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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm PhoebeZimmermann.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. This week -- meet the grandparents!

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VOICE ONE:

One day recently, a woman in Washington, D.C., spoke on thetelephone to her first and only grandchild. The boy lives inCalifornia, on the opposite side of the United States. Thegrandmother talked a long time. Later, a friend asked her what thechild had said.

The grandmother answered. He had not really said anything.Mostly, he cried. He was, after all, two weeks old.

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A children's doctor from Chicago, Illinois, says becoming agrandparent often makes normal adults act silly, even a littlecrazy. He should know. He has ten grandchildren. But he says thesatisfaction of being around them never gets old. He says none ofhis friends can escape without seeing pictures of his grandchildren.

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American grandparents are surelylike any other grandparents. Millions of them love to play withtheir grandchildren. They buy them gifts. They read to them andprepare special foods. They take them places. They teach them skillsfor later in life. And, in many cases, they try to make sure thechildren learn family traditions.

Santa Fama is a retired teacher in Bethesda, Maryland. She likesto cook Sicilian and other Italian food with her grandchildren.

Mary Horwitt of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, liked to play with hergrandson -- play music, that is. Missus Horwitt, who died severalyears ago, was a pianist who performed concerts with her teen-agegrandson.

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Some grandparents are wealthy enough to pay for travel to farawayplaces with their grandchildren. But others are happy to take theirgrandchildren to local parks. Or they might watch them perform insome event at school. That is, if they live close enough to attend.

Today, many Americans live far from their grandparents. Schoolmental health specialist Suzy Karpel says she regrets this fact ofmodern life. She says she often sees situations in which familiesneed the advice and support of grandparents. Mizz Karpel says thisis true especially when problems develop. This is when parents mightwish most that they had a helpful grandparent nearby.

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If you ask grandparents how itfeels to be a grandparent, most will immediately say "wonderful."They like spending time with their grandchildren. But many will alsogo on to say that they like being able to return the children totheir parents when the time comes.

These grandparents have already gone through the daily cares andworries of raising children. Now it is time for them to takepleasure in their grandchildren.

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Yet some grandparents have the responsibility of full-time carefor their children's children. At any one time, the researchorganization RAND says, ten percent of grandparents live only with agrandchild.

RAND says four-million children in the United States live withtheir grandparents. But two-and-one-half-million of them also haveat least one of their parents in the same home. These childrenrepresent around four-percent of all grandchildren. RAND researcherssay this percentage has not changed much in recent years. But thegrowing number of young people in the United States means that thetotal numbers are rising.

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Nearly one-and-one-half million children live with theirgrandparents only. This is two percent of all grandchildren. TheRAND researchers say this rate has increased in recent years, butnot much. It had been decreasing from nineteen-forty through thenineteen-eighties.

The RAND researchers say African American children are morelikely to live with their grandparents. They report that about eightpercent live with their parents and grandparents. Almost six percentlive only with their grandparents.

The researchers say black grandmothers historically have played amore important part in child-raising than white grandmothers. Theresearchers add that higher poverty rates among minority familiesmay also help explain these numbers.

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Some grandparents who care for their grandchildren have legalcustody. This means they have full responsibility for raising them.Other grandparents take care of their grandchildren full time, butdo not have legal control. In some cases, one or both parents alsostay in the grandparents' home, but are unable to care for theirchildren.

Some grandparents take care of their grandchildren only duringthe day. This is so one or both of the parents can work or attendschool.

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The reasons that grandparents become caretakers for theirgrandchildren are often sad, as you might think. The parents mayhave died. Or they may no longer live together. Other times, aparent might have a serious health problem, or use illegal drugs.One or both parents may be in jail. Or they left their childrenwithout care, or physically mistreated them.

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Mental health specialists say there is no way to know howchildren will feel living with their grandparents. They may feelhappy and secure, or they may suffer emotional problems. They mightmourn the loss of the family situation they had before. Young peoplemay not want to obey the rules and advice from their grandparents.Other children at school might even make fun of their livingsituation.

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The grandparents also may have difficulties. Even if they receivepublic aid, they may struggle financially to support theirgrandchildren. Grandparents who have jobs may have to findadditional childcare.

Grandparents who are responsible for young children might nothave the energy to deal with them. Health is an issue. Older peoplemight worry about, if they die, what would happen to theirgrandchildren.

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Social workers say many grandparents who care for theirchildren's children express loneliness. They do not have anyone totalk to about the children's health or schoolwork or problems ofgrowing up. Most friends their age finished with such concerns longago.

A program in Dorchester, Massachusetts, helps caretakergrandparents deal with situations like these. The program is calledGrandFamilies House. This is a living center with twenty-sevenapartments for grandparents and their grandchildren. Most of theadults are grandmothers.

Several agencies also operate in the building. The Y.W.C.A. ofBoston, for example, provides childcare and help with schoolwork. Italso provides computer education for people of all ages.

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Several years ago, researchers from the University ofMassachusetts did a study at GrandFamilies House. They asked aboutissues like how the grandparents felt spending their later yearscaring for grandchildren. One woman said she enjoyed seeing hergrandchildren grow up. She said she had worked all the time when herown children were small. Another grandmother said the children kepther young.

A place like GrandFamilies House also helps keep familiestogether. Many of the grandparents say they are glad to be able tokeep their grandchildren out of foster care. Foster care is a systemwhere state and local agencies place children in temporary homes oremergency shelters.

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VOICE ONE:

Americans celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day. So why not aday to honor grandparents?

Grandparents Day was established in nineteen-seventy-eight. Thisholiday is observed in September on the first Sunday after Labor Dayin the United States. Some families gather for a special meal.Others will send gifts or cards to faraway grandparents, or call, orwrite them an e-mail.

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But grandparents do not need a special holiday to talk to theirgrandchildren. A computer programmer who lives in Reston, Virginia,says she will never forget a telephone call she received. The callcame a few minutes before she was about to get married. It was hergrandfather on the line. He was eighty-seven-years old, and verysick. He called to say, "Have a happy life!"

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VOICE ONE:

Our program was written Jerilyn Watson and produced by CatyWeaver. I'm Phoebe Zimmermann.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Listen again next week for THIS IS AMERICA,in Special English, on the Voice of America.