Kids' fears of violence are a call to action

It's hard not to cry when you hear their voices. "It would be wonderful [without guns] because I wouldn't have to go outside thinking I could get shot at any minute and there would be no more of me," one Chicago Public Schools seventh-grader said.

A second-grader's greatest fear? "To be shot on the heart."

Here's a sixth-grade boy describing a city without guns: "I would be happy to go outside. . . . I can ride my bike, go to the pool, and yell and say Holalaya."

Sometimes we forget these are just kids.

That's the power of the Chicago Sun-Times' three-day series, "Schooled in fear," which ends today. In a year where 36 CPS children died violently, the Sun-Times showed readers the fallout extends far beyond 36 grieving families.

Nearly 500 students at three CPS elementary schools in Woodlawn, Little Village and West Town were surveyed by reporters Rosalind Rossi and Art Golab.

The kids' greatest fear? Getting shot.

Among fifth- through eighth-graders, more than a third know a friend or a relative who has been shot to death.

These youngsters are victims without ever being hit by a bullet. The violence pervading many neighborhoods has left far too many chronically fearful and utterly isolated. Kids are so afraid they spend nearly all their non-school hours cooped up at home. And when they get to school, there are few ways for them to blow off steam.

Of the three schools surveyed, none had recess. Just one third of all CPS schools have it regularly.

Of the three schools surveyed, just one had an art teacher.

And most kids in the three schools get gym just once a week. The state says it should be daily.

These are just the kinds of activities kids told the Sun-Times they crave. They are also what the experts recommend to process trauma and learn how to get along with other kids.

It's also good for the bottom line: Kids who can climb the monkey bars, dabble in art or play an instrument are likely to do better academically and be less disruptive.

James Garbarino, director of the Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago, said the survey responses represent a "call to action." We couldn't agree more.

Chicago schools did away with recess in the late '70s, and it's time to bring it back. Schools CEO Arne Duncan supports it, and a bill requiring it is pending in Springfield.

That takes money, of course. Schools need staff to supervise students on the playground and more time in the school day so recess doesn't cut into math, reading and science. A third of CPS' schools have figured out how to do it. The rest could do the same.

For schools in the toughest neighborhoods, this page calls for a more radical solution.

CPS has one of the shortest school days in the country. It should be extended for all schools. But at a bare minimum, it must be longer for the lowest-performing schools, which are often in the most violent areas.

This will make room for some of what these kids are missing in their neighborhoods: recess, art, music, gym. In short, some semblance of a normal childhood.

Nearly 200 low-income Chicago schools have repeatedly failed testing goals of the federal No Child Left Behind act and must make major changes. The feds say extending the day can be one piece of their restructuring plans. Illinois has new federal powers to intervene more aggressively in failing schools and to target more resources there. The state is cooking up its plan this year. We say a longer school day should be at the top of the list.