Gangs, guns, and school violence - The Young Desperadoes - Cover Story

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Jan, 1994 by Ronald D. Stephens

Positive relationships. Support from others helps students achieve their goals more easily. When positive relationships are fostered in the school setting, the tendency to seek support on the streets is minimized. Provide team-building activities, such as games and cooperative learning exercises; establish buddies in class who will support each other; and provide role models of positive relationships.

Leadership skills. Many people feel that being a leader means leading others. Students instead should be taught that being a leader means leading oneself and controlling one's own thinking in order to develop personal power. Teach students the importance of keeping their agreements and honoring their commitments, to be responsible for their own thinking and behavior, and to lead in positive ways.

Dangers of joining gangs. Such groups are attractive to many students who do not understand how dangerous that involvement can be--to themselves and to their families. They need to understand the consequences of their behavior. Explain why it is bad to join gangs (once in, it's hard to get out); discuss symbols (graffiti), dress, and terminology, being careful not to glorify gang members as heroes; and teach about the dangers of possible drug involvement as an outgrowth of gang activities.

Consequences of joining gangs. Teens who live in neighborhoods where they are active are more likely to be involved in a gang culture. Many teens share a fascination for the gang outlaw image and the false sense of romance and adventure perpetuated by it. They need to recognize that making a decision to join a gang involves not only themselves, but also influences their family, friends, schoolmates, and community.

Rites and rituals. Students should learn socially responsible ones to replace the myths and methods that perpetuate gang membership. Gangs use initiation rites and other rituals that attract members and keep them active in the group. Symbols used in graffiti and hand signs are nothing more than declarations of gang rituals that control members. Gangs exist because adults do not compete with them for the control of children.

Control of the young historically has been obtained by past societies through rituals that support social norms. Responsible behavior is not a self-evident process. Children will learn responsibility from adults or define it for each other. Traditionally, elders taught lessons of responsible behavior by example, reinforced by rites and rituals. Those created by gangs are used effectively today because adults are not providing and directing the positive cultural rites and rituals necessary to compete effectively with youth gangs.

Social skills are needed to help resist the pressure to become part of a gang. For many urban youth, the choice is not whether to join a gang, but which one to join. Because controlling adults are absent or their guidance inadequate, children are being left to the influences of peer pressure.

Nonviolent alternatives. Children in contemporary America increasingly are exposed to interpersonal violence that has become the standard conflict resolution tool. Because youngsters may not see nonviolent alternatives to conflict modeled at home or on the streets, they should learn such methods through discussion and role playing.