Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?

Hot on the heels of our 36-hit shooting spree a few weekends ago, the Tribune has decided now would be a good time to resume its occasional features on “chronic diseases and their impact on urban communities.” Interesting choice for a chronic disease this time around… Endemic violence.

That’s an interesting label for it, but the article makes a very convincing case for taking it more seriously as a medical concern.  The sociological, economic, and political ramification of violence are such obvious categories that, if nothing else, this can help us look at the effect of violence on communities as every bit as dangerous as any kind of bacterial or viral disease–and in some ways, a cause for much more concern.

[Research shows] exposure to violence is linked to childhood depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, learning problems, sleep difficulties, poor academic performance and a host of other problems. Persistent fear, scientists say, can cause neurophysiological changes in a child’s brain that can impair physiological, behavioral, cognitive and social functioning.

This may seem self-evident from the comfort of a cushy chair behind a computer, but this is something that goes far deeper than just violence begetting violence and the usual trauma.  Neuroscience has made incredible strides in the past decade and those brain changes are real, they can be followed and charted and are very hard to correct.  Our habits will form us, and our environments will inform our habits.

Researchers are also finding that parental perception of danger is sometimes greater than the actual danger in an area and they could be overcompensating to keep their children inside.  There are serious ripples that could become destructive tidal waves later on if kids are forced into anti-social positions because of unsafe neighborhoods.  It is important to recognize that:

“Social learning is fostered by play and exploration,” he said. “When those types of activities are constricted, a child’s future is also constricted.”
I live

play is the primary means by which children learn to regulate their emotions and behavior, said Dr. Stuart Brown, a psychiatrist and president of the National Institute for Play.

It’s very difficult to read things like this and keep in mind my own students and the gang territories they cross on their odyssey to school.  It’s no wonder that so many of them stay around the small outside plaza after school when most students are bolting to get home as soon as possible.  Where else can they hang out, where else could they play?

The facts, the figures, the statistics, the quotes, the experts, it’s all abstract, no matter how we look at it, and we can always pity it without worrying about changing it.  Please, volunteer your year or two in college, enjoy your spring break building houses.  Every hand is needed, even if a minute is all you have to give, but we can’t rest on idealism, a variable number that one can change on a whim with minimal value.

The words of reality will always be the common denominator:

De’Jour said he tries to cope with his fears by avoiding crowds and staying close to home. He fondly recalls his more carefree life.

“I was happy,” he said.