I have been gone from the place in so long that just this past week Harlan High School has returned to the news. There was never a shooting at school during the four years I was there, though I have no doubt that there have been so many assaults because there was a gang problem. I thought Harlan may have changed but maybe not by that much.
There used to be some idiot pulling fire alarms, serious fights in the hallway, attepted arson, etc. went on there when I was there. There is a dedicated staff concerned about our safety as students but even then it is not enough. Harlan is located in a nice middle class community believe it or not. It is aging somewhat therefore most of the student come from outside the actual neighborhood and as is often the case whatever happened in their hood they bring it to school with them.
All I know about this recent shooting is that there was a fight and what was it about, I don't know. Did it come off the streets? Who knows. But it does just so happen that young men don't use fists anymore but they use weapons and that's unfortunate. It's already unfortunate that students have to walk through metal detectors a policy that has existed probably since before I even went to school there.
What does this kid get for his trouble from the school. A 10 DAY SUSPENSION!!! On top of that he is being charged as an adult for his crime by the authorities and he is being held with $250,000 bond. His only excuse was that he was mad according to an investigator. It was also reported that he was being punched and kicked by some of his classmates. So I that behavior was a relic of the past at Harlan but that non-sense still goes on there.
If you go down south Michigan avenue. Get off at 95th then turn east to Michigan. Then turn south and you'll see a nice tidy neighborhood with good housing stock and nicely groomed lawns. And then look to your left and you see what could still amount to a ghetto school. Could anyone believe that? All it takes are some fools.
For this story I'm finding as much media and other material as possible. They don't show too much of the neighborhoods but they do show the school which was nicely refurbished over the past few years. They still have the same old problems of behavior and discipline.
NBC5News
ABC7News with video
CBS2Chicago with Video
Isiah 1:17- Learn to do well. Seek justice, Relieve the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
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