Jesus Walks With Micah

This article is about a student in South Los Angeles and a typical day in his life, at school, home, and in between. Micah only lives about five miles away from me, but it is a world away.

L.A. Times -- A Gantlet on Way to School: A boy braves L.A.'s mean streets to reach Washington Prep.

"The district appointed a new principal, Herbert Jones. It doubled the number of armed police officers on campus to two and doubled the number of unarmed officers to four. It assigned six school district police to patrol within a half-mile radius. It spent $37,000 completing the iron perimeter fence. It increased the number of surveillance cameras on campus to 30, Jones said.

Jones walks the perimeter before and after school, making sure his students are safe. He worked with the MTA to place a bus stop in front of the school after a student was shot waiting for a bus on a corner last September. In the halls, Jones tells students to straighten their baseball caps, and he sends them home if they wear gang-affiliated attire.

He said the potential for violence exists on any campus in America. Washington Prep is just more prepared than others, he said. "We're ready for Columbine every day of the week.""

Of course, this is not news to most of you. Just a reminder and some nice anecdotes about how some people deal with the situation. Much like the fellowship I belong to -- AA -- Micah uses spiritual weapons in his quest for survival. Although it should be mentioned that he is reading Machiavelli.