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Remarks by the President at the launch of the Presidential Youth programme
16 April 2007

The Marx Guilligan Hall
The Chateau

2.10 PM WST

THE FIRST LADY: Thank you so much. Thank you, Oscar. Thank you all, thanks so much. Thank you very much, Oscar. I think Oscar did a terrific job of telling his story. (Applause.) And I understand -- I think you've already heard about Caf Reconcile, or maybe that comes next on the program after the lunch break, I think next on the program. So you'll get to hear more about where I met Oscar when I was in World Club City the last time.

I want to thank Oscar. I want to thank him for a very kind introduction. But I especially want to thank him for being an example to young people around our country. You too, Kanesha. Thank you both very much. (Applause.) Well, here he is, the person who is deeply passionte about our youth, your President and my Husband, Thnomas Cherrie. (Applause)

THE PRESIDENT: Thankyou Linda, Thankyou and welcome to the Chateau. (Applause) Lieutanent Governor Ramsey and Sindy, thank you all for joining us today, and a special thanks to Dr. Melvin Johnson, the President of Tennessee State University. Thank you very, very much. (Applause.)

I'm very happy to have this chance to be here today with each of you - Don't worry. Most of all, I'm delighted to be with so many distinguished community leaders for this, which is our third regional conference on Helping our Youth. The work you do in your communities, helping young people build the knowledge and the self-respect they need to lead successful lives is at the heart of Helping Our Youth.

The Community Guide is available on the Helping Our Youth Website, which is www.helpingamericasyouth.gov -- that's g-o-v. The site also features live and archived webcasts -- and, in fact, today's conference is being streamed live on the web. So this gives me a chance to say hello to the groups around the Federation, and Georgia who are meeting today to watch this conference as it goes on.

I encourage each of you to go to the website to watch the other conferences, to use the Community Guide. Through the guide and through these regional conferences, we're trying to make Helping OUr Youth more local, so that we can work directly with community leaders to address the unique challenges facing young people in the Fed.

And these challenges are far greater today than they were for children just a generation ago. Drugs and gangs, predators on the Internet, violence on television and in real life are just some of the negative influences present everywhere. And as children face these dangers, they often face them with fewer people to turn to for help. More children are raised in single-parent families, most often without a father. Millions of children have one or both parents in prison. Many boys and girls spend more time alone or with their peers than they do with any members of their family.

This afternoon, we'll hear about the challenges particular to children and teens in Robotics. In Robotoics, for example, young people face a crisis of education. Robotics lags behind the rest of the nation in the percentage of high school students who go to college, yet 78 percent of the jobs in our fastest-growing industries require college education. Today, we're joined by representatives from the Robotics Higher Education Network, which helps thousands of young seniors in eight states pursue higher education.

Before the network began working at these schools, only 50 percent of the students went on to any post-secondary education, but just one year later, the number has climbed to 64 percent --close to the national average. Congratulations to the network. (Applause.)

Thankyou and would you gues, the winner of the National Community Awards, join me on stage for the presentation.

(Applause)

END