There Are No Children Here

Last weekend I made another venture to the local used bookstore and found a book from my college reading list.  There Are No Children Here chronicled the lives of two young brothers who lived in Henry Horner Homes in Chicago in the late 1980’s.  While growing up in public housing these boys lived  a daily life of poverty and gang violence and experienced things that would frighten most adults. 

The book really got me thinking about a lot of things.  The kids in the book are no different than kids anywhere else.  They talked of wanting to live in a house with a yard and a dog. One of the brothers, Lafeyette talked about what he wanted to be IF he grew up.  

The school situation for these boys was pretty dismal as well.  The boys attended an inner-city school that serves the housing project.  At the time the book was written, the teachers were on strike for a month.  One counselor served 700 students.  The students at the school were months behind grade level, but improving because of a principal who demanded order in the school.

The youngest brother, Pharoah, did well in school.  He was bright and eager to learn.  Even though he tested six months behind grade level, he was still at the top of his fourth grade class.   His seemed to immerse himself in school work to avoid gang influences.

The boys had a couple of role models.  One is Craig, a local boy who graduated high school and held a job in retail.  Unfortunately Craig was killed by police in a case of mistaken identity.  The other role model is their cousin Dawn.  Dawn also is a high school graduate and, despite the fact that she had four children by the age of 19, she managed to attend a local community college.

I did some research on the internet and found that the author of the book used the proceeds from the book to send the boys to private school.  I felt that this would help the boys to escape the cycle of poverty.  I was disappointed to find an update in an internet article.  Both boys spent time in jail.  The younger one who showed so much promise and loved school was in jail on drug-related charges.

So the cycle of drugs and poverty continues.  There is so much to this story that we don’t know.  I don’t know if these boys eventually fell prey to the gangs who saturated their area .  Perhaps they even have children of their own. 

It’s sad that that the circumstances to which these boys were born help determine the outcome of their life.  They are just as intelligent as children in middle class communities.  Their parents care about them and want a better life for them.  Yet, they lack the resources to escape their surroundings. 

“But you know there are no children here.  They’ve seen too much to be children.”---LaJoe Rivers, mother of Pharoah and Lafeyette

Kotlowitz, Alex.  (1991).  There are No Children Here:  The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the
     Other America.  New York:  Random House.