Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner
2008-05-09 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

Playing hooky or getting suspended increases children’s chances of being shot, researchers say.

Caroline Fichtenberg, Baltimore City Health Department epidemiologist, and researcher Elizabeth Parker combed school records for 391 homicide and shooting victims over the past five years and found a strong correlation between poor attendance, suspensions and expulsions, and the youth who become victims.

From 2003 to 2007, 520 youth were shot and wounded or killed, the researchers said.

“There is a tragedy of educational failure and also the tragedy of physical harm, and they are linked,” City Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein said.

“Leaving schools really precipitates a downward spiral.”

The Health Department sent its findings to city schools chief Andres Alonso and plans to examine data about young murderers and shooters as part of a larger assessment of youth violence.

Among the most recent findings:

» Victims of homicides or nonfatal shootings in Baltimore attended an average of 105 days of school — of 180 total school days — per academic year.

» Two-thirds of victims (67 percent of 391) were suspended or expelled at least once before the shooting or homicide.

» Victims who were suspended or expelled in a given academic year had on average 2.2 suspensions or expulsions per school year and missed an average of 14.6 days because of suspensions and expulsions.

“What the data show is if we ignore these signs, the victims can be the children themselves,” Alonso said.

“It’s not about having more or fewer suspensions, but a problem that is complex and is connected to what goes on outside school.”

Sharfstein said keeping youth engaged in school is “a critical priority.”

In Baltimore, almost one in 10 students habitually skips school — more than four times the state average.

Truants are more likely to drop out, smoke marijuana, commit property crimes, assault people and go to jail, said Krystina Finlay, director of research and evaluation at the National Center for School Engagement in Denver.

“If you’re not in school,” she said, “there aren’t a whole lot of positive things for you to be doing with your time.”

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com