensive health and dental to every child regardless of economic position. Is the next Albert Einstein dying of malnutrition right now? How about the next Henry Ford? Millions of dollars are spent on frivolous and unnecessary prisoner “perks” to make prison life more humane. White collar criminals get even more consideration. If anything, prisoners should be required to work 60 hour weeks creating revenue not only to pay for their incarceration, but to support noble causes such as child health needs. Where is the concern for our children? Why are our children left to fend for themselves in many instances?
In other countries like Great Britain, parents are required to undergo training and education on raising and taking care of a child. Parents must provide a safe and nurturing environment and healthcare and dental is available to ALL children and students. There are clear and definitive steps to ensure that a child is provided any medical support he may require throughout the stages of his childhood. This is the minimum we should provide to our children to support their ability to become productive citizens regardless of their economic or social standing.
Our vision in this country when it comes to the health of our children is severely lacking. We must dare to strive to be the best in the world when it comes to caring for our children. Let’s study the best and brightest countries in this area and learn from what they are doing. From here we can make it better. Let’s make it ten times better! This should be the benchmark that we strive for. Now I ask you, should children and students really only be guaranteed health and dental to what the common criminal receives? We can do better than that.