Lead-Exposure Problems Spotlighted in Detroit
When Reginald Cureton, a Detroit middle schooler, was just a year old, a routine blood test revealed that he had more than four times the amount of lead in his blood required for a child to be identified as lead-poisoned.
The finding led Reginald’s parents, Jeanine and Reginald Sr., on a decade-long quest to rid each home they moved to of lead dust and counteract the effects of lead exposure on their children. Research has tied high levels of lead in the blood to such serious problems as criminal activity and low IQ.
For the Curetons, the fight against lead exposure wasn’t easy. Reginald’s school, for instance, suggested that he be held back a year in 3rd grade. Eventually, he was also diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and moved to...
This article is available to subscribers only.
To keep reading this article and more, subscribe now or start a 2-week FREE trial.
Subscribe to Education Week
You Save 20% or More!
Access selected articles, e-newsletters and more!
Viewed
Emailed
Recommended
Commented
- Director of School Support
- The Achievement Network, Multiple Locations
- K-12 Teachers
- The International Educator, Multiple Locations
- Superintendent
- Princeton Public School District, Princeton, NJ
- Elementary Principal
- Forest Grove School District, Forest Grove, OR
- Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction
- Lake Forest School District 67 & 115, Lake Forest, IL