Lost Generations: Children of the Chicago Projects

Ratted hair, dirty faces, barely dressed in filthy clothes, malnourished, unsupervised, neglected and abused. These are the children of the projects. These are the horrors my eyes have seen. I've been in these neighborhoods, walked down the halls of the buildings and entered the apartments inside. The buildings smell of urine and filth cakes the walls and stairs. Bars are on the windows to keep people from breaking in, but in reality it'a a prison full of children born into a life without hope. They sit in apartments with dirty mattresses on the floors and no food to eat while parents are pursuing their next high.

Addiction and violence have destroyed their lives. Babies are born addicted, young girls are violated and led into prostitution, while young boys are gangbanging and being shot. I've seen a newborn baby sleeping on just a blanket on a closet floor. Just one among several babies I have personally seen the state step in and take. I know of a baby burned in a hot tub of water because the parents were doing drugs and didn't check the temperature. I know a little girl whose father was shot in the head and killed in the violence that thrives in these projects. I know young girls that go door to door hoping to get enough food to make a meal for themselves and their siblings. I've seen a young boy hit in the head with a half gallon bottle of juice. I know teenage girls that are pregnant and teenage boys that have been shot and killed.

These children grow up uncared for (if they live to grow up), are taught how to be addicts, alcholics, prostitutes, dealers, gangbangers, theives and murderers and become the next generation of adults giving birth to more children without hope. They are also taught the fine art of how to do it all while living off of state aid. Checks are used to buy drugs and alcohol and when that money is gone, food stamps are sold to support their addictions. They are not taught to be productive or given a chance to do something with their lives. Most of them will never get out of the projects and know a different life. Most of them will live and die there, like their parents and grandparents have done. The Chicago projects truly are a breeding ground of lost generations.