Outside Mexico City’s high schools, the scene has shifted from being solely a student issue to a major red flag of danger. Many of the capital’s high schools, regardless of their location or whether they are public or private, have become veritable ecosystems of insecurity and the sale of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit substances, operating in broad daylight under the shadow of institutional inaction.
It is estimated that more than 450,000 young people attend one of the hundreds of schools distributed across the city’s 16 boroughs every day. Between the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) (both its preparatory schools and CCH campuses), the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) (CECyT campuses), the College of Baccalaureate Studies, the IEMS (Institute of Higher Secondary Education), and the vast network of private high schools like La Salle, the capital boasts one of the highest student densities in Latin America.
However, the consumption figures are alarming. According to data from ENCODE (National Survey on Drug Use in Students) and the Ministry of Health/CONADIC (National Commission Against Addictions), 53 percent of high school students have consumed alcohol at some point, and nearly 17 percent admit to having tried some type of illegal drug. Reports of unlicensed beer stands and drug sales points near schools have exceeded 2,000 in recent years, concentrated in boroughs such as Cuauhtémoc, Iztapalapa, Gustavo A. Madero, and Coyoacán.
Insecurity for students is also rampant. Interestingly, as we mentioned, the neighborhood or the status of the high school is irrelevant. One of the schools about which we have received the most complaints from parents is La Salle University and High School, located in the Condesa neighborhood on Benjamín Franklin Avenue, as well as on other adjacent streets that the institution has acquired over time. Over the years, these streets have attracted a network of businesses, beer stands, and shops with back rooms, along with a high rate of insecurity.
“My son was mugged near the La Salle Condesa Campus. He was walking alone on Benjamín Franklin towards the Metro. They stole his money, cell phone, and headphones. He says they’re older men who approach, hug him, and threaten him with guns to hand over everything and force him to give them his phone’s passcode,” said the mother of one of the students.
One of the most severe criticisms from parents and school safety experts is the so-called “open-door fallacy.” Under the guise of autonomy and maturity, many institutions allow students to come and go from school during their free time or between classes.
This practice has become a gateway to vulnerability. Once outside, minors are exposed to a gray area where school authorities no longer supervise and the police rarely appear or are complicit.
A mother whose son also… A student at the Condesa campus of La Salle University and High School mentioned that in various parent-teacher chat groups, they share warnings and information about insecurity, hidden beer stands, tobacco and alcohol sales, and other problems.
“The worst part is that we always complain, but no one ever listens to us. Currently, the rector of La Salle University is Professor Néstor Anaya Marín, and the director of La Salle High School Condesa is Professor Joel Mañón Correa. There are countless security issues, and they aren’t taking responsibility for the students. I’ll just mention one: they force girls who play on sports teams to leave the main campus and cross over to campus 2 because the school located its courts on the property on Benjamín Hill Street. Right on the corner, there’s a public square where parents have spotted drunks and troublemakers, some even drinking alcohol, who now even sit and leer at the girls. One day “Something terrible is going to happen,” Mrs. Sánchez said.
In this regard, the father, who only wanted to be identified by the initials J.M., mentioned that the most serious issue is that, unlike the sports complex for which an expensive bridge was built, in the Benjamin Hill area, the security guards (although they are present) are conspicuously absent 80 percent of the time when the girls are out in their athletic shorts.
Source: eluniversal
