Safe at Home

A classmate of mine lost her older brother this past year. Until recently, I didn't know the circumstances. But, I later found out that he was shot and killed in the neighborhood in which they live. Our high school is pretty high profile, with most of the kids coming from well to do families and neighborhoods where there are watchful eyes and security is tight. This classmate, however, falls into a different category. She is at our school on scholarship from a family of modest means in a so-so neighborhood where things like this do happen. Not often, but more often than the rest of us would like to think. But having this happen so close to the heart makes you think. About the daily struggles so many people face in our current society. About whether or not a lot of people really "fit in" and feel they can relate to the people around them. About what's fair in our world and what isn't and what we can and can't do to change things. And about the real-life situations around you that can't help but touch you emotionally. After I heard about what happened to my classmate's brother, I started thinking about everything. Does my classmate feel safer at school than at home? Does she feel at place in our school just because she's so bright, or does she feel like it's hard to relate to the people around her? Do some kids put on acts when they come to school in the morning, wearing a happy face even when unsettling things have happened to them at home? My school is a socially inviting environment. We have a small class that allows us all to relate to each other like we are family. I know I feel as if I can be open and honest with friends at my school but is that true of everyone? How many students feel safer and happier at school than in their home environments? How many students struggle with safety in their neighborhoods, domestic violence at home, or physically and emotionally abusive parents? I think a lot of people take for granted that kids are just "happy." But I'm starting to think that this may not apply to the majority of kids. And it makes me wonder what I can do, and what we all can do, to keep students feeling safe in both their home and school environments.