Kids in Texas Are Not Safe, According to This

Texas is almost dead last in the nation for kids' health and safety, and we're in the bottom half overall on Wallethub's list of the Best & Worst States to Raise a Family.  What are we doing wrong?

Wallethub looked at which states offer the best combination of qualities that matter most to parents and their kids and said Minnesota is the best state in America to raise a family.  But the winters stink.  For those of us that don't like cold weather moving to Minnesota is not an option, and we're committed to figuring out what's wrong with Texas.  We rank 49th for the health and safety of our kids -- almost dead last.  Only Oklahoma fared worse.

Overall, Texas ranked 33rd among the Best & Worst States to Raise a Family list that also included education, family fun, and affordability.   Why did we rank so poorly on kids' health and safety?  Factors that went into the health and safety ranking include crimes per capita, air pollution, pediatricians per capita, water quality, the safety of roads around schools, and the support kids get from neighborhoods and from parents.  It appears we need to fix some roads, add some doctors, and pass out free bottled water and maybe that would move us further up the list.

Our highest ranking came in the family fun category.  Oh, that's so Texas, isn't it?  There's no need to get stressed out about this stuff, so let's hop in the car and go to Six Flags kiddos.  The number of parks and playgrounds, fitness centers and recreational centers, and the number of fun family attractions were factors here.

No matter what they say, I always feel like Texas is a safe place to be and I feel like the kids have plenty of opportunities to succeed and have fun doing it, don't you?  Let's take all of this with a grain of salt, and maybe a bit more bottled water while we're at it too.