DN Editorial: Violence in the lower school grades a disturbing trend

THE SCHOOL district is right to take credit for a decrease in the number of schools on a persistently dangerous list issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. From 2009-10 to the 2010-11, the number of Philadelphia schools deemed persistently dangerous - a category that covers violent incidents and weapons-possession arrests - declined by 47 percent, from 19 to 10 schools.

But it's no time to rest easy. The state classification includes only incidents leading to arrests. Independent figures on the district's overall incidents of violent crimes like assaults, drug and alcohol offenses, robbery and morals offenses paints a disturbing picture of danger throughout the district. And most disturbing is the rate of such violence in lower grades.

This week, the story of first- grader Menduawor Comgbaye, published by the Inquirer, provided a sad glimpse into this trend: Comgbaye was brought to the hospital more than once after being beaten by other first-graders. His father has removed him from his school and waits for the district to transfer him to somewhere safer.

An analysis of the district's violent index, which breaks down individual incident figures by type of schools, shows that overall, violent incidents fell from 4,921 in 2009-10 to 4,220 in 2010-11. But the majority of those incidents happen before kids even reach high school.

In fact, in the elementary schools alone, these violent incidents comprise nearly 40 percent of the total. True, the elementary-school population is bigger than the high school population - 73,000 vs 47,000 - but the number of violent incidents is about equal: 1,680 for elementary schools in 2010-11, and 1,698 for high school. (Middle-school grades reported 497, about 10 percent of all; Promise Academies and alternative education aren't factored here.)

The figures for morals offenses are particularly shocking: 109 in elementary schools, almost twice that in the high schools.

As pathologies go, violent behavior among 6- and 7-year-olds strikes us as far more worrisome than violence among older children. Not only does very young violence signal deep problems, but left unaddressed, children take those problems - which often escalate with age - through each grade.

Another report released this week is unconnected to violence, but suggests a relationship that district officials should pay attention to: A Pew report on strategies for school closings, released in advance of the Philadelphia district's facilities master plan, which is expected to lead to many closings. The district should consider using the violence index as a factor in determining which schools should remain open.

But the problem of student violence, especially among young children, should not be on the District's shoulders alone. This is a public-health crisis that demands attention from all of us.