The fragility of life....

In my past few years, I have found one of the most heart-wrenching aspects of inner city life is the normalcy of violence. Not having been raised in an urban community, it really is incredible to imagine comprehending and coping with the violence in the city at such a young age. It's really hard to express it accurately in words and I feel like no matter what I write, it will seem to trivialize the situation and make me sound like an outside observer who couldn't possibly "get it."

Recently there was a murder just a few short blocks from our school. A high school student at another local school was shot and killed in a popular local park. Happening within our own neighborhood meant that there was a deep impact on our student body. The victim had many friends, acquaintances, and an even older sibling at our school.

Every day I wake up early and exercise at school before the day starts. On this particular day, I finished my workout and got ready for my day when my principal's voice sounded over the loudspeaker. He called an emergency staff meeting just as students were beginning to line up outside of the school. As we all crowded inside of one classroom, we were informed of the incident and formulated a plan of action as to how we would proceed. Assemblies were organized where students had the opportunity to talk to their classmates and a room was set up for students who needed emotional support. During the assembly, I sat on the floor in front of a few of my students who were having a particularly difficult time, as they knew the victim well. I hoped that my proximity comforted them in some way. Emotions were high and there were a lot of tears shed as student after student walked to the microphone and openly talked about their past bad decisions. Students talked about former gang involvement, and gang issues within their own families. The upper classmen expressed their desire to help end violence in the city, and worked to plan an event and have a positive impact on their younger classmates with their thoughtful words. The underlying message was basically "this kid made bad decisions and there was a consequence. Make good decisions."

I hope that my kids all know how much I genuinely care about them, their well-being, their futures, and the improvement of the city itself. I always worry that I will read a headline that will hit even closer to home than this one. I really do feel that the school I work at is making strides forward to helping our city become a better place - to become a place where these kids will want to grow up and where they will be able to feel safe. I'm really proud to work where I do.