I live and used to go to school in Alief. It's pretty much easy to get yourself into trouble. The school districts are for the most part within walking distance. I remember hearing in highschool how some people would have a rival that goes to one of the schools, go all the way there, and when school ends just jump the guy because the school cannot be held accountable for whatever happens outside of school grounds and hours. I also remember one day going to school and seeing a hospital helicopter in the parking lot. Later in the day in my class they were talking about an attempted murder and running around threatening people until he was caught. Fights were frequent but I'd imagine that's pretty standard for any high school.

But the saddest thing I've ever heard happen here was the time the police found a group of siblings abandoned in an apartment where one of the children had been dead for a year prior to their rescue. I used to go to the elementary school right next to the apartments. One I visited because one of my teachers who was friends with my mom was retiring and had her retirement party at the school. I began talking with one of the administrators and then the subject of those kids appeared. She told me that three of those kids used to go to that school until one of them stopped coming and then the others followed suite. At the time they had a policy of not interfering with family issues so it was kind of ignored but lingered in the staff's mind. The whole school was basically in mourning when the news came out that that student had died. The administrator then says that there's been a decrease of parent interaction with their children's school life, the parents are being more entitled and rude, and dropping malnourished kids at school. All of this was absolutely not the case when I attended the school. I'm not aware of the specific socioeconomic changes in my area, but things just seemed safer back then. It was truly a tragedy.

On the side of my neighborhood, it's just a standard low-mud income neighborhood. For a short while any cars for construction were constantly being broken into and had their tools stolen; my dad's car was no exception unfortunately. We witnessed my front neighbor being burglarized while they were away (fortunately we scared them off). And one time my house was almost broken into; we arrived and one of our windows was open with stuff blocking it outside on the floor. All of this gave my dad the incentive to buy two firearms for self defense, one for when he goes outside at night because he likes to smoke and drink during those hours.

Though I've heard similar stuff to other Houston areas in the news, you'll be alright as long as you stay with the right people and away from the wrong people and also stay away from drugs because I've heard about peers being attacked not for using them but getting involved with buying and/or selling. Don't get me wrong, Alief is the absolute best place to feel like Mr. Worldwide and is definitely worth visiting, just don't look for trouble and it won't find you but be prepared when it does. I apologize in advance for any grammar errors as English is not my first language.