May 11, 2009 – Thirty-six students have been killed in Chicago during the 2008-09 school year.
As the Chicago Public Schools’ year comes to an end, community activists, educators and police are still grappling with how to reduce a rise in violence among school-age children.
Last Thursday night, a panel discussion was held at Chicago State University to discuss solutions to reduce the violence in affected communities.
“We have to look at people and we have to look at people within communities. And people have families and those families are distressed at the moment,” said Cortland Campbell, a criminal justice graduate student at Chicago State University who organized the panel.
Campbell said an understanding of why particular crimes occurred would lead to effective policies.
Panelists agreed gang activities are root causes in affected communities, contributing largely to the killings, but it was “a misnomer” to label student’s deaths as “school shootings” since many of the shootings have occurred on public venues.
“That problem starts at home with some form of dysfunction. Some form of dysfunction in the environment as well,” said Ronald Holt, an 18-year Chicago Police veteran and father of slain CPS student Blair Holt.
Other contributing factors can include truancy, drugs, mental illness, homelessness and peer group pressure, according to Patricia Hill, the executive director of the African-American Police League. Hill said the public needed to question recent shift in public school policies concerning safe guards for students.
“They have a hands-off [policy] concerning our children to keeping them safe,” said Hill. “It is our children who have been put in harm’s way by the duty holders.”
Hill drew large applause from audience members when she equated American children’s gang involvement to child soldiers in Africa.
“We have to deal with this on a human rights level with human rights definitions,” said Hill.
Government involvement, stabilization and targeting certain affected communities and viewing the violence as a public health issue were among the range of solutions discussed.
However, several panel members said a change in the perception of violence being acceptable was necessary.
“How do we affect a ‘culture of violence’,” said John Walsh, a professor at Saint Xavier University. “One was is through the idea of violence as a public health problem. And that we need to create a culture where individuals find it to be cowardice.”
Members of the audience voiced frustrations with Renaissance 2010, and the lack of proper parenting as causes for violence in their communities. A confrontation between university police and an attendee occurred when the attendee, wearing a placard and turban, protested the absence of a student representative on the panel.
“Renaissance 2010 has been a factor in terms of school violence… and schools becoming unsafe,” said one unidentified attendee. “And if I had my way, someone would be charged with murder, or a least an accessory to murder, because hundred of children have died just based on bad policies.”
Theresa Wilson, a Southeast side resident said the result of the violence was due to a combination of poor parenting and lack of a strong police presence in her community. Wilson said community centers and support for parents could be solutions for reducing violence.
“It’s up to us,” said Wilson. “We have to be some of the eyes and ears now.”