It is no secret that urban schools serve many needs of
students beyond education. Schools provide sports, clubs, counseling, therapy,
and two meals a day to students. It is also our charge to keep students safe.
Inner city schools themselves are not inherently unsafe places, however the
violence of the city can infiltrate the school walls and metal detectors.
For the past two weeks, This American Life on NPR produced a
two-part episode on this exact topic. The program spent a few months in an
inner city high school in a rough neighborhood in Chicago, Harper High School, in
which there had been 27 students shot in the previous year, six of whom died.
Harper, facing significant issues, was deemed a turn-around school, and given additional
millions of dollars over five years to try and enact real change with this
additional support. To help the student body in this tragically violent
setting, the school added support staff of social workers, counselors, and
enrichment/mentoring programs, including teams of people who speak with
students and community members to stay informed of happenings in and around
school to take preventative measures against violence. However, as the school
is in its fifth year of turn around status, the money goes away next year, and
with it the staff, programming, and sense of community it took so long to
build. Two security guards who worked at the school for a long time commented,
“It always changes when the money is added. Then everything goes backward when
it’s lost. There’s more fights. The violence gets worse.”
I am not a proponent of the argument that increased funding
will save urban schools in America. That is far too simple. However, I do
believe that kids must feel safe in order to learn. They must feel like they
have a shot at life in order to be invested in an education to make their lives
better. To create this environment, it does take more staff and programming,
which in turn does require more funding. Students must take care of their most
pressing needs of physical and emotional safety before opening their minds for
learning.
The final act of the program addressed a tweet at This
American Life that stated the program “found the most violent high school in
the country.” They addressed the point that this is statistically impossible to
tell, and, more importantly, Harper High School is not an isolated case.
Poignantly, principals and teachers in cities all over the country state the number
students who have been lost to violence at their schools. I will add my
statement to theirs:
My name is Sara John. I am a teacher at Patterson High
School in Baltimore. I have lost one student this year to violence.
2 comments:
Hey Sara,
I really enjoyed your post. As an avid NPR listener I also heard the second half the program you referenced. I found the program extremely interesting for a couple of reasons. First, I work at a school that is danger of being labeled as "persistently dangerous" and I have personally been assaulted and filed charges multiple times this year. It makes me wonder what makes violence so prevalent in urban schools. Furthermore, what are the causes, and more importantly, what are the solutions.
Second, I worked at a turnaround school last year, and I currently work at a different school that shares the same building this year. To be honest, having a document camera, smart board, and computers in every classroom was nice, but it did little to increase attendance rates or HSA data. We all want nice things, and our students deserve the best, but in my opinion the intangibles like school culture and effective leadership are much more important.
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