Amidst Chicago's recent spike in gun violence, citizens are doing their best to protect students as they travel to school. Today, The New York Times profiles Operation Safe Passage, a joint venture between students, parents, the police, public officials, and neighborhood advocates on the city's West Side:
Ever since one of their classmates was shot down just a block from school last month, a group of sleepy-eyed teenagers here has been meeting in the early morning at a community center southwest of downtown to walk to class together, hoping there is safety in numbers.
Parent volunteers, part of a program call Operation Safe Passage, guide the trip to Richard T. Crane Tech Prep high school in brightly colored vests and ponchos, shepherding the students onto a city bus, through a transfer, then to the school gates. But that is not all — the police come, too, trailing the walking procession and the buses in a squad car.
In many ways, the article is bittersweet. For one, it's a small program, only serving a few dozen young people. There's also not enough financial or political support yet to ensure the safe passage of every CPS student. And fear is a difficult feeling to erase, especially among the young and vulnerable. But it's certainly an effort worth applauding:
It is a joyless parade and the most comprehensive effort to date in Chicago and perhaps the country intended to secure a safe passage to school. Every morning, the same routine, repeated in reverse after the dismissal bell. And yet there is still fear.
“We could be standing here talking and somebody over there could start shooting right now,” said Anthony Robinson, 16, waiting with the escorts at a bus stop. “You just don’t know.
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