Thirty of the nation's child-related organizations—including the American Academy of Pediatrics, Prevent Child Abuse America, Every Child Matters, and the National Association of Social Workers—pleaded for an election-year focus by candidates and the news media on the plight of millions of at-risk children and youths. Representatives of the groups pointed out at a press briefing that since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, 28,000 U.S. children have died because of abuse, homicide, or suicide; 1.1 million more children are living in poverty; and an additional 4.4 million families lack health insurance. “It's time for us to step up for kids,” Dr. Renee Jenkins, AAP president, said at the briefing. “We do it in our everyday lives, but we need to do it in the political arena as well. As a nation, we're sorely lacking in our commitment to children.”
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