The community of North Lawndale is known for many things. Unfortunately, broken glass is part of the bad reputation that the community has. The high prevalence of broken glass is generally dangerous for the residents. Furthermore, the high prevalence of broken glass on the streets of North Lawndale is dangerous for children.
The Glass Itself
The broken glass itself is the primary problem. However, the problem with said problem is that even if someone were to clean up all the glass more glass would appear later. Furthermore, the problem of broken glass, in a nutshell, is that broken glass keeps appearing on the streets of North Lawndale even after they are cleaned up. The glass is much like the Greek hydra, where if one chop off one head, two heads appear the moment after. In both scenarios, the situation gets worse over time. Unfortunately for North Lawndale, this seems to be the path it is on. Ultimately, this issue impacts two groups most heavily, those to groups are children playing on the streets, and the elders.
Please Respect the Elders
Elders people make up a significant portion of the North Lawndale population. The elders are a vulnerable section of any population. They can’t and generally shouldn’t work and many of them need general assistance for their general needs. One of those needs happens to be walking. Many of these same people use walking as a means of maintaining physical health. “Older adults who walk three to four miles a day — 6,000 to 9,000 steps — were found to be 40 to 50 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke than those who walk a mile (2,000 steps) a day, according to research published in the journal Circulation,” stated the Washington Times.
How are the older citizens of North Lawndale supposed to go on health walks when there is glass all over the ground? Unfortunately, the continued state of existence of broken glass places a danger to all of those who encounter it. This includes the vulnerable older citizens of North Lawndale. Additionally, the children of North Lawndale could be impacted in a similar way that the elders would be.
Children
It is an obvious statement that children like to play around outside. However, they shouldn’t be doing so when there is glass on the ground.
A major study centered around children and broken glass on the streets states, “Of 241 children, 83 (34%) had been cut at least once while walking outdoors. Of the 83, 62 were not wearing footwear at the time of injury. The majority of lacerations (86%) were caused by broken glass. Thirty-nine of the 83 children received professional medical care for the laceration. Broken glass was estimated to be present on 30% of the outdoor walking area.”
From this, it can be easily seen that the risk of injury for children is serious. Furthermore, even though a majority of those children had no shoes on, a portion of them did wear shoes and were still harmed.
Unfortunately, this is the state of things when it comes to North Lawndale’s streets. Additionally, not only does it make playing on the streets objectively less safe, it gives parents one more thing to worry about when their child is coming home from school. Both the parents and the children could have one less thing to worry about if the broken glass were gone and stayed gone.
The Persistent Problem
Furthermore, one of the most unfortunate parts of this problem is that it finds a way to persevere. No matter how many individuals clean up a section of the community, the streets always somehow end up with broken glass on them. It’s an issue that sticks like white on rice and doesn’t seem to want to leave. What makes the issue more complicated is the origin of the glass.
Broken glass ends up that way for a couple of reasons. It could appear when glass bottles get crushed, smashed on someone’s head, or even when a glass object is smashed in the street. For whatever reason, the broken glass is created, it needs to be dealt with. The solutions to this complex issue must tackle the reason why there is glass on the streets of North Lawndale but there isn’t any on the streets of Lakeview.
Systemic Neglect
Furthermore, one could say that the city of Chicago has systematically neglected North Lawndale. However, this statement is that this applies to many different parts of North Lawndale. Unfortunately, as a consequence of systemic neglect, the city of Chicago just doesn’t take care of it like it does the other neighborhoods. Sure there are a few cleaning trucks, but it isn’t enough. The lackluster effort from the city of Chicago to maintain the general safety of North Lawndale’s streets could be one of the main reasons why the glass is never cleaned up.
What Can Be Done?
At the end of the day, the community of North Lawndale must do whatever it can to keep its streets clean. This can mean many things, but it only means one thing in truth. The community must learn to take care of itself. It must do better, for the sake of the elders, the children, and all who seek to walk the streets of North Lawndale.
Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Sources:
The Washington Post: Older adults who walk 3 or 4 miles daily see lower heart disease rates By Linda Searing
Makary M. A. (1998). Reported incidence of injuries caused by street glass among urban children in Philadelphia. Injury prevention: journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention, 4(2), 148–149. https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.4.2.148
Webmd: What to Know About Stepping on Glass
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Tim Walters’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of Orin Zebest’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
