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Dozens of high school students walked out of Hyde Park Academy High School during fifth period on Thursday to protest a severe lack of mental health resources after three of their classmates died in a single month. according to a report by ABC7 Chicago.
The massive student protest unfolded directly across the street from the soaring construction site of the new Obama Presidential Center on Stony Island Avenue.
While national attention shines brightly on the neighborhood’s multi-million dollar transformation, students inside the historic high school say administrators are completely ignoring their personal safety and emotional trauma.
The wave of devastating losses began in March when an auto accident severely injured one student riding a scooter and a separate fatal vehicle crash killed a young female student on her way to work.
Violent tragedy struck the student body again in April when a shooter targeted and killed another teenager just a half-block away from the high school campus.
Student Aiyanna Jackson spoke directly to reporters at a crowded press conference outside the school, telling ABC7 Chicago that three classmates died in one month and the principal has not addressed the tragedy.
Jackson added that students feel the school administration does not care about their well-being or safety at all.
For months, an outside grassroots community group called Southside Together operated healing peace circles inside the building to give grieving teens a safe place to process their deep emotional pain.
Organizers and student leaders confirmed that the school principal suddenly forced Southside Together to halt all operations earlier this month without offering any replacement programs.
Yvette McCaskill, a dedicated community organizer with Southside Together, expressed her deep frustration and anger over the sudden termination of their program.
McCaskill emphasized that the abrupt decision completely severs a vital trust and relationship that mentors built over time to ensure young South Side residents feel heard in their own hallways.
Here is the reality of trying to learn inside a school where violence constantly looms just past the front doors.
Student Zaynah Soyebo noted that she faces an entire remaining school year before graduation, which feels like an impossibly long time to experience constant depression, anger, and total isolation.
Another frustrated student leader, Liyah Juarez, demanded that Chicago Public Schools either replace the current principal or force the current administration to immediately bring back their vital trauma resources.
The scene outside the school on Stony Island Avenue told a story of a community pushed to its absolute breaking point.
Terrified teenagers explained that they do not feel safe walking down local side streets after the final school bell rings each afternoon.
WATCH THE FOOTAGE BELOW.
Chicago Public Schools officials responded to the protest late Thursday afternoon by releasing a formal written statement defending the high school administration.
District officials revealed that Southside Together is not currently registered as a Chicago Public Schools-approved vendor.
The corporate statement from the district administration claimed that Hyde Park Academy maintains a full-time counselor onsite alongside extra regional staff who regularly provide mental health assistance.
CPS administrators added that these onsite staff members can easily refer struggling students and local families to external clinical mental health services across the city.
Grieving students insist that these official district solutions look clean on paper but fail completely to address the raw fear and sorrow present in the classrooms every single morning.
Local neighborhood advocates recommend that South Side students always walk home in large groups and immediately utilize community center counseling options if their local school lacks trusted mentors.
Neighborhood safety groups continue to push for increased police patrols around the Stony Island Avenue corridor during dismissal hours to protect the vulnerable student body from further local violence.
