The link for these pictures can be found here:  http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago/community/lincoln-park

As the music starts to ring in the ears of 900 students, children aged 4 to 18 start to push, shove, and elbow, as well as calmly walk, their way past the overcrowded alcove and the security desk, and head out into the heart of Lincoln Park. But how aware are Parker students about what could potentially be waiting for them outside the building.

Many people have their afternoon rituals, whether it be a sport, an instrument, or a trip straight home. For three 8th Grade boys at St. Josaphat School, on Southport Avenue, 29 blocks away from Parker, their post school ritual included a quick stop at 7-11 and then a short walk to Wrightwood Park for cross country practice starting at 4:00 PM– not unlike the afterschool habits of Parker students.

The 13 and 14 year olds made it to Wrightwood and Greenview before they were jumped by a group of males in their teens and twenties pointing knives at them. They quickly gave up their possessions, and the robbers sped off in a black van to attack five more times that day — in Bucktown, Lincoln Park, and Lakeview.

Historically, Lincoln Park is one of the safest neighborhoods in Chicago, but the crime rate in Lincoln Park has gone up by roughly 10% in the past year, according to “The Chicago Tribune.” Some residents of the neighborhood are unaware that its crime rates have been steadily escalating.

From July 30 to August 29, there were 22 reports of violent crimes, 202 reports of property crimes, and 38 reports of quality of life crimes in Lincoln Park, according to a study conducted by “The Chicago Tribune” this summer. Most surrounding neighborhoods reported higher crime rates, Lakeview with 385 total crimes, and the Near North side with 633 total crimes.

The attack on the three eighth graders is a representation of what could  in theory happen to a Parker student.  

“I walk home from school most days, and I usually don’t feel unsafe,” eighth grader Noah Keim, who lives on Seminary Avenue, said.  “I try to stick to big streets with lots of small businesses. I don’t usually walk by Wrightwood Park on my way home, but I do pass it every so often on the way to friends’ houses.”

70% of the students polled for this article had not heard of the attack on the St. Josaphat 8th graders. When asked where they thought Lincoln Park ranked out of 77 neighborhoods in terms of the most robberies, most people said second or third safest.

In reality, Lincoln Park rates 27th safest and of 77 and according to “ The Chicago Tribune”. The second most popular time for crime in Lincoln Park is around 3:00 PM, the same time Parker students are most likely to be walking around.

Parker Security Guard Greg Reames believes that there should be a course or curriculum at Parker educating students on what to do in a crisis. “It couldn’t hurt,” Reames said. “There are probably a lot of adults that could use a class like that, too. We live in a big city.”

Many schools operating in big cities already have this kind of curriculum in place as part of their health program, or as a separate, but required, class entirely. For a number of years, Chicago Public Schools had a safety curriculum in place, but it was eliminated two years ago due to budget cuts.

Freshman Layne Friedman at the Little Red Schoolhouse and Elisabeth Irwin High School in New York City, who attended Parker from JK through 6th Grade, took a mandatory course in public safety during middle school. “It definitely wasn’t worthless,” Friedman said. “We learned what to do in a fire, how to be safe in a subway, the best train car to sit in… things like that. I don’t remember exactly what we learned, but I think most of it has just become an everyday norm that I don’t even notice anymore. It would be a good part of the 9th Grade health program if safety in Lincoln Park is truly starting to be a problem.”