Growing Up Baltimore-”War Zones”
Unlike most school districts around the country, Baltimore City allows students to choose from among roughly a hundred middle and high schools throughout the city. That kind of choice can be a good thing but it also means some young people have to navigate a complicated route to school.
“Some of my students take three buses to get to school or two buses and a light rail.”
Last Spring, Katie Lucot taught at Doris M. Johnson High School in Northeast Baltimore. She said after the bus drops them off onto Harford Road, her students then have to walk through Clifton Park to get to the school building….440 acres of urban park that includes tennis courts, baseball and football fields, a golf course and an amphitheater.
“You’d think it’d be a beautiful park to walk through. There have been multiple occasions where students have been held up by gunpoint on their way to school. Multiple occasions. Can you imagine that?”
Lucot said sometimes her students arrived after first period began. The notes they bring to excuse their absence aren’t the usual explanations of oversleeping or upset stomachs.
“Because they were shooting on the block that morning and they couldn’t get out of the house. They are likely to laugh about something that happened. Whether that’s a healthy reaction or not, it’s the way they deal with it…because it’s part of their reality.”
Lucot says this type of thing didn’t happen every day, but her students talked about passing through alleys and neighborhoods that are “combat zones.”
City police officers interviewed by WYPR say that on the way to school kids are walking through open air drug markets that begin as early as five or six morning to catch addicts on their way to work. Sometimes kids come face to face with other kids they know who are selling drugs.
Nyanthara Basusin teaches at Paul Dunbar High School. She says some of the weapons that are regularly confiscated from students are carried out of self defense.
“Expecially female students who walk through rough neighborhoods to get to school I can definitely understand why they would be carrying knives, blades whatever they are carrying as a means to protect themselves.”
It’s not easy to avoid the blocks that pose major risks. Michelle Manning, talked about how students from rival schools — Stadium Middle School, Hamilton and Winston Middle had trouble crossing neighborhood boundaries.
“Every time we leave school they’re trying to fight us they’re jumping us more than four students are on one student at a time when we’re on our way home, students get beat up and their personal items get taken from them.”
“If I had a 13-year-old, I would have concerns with putting them on a bus to get across town.”
Last year, Dr. Andres Alonso, the CEO of Baltimore City Schools said school transportation would be a priority this year.
“That’s a priority I could not deliver on.”
“He couldn’t deliver, he said, because money to fix the problem was to have come from the state’s general fund. Money from the federal stimulus program kept Baltimore’s budget even with last year’s, but Alonso said there was not enough money to make changes in the transportation system. As a result, he decided to focus on other priorities.”
Instead, Alonso says he is working with the Maryland Transportation Authority to develop public bus routes that leave students closer to their schools and not blocks away.
Another solution has been implemented. The Chief of Patrol for Baltimore City Police, Col. John Skinner explains that the city has set up a way to keep a closer eye on students’ safety.
“We actually have representatives from schools, MTA and us working together in a control-command center. And we essentially monitor every event that’s occurring around the city during those dismissal hours.”
Between the hours of two and five pm, officers oversee video screens in the watch center, some of which are focused on areas surrounding middle and high schools. But that only covers the afternoon hours when students are LEAVING school. Also, student safety is only ONE of the things being monitored at the command center. Officers from other agencies — Homeland Security and HIDTA or High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area — are using the same cameras.
Which leaves parents to figure out their own solutions.
Robin Brown is a single mother of four who lives in the Lakeland neighborhood of Southwest Baltimore. A few years ago, her son Joshua was jumped by a group of kids while walking home from school, getting off the Light Rail. After that, Brown started riding the bus with her kids. Then, she bought a car and began literally escorting her children to and from the school door.
“I sure they go in the door, I don’t go to the classroom, I stand at the door, they go right to class come out take my other kids to school. Do the same thing, then I go to work. But I also tell them when you get out, stay at the front door. Or sit at the office then I’ll come pick them up and we’ll go about our merry way and we go on home.”
Robin’s 13-year-old daughter, Morgan has picked up her mother’s caution. Morgan is a freshman at the National Academy Foundation. She says when gets home from school she doesn’t linger outside any more.
“I stay in the house and practice modeling and singing, dancing. That’s all I basically do now, because I’m not interested in the outside anymore I really don’t go outside I just don’t – It’s okay though.”
I’m Mary Rose Madden reporting from Baltimore for 88.1, WYPR.
Our series, “Growing Up Baltimore,” is made possible, in part, Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence. The findings and conclusions presented in our series do not necessarily reflect the opinions of these organizations.
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i just wanted to clarify that though I teach at Paul Laurence Dunbar High school this year my comment was in reference to my three years working at Homeland Security High School at Walbrook. Working in a City-ide school is a different matter altogether. They just aren’t like the zone schools—no where as rough. Although the kids come from all over the city by in large they have a certain degree of affluence or stability at home that is uncommon in many of the zone schools. It certianly was at Walbrook. Dunbar does not as yet have to install metal detectors, which were installed in Homeland due to an overwhelming majority vote by all stakeholders including students.
I work at a City-Wide Highscool, and I have played this segment for my students this week. My students were not shocked to hear these accounts. Hearing that Baltimore is a rough place to grow up is not new to them. Generally, they were more hopeful and positive about their city than any of the segments we listened to. While they do not disagree that there is violence, poverty, and a high drop-out rate, my students wanted to hear something that reflects what they do on a day-to-day basis, maybe highlight some of the programs that they take part in and the achievements they have made.
I am a senior at Western High School, a City-Wide Highschool and my teacher played this segment for us yesterday. My classmates and I were not shocked to hear these accounts of what growing up in Baltimore is like. Having not lived in Baltimore my entire life, I still know, and have witnessed, the hardships and negative elements targeting children and teens growing up in baltimore. The reason i like this segment is because it gives the real life experiences of others and because I believe that while there really are no positive points made in this segment, I believe that the negatives that are pointed out are not made to demean anyone or any group of people, but are rather pointed out so that others who may not know or realize the elements presented in Baltimore are very much real and apart of everyday life for most people.
I am a senior at Western High School and I have lived in Baltimore for 4 years.I have never witnessed such unsafe living conditions in my neighborhood as described in this segment. The lack of money, role models, and devoted parents are what this segment points out as the symptoms of a deficiency of Baltimore residents. More so, this newsgroup points out that it is the lack of employment opportunities that causes families to crumble and resort to drug trafficking as an alternative source of money. While there is some fraction of hope for that percentage of Baltimoreans who were served the backhand of life, Growing up in Baltimore does not focused on the Baltimore that I live in. I am pretty much in tune with my surroundings and the MTA is my main mode of transportation. Every city in the United States has its slums. But all of Baltimore is not plagued by “unsafe territory” syndrome.I do concur that not every neighborhood is the same and I wish that this newsgroup had taken the time to actually focus more on the “goodness” of Baltimore. The media needs to do a better job in portraying a “good look” for Baltimore. This is very much needed especially since The Wire has already impacted a false and over generalized view of Baltimore.
I somewhat agree with this issue and I somewhat disagree. Sometimes its the issue of how many buses you have to catch, what neiborhoods you have to walk through, and the buses getting you to school on time. If you live on the west side and go to school on the east, the school system should have buses in your neighborhood that can take you straight to school. There are more police in the afternoon then in the morning. There should be police in every area that a school is located. Some MTA buses are late arriving and some just dont come. Thats why getting to school is such an issue.
But at the same time its not always the schools responsibilty to get you to school, its your parents responsibility too. The city provide free rides to school and when you are riding they make sure you are safe. But once you get off their bus you are no longer their responsibility. Thats why I say its also your parent responsibility and also yours.
After hearing this segment, I was not as shocked about the problems that are encountered on a regular basis in getting to school in Baltimore. However, I think that this is not an accurate portrayal of what the city of Baltimore is really like. The reason why is because the author only used some of the most commonly known areas in Baltimore and didn’t look at it from other perspectives in the city. The whole city of Baltimore is not as dangerous or violent as they depicted it to be. The segment talked about how getting to school in areas such as Park Heights is such an issue, but other areas in Baltimore don’t have these problems. I have gone to a county school in Owings Mills and I took the bus to school. I didn’t encounter any of these dangerous and violent situations that the author makes it seem to be. If they looked at all cities in Baltimore and then analyzed students’ problems getting to school, then it would be an accurate protrayal of what the city is really like.
I attend Western High School in Baltimore City where there is not too much of an issue getting to school. As far as I know there are no “war zones” directly outside the doors of Western. In my four years of high school I have had to catch one bus, I have taken the lightrail, or I have gotten a ride. The complications of two buses or walking a long distance has never affected me, but I know that the problem exist. I have friends that travel very far for their education. It troubles me to know that their lives are put in danger when all they want is a chance to learn. My cousin attends a school that was included in the segment, Doris M. Johnson High School. She does not go to school as much as she should because of what she has to go through to get there. This is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Our youth are paying the cost for the problems the city faces.
I think that the segment mentions plausible problems for children who take public transportation to get to school. Many of my friends describe how they have to wake up early in order to catch the bus. They also have to take different routes in order to arrive at school on time. Although some of the things that are described in the article are true, the segments are still somewhat biased. This segment does not ask the opinion of students from others schools like Poly and Western, who also use public transportation. This article focuses only on the negative aspects of public transportation. It does not mention how students have free bus passes so that they do not have to pay for the bus rides. The segment also seems to exaggerate the problems that young people face. It portrays Baltimore as a drug-filled place of iniquity and violence. Baltimore does have drug-dealers and gang violence, but the segemnt implies that everywhere you turn you will run into these issues. It makes going to school sound like a rampant and dangerous battlefield. It may be a difficult journey for some, but it is not a hardship for everyone. The segment appears to have only included comments from those who have negative opinions of public transportation. Baltimore is made to appear to be a horrible and scary place. It is dangerous and you need to be careful, but this is how it is in many other places as well. Gang violence and drugs are everywhere. Baltimore is made to seem like an extremely difficult place to live. I do not think that this is true. I think that Baltimore has many positive things to offer. I think that these things should be mentioned in the segments.
I attend a city-wide high school, and my teacher played this segment in class yesterday. Observing these accounts I strongly disagree with the representations that were displayed in this segment. Although it was somewhat accurate I was not Shocked to hear about these accounts. I have lived in Baltimore for my whole life, and have not ever witnessed any of these accusations that took place in this interview. This segment paints a picture of Baltimore as a violent place to live, of course in some areas your safety is in jeopardy but what town does not has it’s faults, these same conflicts could happen anywhere.The “War Zones” that are presented are apart of your everyday life no matter you live. Also there is a lot of talk about the danger in Baltimore but there is nothing being done about the issue. If the town is so bad then there should be less talk about it and more action to prevent these things from happening.
One of the things I’ve noticed about series such as this is that they tend to focus on one segment of Baltimore. I don’t think that all students in Baltimore experience what you’re talking about in this particular segment — so what about the students who live in Roland Park? Are they not ‘growing up Baltimore’? I think you’d be giving a much more complete picture of the situation in the city if you went beyond the ‘war zones’ — it would not only show a different side to the city, but also the disparity.