Liftoff
It is unfortunate to begin the first blog post with sad news, but it would be naive to think a blog about violence would be without its share of bad news.
Coming off yesterday’s anti-violence rally by Chicago Public School students, a South Side high school was hit with back to back incidents. Last evening, James Bush, 18, was shot and killed on the 1200 block of West 110th Place. Bush was listed as an active student at Morgan Park up until this past February. Since Bush was inactive, he will not be listed among the 20 CPS students to already be killed by gunfire this year.
More than 12 hours after Bush’s murder, Morgan Park had to increase its security when shots were fired less than a block from its campus. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Although the news of another young person being killed is always upsetting, these two incidents hurt a little more because I am a graduate of Morgan Park High School. For me, it makes the debate about what to do more confusing. My memories of Morgan Park weren’t of teachers who didn’t care, kids who did nothing but fall through the cracks or just no one who cared. Despite having problems like many schools, Morgan Park also had its share of successes. It begs the question, what do we say when the stereotype doesn’t fit?
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
