fenger high school

Once again we hear of another student killed due to gang violence. We hear this almost everyday "gang shooting killed 13 year old by-stander". Gang violence is all around us. It may seem far away from the safety of Barrington, but it is a real threat to hundreds of kids and families everyday in Chicago. But what made this most recent murder at Fenger High School different? Kids from Chicago schools die almost every other week. It's not an uncommon occurrence. What made it different this time was that it was video recorded. People saw what happened, they just didn't hear about it or read about it, they saw it. Most people make connections through visual memory, especially when it comes to major events. A great example of this is where were you on September 11th 2001? What was in the room? Who was with you? The vast majority of people can clearly remember where they were and who they were with when it comes to tragic events. Even more people remember when they saw pictures or videos of the event occurring. When people hear about a kid dying in a gang shooting on the radio or read about it in the paper they go "that's horrible" and then go back to eating their dinner or they flip to the sports page. The reason people do this is that they can't make the same connection that they make when they see something. People make strong connections with visual inputs. So when people connected Derrion Albert's face to the story of his death they took greater notice than usual. So now that we know why people took notice to this particular case we can begin to explore the many sociological reasons behind his death. As the Rev. Jesse Jackson said "You can't solve it, your system caused it." What does this show? It shows that the environment that the schools provide is not healthy or safe, and that the schools should have been trying much harder to prevent this from happening. Lets look at some sociological factors, such as social class. Derrion was from a bad neighborhood, the Altgeld gardens public housing complex A.K.A Ghetto is a low income area. A particularly low income area. Crime festers and multiplies in these areas, much like bacteria in an open wound or fungus in a dark damp cellar. Ghettos are a criminals best friend, a great number of poor people that are desperate for drugs or money in a concentrated area. That creates enough crime to keep the police from patrolling the area. When you grow up in an area like that you are likely to get mixed up in some sort of criminal activity whether you are a law abiding citizen or not. Derrion got caught up in the middle of a gang fight, which occur rather often. Different gangs are always competing for control over certain neighborhoods. Which is based on the next sociological reason for his death, poverty. The reason there are gangs is due to poverty. When people are desperate they turn to crime. It was poverty that was the core reason behind Derrion's death. It was poverty that caused the gangs that killed him, it was poverty that caused him to live in a bad neighborhood, it was poverty that caused his school to not be able to provide him with safe transport to and from school. Now poverty is a never ending problem that will never be fixed and there are many sociological problems behind Derrion's death. I have only skimmed the surface of the many possible reasons as to why Derrion died, but i have vaguely identified some of the main factors.