Published: November 1, 1999

Unforgiven

My students lived in a world of anger. Instead of offering them patience, I gave them more anger.

Laurel Street Elementary School stands at the intersection of Laurel and Tama rind on a few acres of dirt in South Central Los Angeles. The surrounding neighborhood, with its wide streets, ample sidewalks, and single-family homes spaced neatly apart, could pass for a comfortable middle-class suburb. Until you take a closer look: gang graf fiti scrawls across abandoned homes, garbage rots in the alleyways, and aimless boys roam the...