LOGAN SQUARE — There is a group of budding young journalists in Logan Square.
A few months back, my former colleague Jon Hansen and I were invited to speak about journalism to two classrooms of eighth-grade students at Goethe Elementary.
The students came with questions, lots of them. They also had drafts of some work they had been diving into as part of an investigative journalism portion of their English class covering topics from police brutality, gangs in Chicago, teen pregnancy, mental health and self-harm.
They wanted to know what makes a good story, how to keep readers interested, where to look for stories, and, most importantly, how to handle sensitive investigations.
We focused on a story I wrote in 2013 looking into the "sucker pole" phenomenon where thieves target bikes locked to poles they know aren't bolted to the ground — describing the process of forming a story with narrative elements, statistics and interviews.
One diligent note-taker kept a tally of how many "like"s and "um"s I managed to squeeze into the 50-minute sit-down. He showed me his notebook after class filled with row after row of tick marks. Very solid observational skills.
I've chosen some highlights from the students' work (with a little bit of editing to make them easier to read) and included them below.
A link to the entire class's works is available here.
A Savanna or a City? by Julissa R.
As short, young, and frightened Tyler walked to his new school on the west side of Chicago, bright and early trying to get there at 7:30 a.m. sharp, he dreaded walking past the tall muscular group on the corner, probably still out from the night before. He knew they were trouble and questionable kids. He knew they were dangerous, and he just did not want involvement in any trouble.
First off, who can we assume is that group of people on the corner of a Chicago neighborhood, like a pack of lions looking for some prey? When interviewing a short amount of 29 Chicago citizens and what group of people they believed was on the corner of a Chicago neighborhood, 24 estimated the group on the corner was gang related. What some readers may not realize is that this confirms how much gang related activity has been actively common and growing in Chicago, that Chicago citizens from 6th graders to citizens of 50+ years of age are so aware of the problem and how it has become to grow to such a great issue. The reality of it all comes to show when 12-year-old children estimate it is a gang on the corner.
According to the Chicago Crime Commission, a 2012 Chicago police department gang audit found there are more than 600 gang factions in the city, with a minimum combined membership of 70,000. This evidence signifies how big of a city Chicago really is, and how it is overfilled with such negative, dangerous, and non-helping people in the community. This reveals how one big beautiful city can be filled with so many faulty individuals.
New Definition of a “Young Mother” by Mia H.
What are the lives of girls who sit in front of the television, but are experiencing the same situation as those glorified teens? No, not MTV’s MTV Cribs, but other MTV shows. The infamous "16 and Pregnant," and the spin-off, "Teen Mom."
Young girls all over the country, and the world, ages thirteen through nineteen, are facing the arduous reality that they are pregnant. Whether unexpected or planned, it’s happening to youths everywhere, especially in our neighborhoods.
Teen pregnancy is an urgent topic that should be talked about in our communities. Studies from the Disease Control and Prevention website (cdc.gov) show that, “In 2013, non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanic teens birth rates were still more than two times higher than the rate for non-Hispanic white teens....” Although these statistics correlate with the whole country, our city is part of the reason why. Information from chicagonow.com says that although Illinois is significantly below the national rate for teen pregnancy, Chicago is one of the top ten for black and Latino teen pregnancies. This is crucial information to our Logan Square neighborhood, as well as our schools, because the community has a majority of Latinos, (according to chicagohistory.org, as of 2000, 65.1%) which means that our neighborhood has more risk for teen pregnancy. These circumstances and harsh realities can greatly affect our children today.
Lifetime of Happiness by Nevaeh M
Teen depression is real and it’s out there whether we like it or not. It’s a parent's worst nightmare. It’s what numerous amounts of teens may suffer from. Depression. It can start from almost anywhere, from the pressure of homework to just sitting alone overwhelmed in thoughts and it can lead to suicide or self harm. Depression is the most horrific thing a teen can suffer from. Teens are like a bottle of pop and depression is a Mentos. When you put the Mentors in, it explodes. Teens that suffer from depression become isolated from everyone, they think that they are worthless, and may sometimes just need a friend.
According to www.teenhelp.com, “As many as 8.3 percent of teens suffer from depression a year.” And so it becomes even more clear that teens may go through depression and they might overcome it or they might not. It's not just teen depression from pressure from adults; it's more than that. If it can last less than a year that would solve most suicides. Unfortunately, that's not the case, sometimes it'll last longer. Sometimes it can last a lifetime. Also, expert Dr.Carol Glod stated on, www.familyaware.org, “The prevalence of depression is higher in teens than in children. Two and a half percent of children, six to 12 years of age, have depression, while at least eight percent of teens have depression. Some studies suggest that as many as 20% of teenagers have depression.” What is revealed here is, teens have a higher rate of becoming depressed and that it can start as early as six years old to a lifetime. Depression can strike at any moment, which is more likely to occur during the prepubescent years.
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