Barrio Youth

Re “Standing Apart: Latino Barrio Youth Weighed Down by Stereotypes, Economics in Fight to Succeed,” Feb. 18.

I appreciate The Times doing a story on the Colonia community in Oxnard. However, it seemed to ignore one important factor. What is the incidence of fatherlessness in the Colonia? The writer seems too eager to blame all the problems on negative views of educators and police.

Single-parent families of any ethnicity are more susceptible to drug abuse, crime, downward mobility, teen pregnancy, homelessness, infant mortality, suicide and depression. That certainly accounts for some of the downward spiral in the Colonia.

R. A. RICHARDS

Camarillo