LUCKY SEVERSON, correspondent: Halftime show at the homecoming for Anacostia High School, a big time for any high school kid. But something was missing here: parents. The school has more than 900 students, but only a few of the mothers showed up, and there was hardly a father to be seen. Listen to the personal resumes of some of the students and former students.
JACOB JOHNSON: When I was eight years old I joined a gang, and I’ve been in a gang ever since, and I”˜ve done things that have threatened my life and other’s lives, you know what I’m saying?
SEVERSON: What kind of trouble were you getting into?
PAUL SPIRES: Fights. Drugs.
SEVERSON: Gangs?
SPIRES: Gangs. Girls left and right.
AYANA SMITH: All the females in my family got pregnant really young. Thirteen, fourteen, twelve.
SEVERSON: In fact, one girl in nine will get pregnant while attending Anacostia High School. Less than half the freshman class will graduate. Drugs and violence. Broken families.