I was thinking about high school in the mid-seventies. We lived in a largely agricultural county, and it was not unusual for someone to have their shotgun or .22 in their truck. Many boys had a pocket knife on hand. This said, I do not recall a single instance of kids, white or black, being gunned down in the hall, or of someone being found stabbed to death in a bathroom stall. Ours was a very integrated school, yet there were no loud arguments with shoving and fisticuffs in the commons; certainly, no-one was bludgeoned to death with railroad ties.

Just thinking out loud, here.