According to a survey taken in my hometown of San Francisco, at least 900 middle and high School students reportedly carried a gun to school right along side their pencil and worn-down, graffiti decorated history books. Our city’s next generation, some as young as eleven-years-old, feel the necessity to protect themselves with deadly street artillery.

This is the public school system in which I spent my entire education, and my 11-year-old, sixth grade brother currently attends. Violence at school has flashed before my learning eyes a few times in the past, but this new number surprises even me. How can we expect kids to learn and list education as a main priority when their entire day consists of stressing about the risky bus ride home, or some other kid who threatened their life the day prior?   

This 900 number doesn’t include the 1,767 young people who reported bringing some other type of violent weapon to school that wasn’t a gun. With all this in mind, I sincerely understand how it could be difficult, even for the children not directly involved in violent situations, to focus on school when they know their lab partner has a loaded 9MM pistol in his backpack.

We cannot blame the kids more than we can blame anybody else involved in their everyday living environments. We have first graders losing their big brothers and uncles to street violence on a routine basis in the forgotten as well as the gentrified neighborhoods of my city. By the time these youngsters reach middle school and high school it only makes sense that they don’t want to be the next ones to go.

[via SF Gate]

 

Keep up with the latest from Youth Radio. Follow @youthradio on Twitter. Live your digital life on Facebook? Become a fan of YMI-Youth Media International and get updates delivered right to your page.