Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear more from Steve Perry. AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Police say a student at Richmond High School was gang raped outside during a homecoming dance.

Steve Perry
CNN Education Contributor

Our kids are subjected to environments and images of violence on a level never seen before. They are numbed. I asked a group of girls about why listening to Chris Brown was wrong and I was not prepared to be blown away by their twisted perception of what is reasonable behavior.

If you have not been in a school lately you ought to be afraid, very afraid. The highest rates of violence are directly related to what is considered acceptable.

From the streets of Chicago – where children watched and an adult taped a child be beaten to death – to Richmond High School where children watched a child's innocence ripped from her soul, we have seen what happens when children lose respect for life.

This is the direct result of kids feeling unraised and unloved. It is also the result of kids growing up without adult structure and high expectations. Communities can become Lord of the Flies environments in which the kids make adult decisions and they decide wrong every single time.

Keep reading

Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear more on how to stop the violence in Chicago from Steve Perry, on AC360° at 10p.m. ET.

CNN's Education Contributor Steve Perry grew up in a public housing project and he founded the school to serve kids from similar backgrounds.

David Puente
AC360° Producer

Yesterday before the program Steve Perry, CNN’s Education Contributor, texted me.

He said he was in make-up and wanted to come down and meet him if I had the time. Two hours earlier we had talked on the phone preparing his segment with Anderson about the violence in Chicago and the changes that need to take place in schools around the country in order to curb inner city crime.

I was happy to make time. I’d heard a lot about Steve. He’s the principal and founder of Capitol Preparatory Magnet School in Connecticut. Before that he managed a homeless shelter, campaigned as a candidate for state representative and published three books, including the best seller "Man Up! Nobody is coming to save us". As a graduate of Newark public schools in New Jersey, I’m always interested in educators who are really trying to improve schools in big cities. I know first hand the need that exists.

When I walked into the make-up room. He was already in an animated discussion about education and the economy with Ali Velshi. Ali left for his live hit so I asked Steve what he thought of Jesse Jackson’s op-ed in which he wrote “…in many cities of the country, children are sensibly scared as they go to school. They should have safe passage to school. In Little Rock, Ark., when we first desegregated students, the federal government sent in troops to guarantee safe passage to school…”

Keep reading