Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Gang Violence
According to www.google/statistics.com 24,500 gangs were active in the United States in 2005. 94% of gang members are male and 6% are female. Gangs have been a vital issue in society yet are subconciously ignored. Why do kids join gangs? A number of reasons play a role in provoking teens to participate in such extreme behavior. Gangs are veiwed almost "family" like. Sometimes when kids lack a healthy relationship at home they look to fill a void. The gang, acts as a security and fufills that emptiness. Low self-esteem is also an attribute. Not feeling accepted in your immdeiate community and failing to "fit-in" are usually essential factors. Another reason may be the pressure of social class. Kids usually identify socailly with money and if you happen to have less than your fellow peers, that effects the confidence developed in that child. Gangs are a "crutch" for teens to lean on when they see no solution reguarding their problems. I feel as if gang activity is sort of "swept under the rug" in society and we fail to acknowledge the effects as well as its consequences. Lives are taken day in and day out. Pressure and fear are instilled into these kids. Its up to the adults to act and stop pretending that gangs are not a serious issue. It needs to be addressed more agressively.
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Yes I do think gangs are a major issue in todays society and its mostly all about peer pressure and trying to be tough. But being tough doesn't include proving yourself to someone that you can win fight or shoot a gun. Being tough is proving to yourself that you don't need to be in a gang for all of that and if you want to become a great boxer then go professional and show it to the world. But I don't think its so much of parents faults and believe its something cops should worry about like shooting, fights and other serious acts of violence. To many cops these days are out to find more drugs then violence which is a serious issue because more people die each day from gang violence more then drug abuse.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you Amena. People join gangs because they feel they have no choice and that there is no other option. It is the household that children grow up in that sets their future. If the house isn't loving or show affection then the children might feel like a gang is their real family. Also if you are living in poverty some might think that selling drugs and helping gang members will help you get money. So people do it because they think they will gain respect from other people and you won't fear anyone else. This can go on. It is our legal system that makes this. we cannot make a difference they can.
ReplyDeleteI think you brought up allot of great points about why teens join gangs .I think the most important reasons you brought up is the fact that they are family for some. If you look on TV gang members would refer to their gangs like brotherhoods and the members as brother and sisters. Kids with dysfunctional family's see this and think its what they are looking for. Another thing you brought up is money, you don't see any rich kids in gangs probably because they don't feel like they need to be in one. A strange thing I noticed once is the fact that as young adults like ourselves we don't really think about how bad gangs are. In a video class I took, all the kids wrote scripts on gangs or something with gang activity. Who knows why but it really says something on how today's young adults view gang violence. Not allot of people seem to realize that gangs are real with real people participating in real crimes.
ReplyDeleteEverything you say here is valid and true. None of it is original thought. Where is Amena in here?
ReplyDeleteGrade: 3/4