Community safety efforts are necessary to counter the failure of municaplities to protect students from kidnapping to and from school. Here is a case study from Chicago.
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So we’re going to pick up Daniel first.
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Then our next stop is Rebecca. Meet Alyssa May. She’s one of the volunteers for an initiative called the Walking School Bus.
“I’m going to go ahead and message the chat, so that way, Jessica’s mom knows that we’re on the way, so she can get her all dressed up with the snow…
May runs one of the daily walking routes for an elementary school in Albany Park, stepping in to help parents who are afraid to leave their homes to take their kids to school. The parents we spoke with asked us to not identify the school because of concerns over ongoing immigration enforcement.
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Now you talked about there being different routes. How many kids do you think all are being picked up? I think at least 80, if not closer to 100, but it depends day by day.
Despite Chicago’s first winter storm of the season, we get to experience the first snow with them. This dedicated group of volunteers are making sure these children arrive at school safely.
“The moment that the raids started happening and people started getting pulled off the street, you could just see it. You could see less students, less families, less vendors. And it really did change. It just became a really quiet place.”
In response, parents, educators and neighbors decided to step up.
“It has been a lot to get this underway and like up and running, but I’ve had so many staff members, so many community members step in and help.
Like, how can I help you with the apps? How can I help you with scheduling? How can I help you with the routes?”
Teacher Dulce Jimenez says the walking school bus gives kids some sense of normalcy.
“With getting them to know these volunteers, I’ve started to see all of these students show up and a lot of their conversation at school is like, “I’m coming with my friends?” Like, “I know Miss Maggie.” “I know all the volunteers on our routes,” and noticing and kind of not even realizing the distraction that was created and what we are trying to close off for them.
It’s a growing movement among Chicago residents, taking action to resist and protect their communities for Midway Blitz operations.
“It is really very heartening to see just how much we will all show up to be a part of making sure that all of our kids are safe, that all of our people are safe,” said volunteer Maggie Cullerton Hopper.
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May says volunteering her time is the right thing to do.
“You could kind of sense a pickup, the fear of some of the kids of like, ‘Will I come home to an empty house?’ And we still have to sit with that and know that that is a reality, but at least they are getting one bright, simple spot every day.”