Shana, did you really mean to say "inner city and _other_ disadvantaged children"? Do you assume that it is a _disadvantage_ to live in the inner city? I went to school in the Bronx and then in Manhattan. The disadvantages I experienced in such an urban situation included the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Gardens, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, the Brooklyn Children's Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, free tours led by Urban Park Rangers in each borough, the Bronx Zoo, the Central Park Zoo, Riverside Park, Central Park, Van Cortlandt Park, Prospect Park, the New York Aquarium, and Columbia University. We need to be careful with our language sometimes, so that we do not marginalize children or anyone we serve. "Disadvantaged" children are sometimes rural, with less cultural resources available to them. "Disadvantaged" children are sometimes in the inner city, unaware that such resources abound around them. I recommend that we try to use language which is specific, replacing terms which describe the children (e.g."disadvantaged" or "at risk kid") with specifics which describe the environment of the audience we are reaching, such as "children from low income families" or "children at risk of failing in school" or "children at risk of experiencing violence in their community" or "children from populations which are underserved by my institution." I do not mean to split hairs, but it is a sensitive issue which I think deserves careful thought. Risk is inherent to all of our lives, including severe depression experienced by high achievers. I know too many inner-city people of color who are sick of being labelled "at risk." At risk of what? Being marginalized by those of us with the best intents? Kellyx Nelson [log in to unmask] Opinions are my own and all other requisite disclaimers.