Looking for a Way Out: Perceptions of Neighborhood Violence and the Clamor for School Choice

• In Event: Parental Choices

Abstract

Do students’ perceptions of community safety affect their decisions to seek schooling outside their neighborhoods? To answer this, I interview 74 Philadelphia high school students who live in the same neighborhood but attend two different types of public high schools: magnet (MS) vs. neighborhood schools (NS). MS and NS students differ starkly in their perceptions of community violence. MS students are more likely to report feeling unsafe within their neighborhoods. They report weaker social ties to their neighbors, especially to neighborhood teens who they associate with trouble. Because NS students attend the same school as their neighborhood friends, they are better able to maintain and reaffirm ties to the neighborhood. These friendships bolster their sense of well-being within the neighborhood.

Author

• Trinh Tran, University of California - Berkeley