When Black High School Students Fear For Their Safety, Preparing For College is Not Their Priority:

It is obvious that when one' s personal safety is in question, it is difficult to concentrate on academic matters. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of black students in the nation' s public schools must constantly look over their shoulder rather than look down at their textbooks or up at their teachers in the front of the classroom.

Consider the following statistics from the Justice Department report, National Crime Victimization Survey:

• In 2003, 342,700 black students ages 12 to 18 were victimized by crime while at school. More than 132,000 black students at secondary schools were victims of violent crime. Of these, 28,000 black students were the victims of serious violent crimes such as rape, sexual assault, or robbery. Blacks were nearly twice as likely as whites to be victims of serious violent crimes while at school.
• More than 17 percent of black high school students reported having been involved in a physical fight while on school grounds in 2003. This is 70 percent higher than the rate for whites. Nearly 40 percent of black high school students reported being involved in a physical fight either at school or off campus.
• Nearly 7 percent of all black high school students reported carrying a gun while at school in 2003. More than 17 percent of black high school students said that they carried a gun while not in school.

For black students preparing for college in our nation' s high schools, it' s tough to hit the books when they' re worried about getting hit.

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