What About Children? Are They Counted?

While considerable attention has been devoted to the undercount for the U.S. population overall and to specific sub-groups such as young black men in inner cities, less attention has been given to the undercount of children.

In an attempt to help remedy that problem, the Census Bureau has provided more than 300,000 Census in Schools kits throughout the country. The purpose of the kits is to increase participation in the census among children and parents. "In 1990, many parents did not record children on their census questionnaire," Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt said. "This program is one way we hope to ensure that every child is counted. We hope parents will urge their schools and that teachers will urge their principals to take part in the Census in Schools program."

The program provides students with a take-home letter explaining to parents the importance of an accurate census. The letter is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Korean. Additional take-home materials provide recreational census activities for students to complete with their parents. Sent to the schools in February, each program teaching guide contains lesson plans that address map literacy, community involvement and information management. Kits are available for grades K-4, 5-8 and 9-12. Custom designed teaching kits were sent to schools in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. (Scholastic Inc. helped to develop the program's teaching materials, most of which can be downloaded from the bureau's Web site.)