''More Than Four''

By: Madison Beck

Its a Saturday fall afternoon and everyone in the south knows its Game Day.

People of all ages put on their school colors and head off to the stadium. The crowd

cheers as everyone fills their seats waiting for the game to begin. Now imagine this

crowd is actually filled only with children and in the blink of an eye they are all gone and

the stadium is silent. 91, 250 children every year will die from cancer and if you are an

Auburn fan that means every seat in Jordan Hare will now be empty. Cancer is the

number one killer of children and teens in the United States and its time we became

aware and make a difference for our children.

Every day 46 kids are diagnosed with cancer. There are blood cancer, tumor

cancers and bone cancers. Every day 7 children will die from these cancers. That is

every two minutes a new patient is diagnosed. 300,000 kids worldwide are diagnosed

each year from cancer. Childhood cancer does not discriminate by race or

socioeconomic status. These numbers are staggering and what isnt changing is the

treatments are getting for a better chance to live.

Since 1980, fewer than 10 drugs have been developed for children with cancer.

Only three drugs have been specifically for children. 96.2% of federal funding for

research goes to adult cancers leaving less than 4% for all childhood cancers. The

incidence of childhood cancer has been increasing over the last few decades and our

children are worth more than 4.

September is childhood cancer awareness month. As a society we must demand

more than 4 % from our government. Our children deserve just as much funding as any

adult cancer. Childhood cancer is a global problem and one institution cant solve it

alone. Know your facts about childhood cancer and give hope to those in need.

Together we can be aware and make a difference.