Tuesday, September 29, 2009

When school bell rings, hell can break loose

It seems that in light of what happened to Derrion Albert (DISCLAIMER: Derrion Albert link is to Huffington Post, it contains video of that fight that took the life of Albert that aired on FOX 32. Just letting you know in case watching such footage may offend you in anyway!) in the Roseland neighborhood, my post last week about a possible fight that got students running to check out the commotion at Harlan Community Academy seems rather prescient.

Check out this column by Mark Brown. I suggest you read the whole this, you'll see he talks about Albert and the incident that claimed his young life, however I will excerpt what he learned during his experience at a south side high school at about dismissal time:
Last spring, I was invited down to the old Bowen High School campus in South Chicago, now split into four smaller high schools, to see how students and staff were trying to maintain a safe setting following earlier incidents of violence in the neighborhood.

The experience gave me a sliver of insight into some of the same issues that apparently were involved at Fenger: the role played by gang members who don't attend the schools and the problems of accessing public transportation that can require crossing unfriendly gang turf.

Bowen is just across the street from Bessemer Park, a lovely setting by all appearances. But I was warned the park was also a magnet for local gang members.

Sure enough, just as dismissal time approached, a large group of gang members emerged en masse from the park to move into position outside the school.

It was explained to me that they were mainly there to protect their own members who attend the school, although you can well imagine how their mere presence could lead to conflicts. You can also better understand how students might find it in their own self-interests to affiliate at least loosely with a gang for protection.

At Bowen, school officials had wisely taken steps to solve one of the greatest dangers to their students: getting jumped on the way to the CTA bus stop. The solution was remarkably simple. They arranged for the bus to stop directly outside the school, where it could be loaded under the watchful eye of security guards.

It's that sort of coordinated approach of city agencies that is too often missing from the city's anti-violence efforts. For all the hand-wringing we do about youth violence in this city, those who work with the problem believe much more could be accomplished if we could just get all the public agencies working together.

Something else I was told on my visit to Bowen is that students usually know when there is going to be trouble after school. The grapevine is still mightier than a computer network. In Derrion's death, the fact there had been a shooting earlier in the day at Fenger would have been a giant red flag that more clashes could be coming after school.
I would agree with that point that I placed in bold. If only there were answers that could in some way keep our young people safe. Indeed if only there was a way to keep the peace and keep these young people from fighting or otherwise causing general trouble.

VIA CapFax morning shorts!

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