8 Oct, 2009
Greater Love
2 From Cabinet to Meet on Chicago Youth Violence
CHICAGO — In the wake of renewed concerns about deadly violence among children here, Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the former head of the local public schools, are meeting privately Wednesday morning with Mayor Richard M. Daley in a downtown hotel.
The problem has persisted unabated for years, despite commitments from the schools, the police and the mayor’s office to quiet the South Side streets where most of the slayings occur. Three Chicago students have been killed just since the beginning of the academic year, and nearly 70 young people have died violently in their neighborhoods on the way to or from school since the fall of 2007.
The attention from the Obama administration officials comes as the new head of the Chicago public schools, Ron Huberman, has announced a security plan that takes a novel and comprehensive approach to the problem — and is being financed entirely with federal stimulus money.
Mr. Huberman’s plan for stemming the violence is built not on guns or security guards but on statistics and probability. A former police officer and transit executive with a passion for data analysis, Mr. Huberman believes that the school system can systematically identify the students who are most at risk of becoming involved in future violence, either as perpetrators or as victims, by intensively studying past incidents.
With $60 million in federal stimulus grant money, Mr. Huberman’s plan uses a formula gleaned from an analysis of more than 500 students who were shot over the last several years to predict the characteristics of potential future victims, including when and where they might be attacked. While other big city school districts, including New York, have tried to focus security efforts on preventing violence, this plan would go further by identifying the most vulnerable students and saturating them with adult attention, including giving each of them a paid job and a local advocate who would be on call for support 24 hours a day.
Chicago typically spends $55 million a year on security for what is the third-largest school system in the nation. With the new plan, it will be spending $30 million a year on just the 10,000 adolescents most at risk.
Story Courtesy of — The New York Times.
Photo Courtesy of — Google Images.
John 15:12-13 (NIV)
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
What does today's God Story Scripture teach us about "Greater Love"
In Chicago moms and dads, teachers and coaches, politicians and administrators are concerned about the safety of the city's young people. The response of the federal government to the problem will involve an astounding $60 million dollars in federal money. Interestingly enough, one of the major initiatives of this massive spending project will be assigning at risk youth an "advocate" that will be available for support whenever needed. Not that the idea is a bad one, but I wonder why the government needs to spend $60 million dollars to do something that Jesus has commanded his followers to do for free. Why are their thousands of young people in Chicago that aren't connected to a loving Christian adult committed to "laying down their life" for the sake of a child of God? Jesus' command is pretty clear, we should love our neighbors the same way he loved us, by laying down our lives for the sake of others. Of course this is a calling far beyond our natural capacity, and that is why Jesus reminds us that "apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
So let's start abiding in Christ with passion and dedication, and let's start overflowing with the radical life saving love of Christ in our communities. May it never be said that while the youth of our communities suffered from poverty, hunger, and violence, Christians stood by and did nothing. May the disciples of Christ love their friends and neighbors the same way Christ loves his church, by laying down our lives for the freedom and salvation of others.
- How are you "laying down" your life for the sake of your friends?
- Does your abiding in Christ result in an overflowing of love for others?
- Who has laid down their life for you? Take some time today to thank them
- Identify a friend living in a crime ridden area of town and commit to praying for their safety.
- Ask your youth pastor what your church is doing to alleviate crime and poverty in your community.
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