IL. Unsafe to walk to school. A violence-wracked city and its students./

The once dignified city of Chicago has surrendered that it can do little to stop its violence-wracked streets except post yellow “safe passage signs” and civilian sentinels along student walk to school routes.

Starting with the school year, 600 unarmed civilian sentinels will be posted along what the police have determined to be the most secure routes for youngsters from 49 newly closed elementary schools to walk to farther flung “welcoming” schools in areas perhaps controlled by gangs that may not be so welcoming. The sentinels will be paid $10 an hour to serve as a deterrent to possible threats.

The implicit message is that other passages are unsafe for even grade school youngsters to pass through, despite our responsibility to keep them safe by whatever route. The signs announce a national emergency that is no less urgent because it is long standing and ongoing.Nor does it make the need for the “Safe Passage” signs any less of a disgrace, most particularly in our president’s hometown. One of these “Safe Passage” routes might have run a block from Obama’s home if a nearby school that was initially targeted for closing had not escaped the final cut.

These measures are not only warranted, they are an absolute necessity in a city where eight children aged 7 or younger have been shot since the Fourth of July weekend.

With the mass school closings of elementary schools at the end of the last school year came the prospect of thousands of young kids being forced to venture into potentially hostile territory. The Safe Passage signs went up and the 600 sentinels were hired in preparation for the school year commencing Aug. 26. ”Safe Passage Maps for Welcoming Schools” were mailed to every student.

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