A Little Perspective For the Leaders of Tomorrow

Last year, I participated in a program called The Harper New Trier Leadership Program. This program selected thirty kids from NT and thirty kids from Harper Township High School (an inner-city school on the south side of Chicago) and took us all on excursions in neutral areas, letting us get to know each other over a few months. Even after the program ended, I continued to stay in contact and maintain friendships with these kids, despite the different backgrounds we come from. I have become very good friends with a girl named Mayneatha who lives in Englewood (a neighborhood on the south side that is considered the most dangerous area in Chicago). When meeting up with her last weekend downtown, she told me about how there has been more shooting around her house than usual and that more people have been killed this past year than she can remember.
After hearing this, I came home and tried to do a little research. I found an article published four days ago talking about a 15 year old boy named Mark who was fatally shot on a porch when visiting his family. I read more about this kid to learn that he had a seven month year old daughter and was not associated in any gang violence, but unfortunately had friends who were. His dream was "playing football, [but] as a young father, his goals were more grounded, hoping to become a mechanic as an adult". To read the full article, click here.
Living on the Northshore, it's easy to forget about what is going on outside our community and to put our lives in perspective. Most of us have never left our "Northshore bubbles," and similarly even fewer have left "the hood" from Englewood. The article stated that Mark Watts is the 32nd person under the age of 20 to be murdered in Englewood since 2008. Mark Watts was added to this number when returning to his old home from Riverdale just visit his loved ones--and by doing so was brutally shot to death. It hit me when I read this that all the kids from Harper don't hear this as an elaborate story, but a reality in their community.


The Harper New Trier Leadership Program offered both groups of kids opportunities to meet people different from each other. Americans values being the land of opportunity--a place that anyone can go from rags to riches in just a heartbeat or through long, hard work. Could have Watts' death been prevented if more interactive programs, such as the Harper Leadership Program, existed in his community? Do you think that programs like the Harper Leadership Program has potential to change living conditions in Englewood for the better?


Also, consider this idea of mixing of socioeconomic classes. Is this strategy the "American" thing to do? Or is it more inappropriate for the American ideals that idolize social class ?