Walking to school in Camden: Shootings, stabbings, drug sales, and prostitutes

Camden High School junior Janayzia Morris' typical commute to school is just under 2.5 miles on foot through some of the city's dangerous neighborhoods.

Camden students who make a similar trek say they have witnessed shootings, stabbings, drug sales, and gang fights. Often, people are just yelling in the streets, no matter the time of day. Prostitutes are part of the neighborhood landscape.

Morris, 18, fears for the safety of younger students she sees walking alone.

"It's stuff that we shouldn't be seeing," Morris, who lives in the Fairview section, said, shaking her head. "It's too much.

"Sometimes I don't feel unsafe, but I'm irritated. And sometimes I do feel unsafe, and I see little kids walking by themselves," she said. "I'm like, 'Oh, my, their parents do not know what goes on here.' "

Morris is among students in the Camden City School District who must find their way to school on their own; they live just below the 2.5-mile threshold for transportation by school buses under state regulations. Morris said she had purchased NJ Transit bus tickets to get to school in the past, but it ended up being too much to pay month after month.

About 60 community advocates, school administration members, public officials, and students gathered in front of Camden High School after the last bell Monday to walk to the Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy. It's an approximately 2.4-mile walk - a reflection of the daily commute for some students.

Holding signs that read "safety corridor," "drug activity," "weather conditions," and "human trafficking," the group walked for about 45 minutes, accompanied by police-car escorts, lights flashing to control traffic at intersections.

John Royal, public relations director for the community organization Village of Camden, organized the walk to call attention to conditions in the streets and bring a change to transportation options.

A 2.4-mile walk in Camden is not the same as it might be in some surrounding communities, Royal said, as Camden students are unprotected from violence and are vulnerable.

"As I was trying to tackle gang prevention and making parents aware of the fact that gangs are relevant, and children are being recruited, a lot of parents are naive to it," he said. Gangs "recruit effectively and aggressively."

District Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard said change is on the way. The district has allocated an additional $1.5 million for increased transportation for the next academic year. He said he hopes for more state aid as well.

"At the end of the day, we want to provide transportation for any student who feels they need it," he said.

Rouhanifard, who walked with the group Monday, said he often discusses issues with students, and safety getting to and from school was a major concern.

"It's a serious walk," he said after arriving at the Creative Arts school.

Camden resident Helena Kemp, 45, has two children in the district. She moved from Virginia to Camden last September. Her oldest son was fatally shot eight years ago in Virginia. According to a 2009 article in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, her son, then 17, was shot after he attended a dance and later went to a friend's home.

On Monday, Kemp said she wanted to focus on keeping her children and others safe from the violence of the streets.

"As a parent, they're all our kids at the end of the day," Kemp said. "My kids can't even play outside because of the drug activities on my street. We see it every day."

Assemblyman Arthur Barclay (D., Camden) has been working to start a conversation about transportation, and to push for transportation changes in the Assembly.

"You either get beat up or you join the gang," Barclay said of the street culture Camden students encounter. Change "will benefit the schools in terms of attendance, lateness, and just morale."

Barclay, who walked the 2.4 miles Monday, added he was hopeful for a change in transportation regulations before the next academic year.

Luis Alamo, a senior at Camden High School, held a sign that read "gang violence" as he participated in the walk.

Alamo, 18, has about a 30-minute walk to and from school. Though he won't personally benefit from a transportation change next year, he said it's an issue he wants to see addressed.

"Sometimes I feel unsafe, mostly in the mornings," Alamo said. "I live in Fairview, and there's a lot of homicides that happen there. I don't want that to happen to me."

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