I attended inner city public schools in Chicago from the mid '50s through mid '60s and know for a fact that there was much of the same issues as now happening there back then and I imagine it was the same at schools in other large cities, as well. Some of the bloodiest fights I've ever seen happened inside school, on school grounds, and less than a block of school grounds. Students using alcohol, marijuana and pills of all kinds was already common and LSD was just starting to become a 'in thing'. Surprise police drug raids were not uncommon at popular restaurants close to school where students congregated to eat lunch. We had a uniformed Chicago city policeman with all the official police turnout equipment -- revolver, handcuffs, nightstick, etc., assigned full time to patrol on foot the high school halls and grounds I attend.
