Youth Killings Reach Crisis Level in Chicago
NPR
Young people in Chicago are dying violent deaths at an alarming rate. So far this school year, at least 36 Chicago Public School
students have been killed, most of them victims of gunshots. Scores of other Chicago children and teenagers have been wounded in shootings, and there are concerns that the gun violence could escalate when school is out for the summer in a few weeks.
While urban gun violence in Chicago and other cities is nothing new, there is a growing sense among community leaders that it’s now at a crisis level. “Honestly, I’ll admit it, I’m afraid to come to school sometimes,” says Clinet Jordan, 18, a senior at Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy high school, on the city’s South Side. “Usually [gang members] don’t try to pull that stuff until after school, but now they’re trying to get kids coming to school in the morning. That’s ridiculous. We shouldn’t be scared to come somewhere — we should feel safe and have a safe learning environment. It don’t play right; it’s not right.”
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