high school students admitted to either being apart of a gang or seeing gang activity in their schools (The National Association of Social Workers, 2011). This statistic alone is an alarming number. Almost half of the students nationwide are witnessing or participating in gangs before or at the age of 18. Now while this is a scary realization it shouldn’t be surprising. Kids who grow up in low income neighborhoods and are surrounded by gang activity have a tendency to lean towards that lifestyle. They would rather wrap themselves up in gang life rather than finishing high school or even contemplating anything beyond that. This can be for a number of reasons. According to Gangfree.org (2008), kids will join a gang because they are missing that
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According to the National Gang Center (2012), Nearly 50% of all reported gang crimes between 2011 and 2012 were that of the violent nature (National Gang Center, 2012). And some of these violent acts involved innovent bystanders. A major issue with living in gang communites is the chance of getting mistaken for a gang member and paying with your life for it. An example of this being the violent war between Norteños and Soreños in modesto California back in 2007. According to The Modesto Bee (2007) Mutliple people were gunned down because they were mistaken to be a rival gang member. It seemed like they all had one common connection and this being they were wearing the wrong color that day (The Modesto bee, 2007). Sadly scenarios like these play out all the time over this country. People either wearing the wrong color or even being caught in the crossfire of a …show more content…
No matter what is done to try and keep gangs from doing what they do there will always be a way. Gangs are a fabric of our society and especially in our inner cities. The reason why gangs will never fully cease to exist is because there will always be people who will gravitate towards this life and never get out. Whether it is because of money, power, family, protection or maybe even the thrill of commiting s violent act. Of course there are ways to deter gangs but like any crime deterrence has it’s consequences. Like previously discussed, when attempts to subdue gangs are made naturally they will adopt and that is exactly what they are doing. It seems like there will always be that game of cat and mouse being played between law enforcement and gangs. No matter what though law enforcement must always make the effort to try and put a dent into gangs and there agenda. It is truly sad to know that at any moment an innocent person could be killed due to gang activity. Or maybe a kid with potential joins because he feels like he has no other option. He joins and instead of reaching his true potential in life he ends up in prison or dead. Gangs are not only a nuicsance but a danger to our country as a whole. Gangs are forever evolving and should forever be a concern to Amercians. With the help of law enforcmenet and communiites as a whole, gangs can be
According to the National Gang Center (2012), Nearly 50% of all reported gang crimes between 2011 and 2012 were that of the violent nature (National Gang Center, 2012). And some of these violent acts involved innovent bystanders. A major issue with living in gang communites is the chance of getting mistaken for a gang member and paying with your life for it. An example of this being the violent war between Norteños and Soreños in modesto California back in 2007. According to The Modesto Bee (2007) Mutliple people were gunned down because they were mistaken to be a rival gang member. It seemed like they all had one common connection and this being they were wearing the wrong color that day (The Modesto bee, 2007). Sadly scenarios like these play out all the time over this country. People either wearing the wrong color or even being caught in the crossfire of a …show more content…
No matter what is done to try and keep gangs from doing what they do there will always be a way. Gangs are a fabric of our society and especially in our inner cities. The reason why gangs will never fully cease to exist is because there will always be people who will gravitate towards this life and never get out. Whether it is because of money, power, family, protection or maybe even the thrill of commiting s violent act. Of course there are ways to deter gangs but like any crime deterrence has it’s consequences. Like previously discussed, when attempts to subdue gangs are made naturally they will adopt and that is exactly what they are doing. It seems like there will always be that game of cat and mouse being played between law enforcement and gangs. No matter what though law enforcement must always make the effort to try and put a dent into gangs and there agenda. It is truly sad to know that at any moment an innocent person could be killed due to gang activity. Or maybe a kid with potential joins because he feels like he has no other option. He joins and instead of reaching his true potential in life he ends up in prison or dead. Gangs are not only a nuicsance but a danger to our country as a whole. Gangs are forever evolving and should forever be a concern to Amercians. With the help of law enforcmenet and communiites as a whole, gangs can be