What is it like to be a teenager in Albuquerque?

Albuquerque is a place that scores in the top ten rankings as the "worst US city to raise a child/teenager" When you think of the infrastructure of the city and take a look at the statistics it starts to make sense. USA today writer Grant Suneson and Michael B. Sauter writes..."Children who complete their education and graduate from high school have greater economic mobility than those who do not. In addition to cognitive development, people also tend to develop healthy habits if they exercise in their youth. It is also important for a child to have a sense of security and well being – something that can be disrupted when a child is raised in a high-crime area"(USA TODAY). With preschool enrollment rate as low as forty-five percent cognitive skills, and healthy habits for learning are rare to acquire here in Albuquerque. Our high school graduation rate is sixty six percent, which is part the lowest percentage in the nation. I see a direct correlation with the city having one of the highest rates in the top ten percent of violent crimes being committed. Resources for youth programming is very scarce in the city, while spaces for community members under the age of twenty-one are very scarce. Students are left with adult ultimatums without proper guidance out of their formative years as teenagers. "The average college graduate in 2020 earned $1,305 a week, while the average high school graduate takes home just $781, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."(Stacker,2022) With college costs for tuition and housing in the high thousands students are making a logical choice to have income over education.

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