I didn't go to the roughest high school in town, but I didn't go to the nicest, either. But let me tell you, nothing like time has made me appreciate just how good I had it. The fact that I never really feared for my safety is pretty incredible.
Mind you, even in my day, plenty of high school students did fear for their safety, especially after Columbine. But for grade schoolers to worry about those kinds of things is absolutely heartbreaking.