Milwaukee's High School Violence Free Zones

Dani McClain:

he first step is for youth advisers assigned to any school - there are 53 district-wide charged with being mentors and disciplinarians - to seek out and build relationships with the 10% of the student body that's most consistently causing trouble.

"The number one thing is follow-through," Robinson said. "These students feel like, 'Everybody has let me down.' "

Being accessible is important, as is giving that student time to trust the youth adviser with whatever might be going on at home - no money for food, the weight of responsibility for younger siblings, abuse or any number of problems related to or augmented by poverty.

According to 2005 U.S. Census data, a third of school-age children in Milwaukee lived with a family in poverty.

More on Milwaukee's suspension rates here.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 29, 2008 8:27 AM
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