gangsinourschools.com/blog

FINAL POST FOR 06

     This will be my last post for the year and I would like to personally thank those of you, both teachers and parents, who have communicated to me your concerns. I understand the need to keep your anonymity and I realize how sensitive the gang issue is and I will absolutely keep your questions and comments a private matter.

     As a Holiday wish, I would like to extend these words of encouragement to all people who deal with children who push the limits of authority in an educational setting.

     May you have all the strength, courage, vision, and compassion you need to help you deal with the multitude of students who feel they have nothing to gain in their lives by having an education. And most importantly, may you have the knowledge to open their eyes and impart the lessons and words of wisdom needed so they may see that there truly are other alternatives for their lives. 

     Finally, for those of you who have already purchased a copy of my book, I would like to thank you for your patronage and especially for your positive feedback. I’m glad that the information I’ve presented is being utilized in helping you deal with this issue. 

I look forward to offering you more information on gang issues in education in the coming year.

It is customers like you :-) who have made the first printing of my book such a success so far. Thank you so very much.

If you would like to e-mail me a review of what you thought of my book, I plan to start a review page and would love to include your review on it.

Sincerely, Gilbert 

MALE VS FEMALE (COLORS) BLIND

     If I were to challenge you to spot gang colors being represented in your school, you would probably be able to identify the males displaying colors. But I would bet you would be hard pressed to identify the female gangs in your schools by the use of colors. 

     The one issue I see is that most educators are not always aware of female gang members in a school setting. You see, many male members display their colors brazenly and make no effort to conceal them even in the face of punishment. But most female members will wear their colors in a more subtle manner.

     Most of the time female members will often have the same type of hair style, but most importantly it will be what is often in the hair that helps distinguish them as such. You see many female gangs will have colored hair braids or other hair accessories that represent their colors, in addition to having the same color shade dyed into their hair.

     In addition to this they will often have their eye shadow, make-up tint color, and nail polish in their colors as well. Also look for bracelets and other such type of jewelry representing their colors and symbols. And of course be observant for the typical places for colors such as purses, shoes, shoelaces and belts.

For more detailed information on female gang members as well as information to order my book, please refer to my book site at www.gangsinourschools.com

     As an educator, what we usually see in the hallways and classrooms are students wearing over-sized clothing. Because this is the preferred style of dress nowadays, it makes it difficult for staff members to distinguish what is gangster dress and what is not. I know we would probably be sending everyone to the office because of such dress. But, the fact of the matter is because a child wears this type of clothing they could be construed as being in a gang, simply on the basis of dress, especially between rival gangs. 

     So if this is the preferred style of dress how do we, as educators, differentiate between the two? Before I give you some simple tips to distinguish the two let me add that I realize many school districts have dress codes when it comes to this type of clothing and correct students when confronted. But this will not be a deterrent to gang members who will push the envelope when it comes to their dress.

     One of the main indicators of gang dress, is many members will become outright defiant about their clothes when confronted. The reason is if they are truly members of a gang they will be mandated to wear the style and colors the gang has adopted. They will go to great lengths to keep both intact even in the face of punishment. Often when they are sent to the office and a parent is called in to bring clothing, the items brought in will often be the same style. It is highly likely most of this child’s clothes will be the same style and colors because they have adhered to their gangs code of dress.

     Another indicator will be the way the clothes are worn on their persons. Usually most gangs will want their uniforms to be matched in color, so all members will be easily recognized by their fellow peers as well as rival gangs. I know some gangs will wear the khaki type clothing and will have them ironed and starched to give their dress a military look and will always be matched in color. While other gangs will wear sports uniforms, which they have adopted as their style and can include the use of baseball caps, doo-rags, jewelry or other such items.

     Regardless of what type of dress they have chosen, the thing to look for is the use of color schemes. All gangs will adhere to the colors schemes they have adopted and will go to great lengths to keep their colors on themselves. I know in our school we have a rule about students wearing the same color pants and shirts. But I also know that many gangs will slightly change the color scheme to get around this obstacle. What I have not encountered are the gangs that wear the sports uniforms as their style being confronted by staff and administration. It is often much more difficult to spot this type of dress as gangster dress, and as such these students will not often be sent to the office for correction.

     I believe this happens because most athletes will wear this type of clothing to school and it would be hard to single out this group for fear of retaliation from parents, plus it would be difficult to separate the two because of dress. But again, the main issue here will be the use of colors. Again, when confronted members will become extremely defiant when asked to remove such items. If you know who the members are in your school it will make identification easier. That is why it is important for schools to keep a data base of such members so identification will be easier and much more accurate.

     As with gang members and their signs, do not be afraid to confront the child about their colors or their dress. Just get your school security or resource officer to help you with this issue. If schools start to overlook this issue, members will sense this and will start to wear their colors more prominently. I feel schools should have some type of alternative to this problem by having clothes the child can change into available at all times. In addition, the school should have the child’s parents come in at the end of the day to pick up the clothes the child was asked to change out of. This gives the school the opportunity to talk to the parent and child so an understanding can be reached by all parties involved.

     I hope this writing helps you differentiate between gang members and non members when it comes to dress. For more detailed information on this and other issues on gangs please refer to my book:Gangs in our Schools An Educators Guide. You may purchase a copy of the book by following the links to my book website.

Come again next week for more on gang issues in education.

Thanks, Gilbert  

     Sometimes as teachers in the classroom we exert our will on our students to get the needed assignments covered. Often the demands placed on us to cover the curriculum is tremendous and often never fulfilled. I know many of us do the best we can to get everything covered. But it simply takes one thing to go wrong before we are caught in the proverbial hole with no means of catching up on our lessons.

     It has been my experience that most class disruptions will be caused by a power struggle between teacher and student. Unfortunately, if you are having a power struggle with a gang member there may be more going on behind the scenes than even you realize. You see you may have just become victim of a member trying to earn hardcore status. Part of their mandates to earn such status is to disrupt the flow of the day, especially in the classroom.

     It usually starts innocently enough, with the member doing little things to disrupt the class, which often includes throwing something in class to note passing to the more blatant forms of disruption; i.e. cursing out loud, maybe even attempting to start a fight with another student. But rest assured no matter how it starts it can and often will quickly progress to an almost daily occurrence if not corrected immediately. You see, once any member knows that they can get you off task easily they will continue to use this tactic as long as it keeps working. Even I am not immune to this phenomena, with all of the experience I’ve had dealing with members in the room, it still jumps up and bites me occasionally.

     But what you have to understand is that many disruptions will not be caused by the hardcore members in your room but by wannabes who are trying to earn their hardcore status. Also be aware that there usually is a hardcore member giving out these directives to disrupt your classroom and they will be monitoring to assure the wanna-be is following through.

     If you stop your lesson and deal with this in front of the class you have just opened the power struggle can. Trust me, it will now continue for the rest of the year or until the student is moved from your room. The reason they do this is two-fold. First it allows the wanna-be to add to his reputation, but foremost it eliminates the possibility of finishing the class assignment being covered.  And depending on the amount of time consumed dealing with this, it assures homework will not be forthcoming because of the disruption. Now you see how this issue can leave you behind on the needed material that has to be covered.

     If members can disrupt the flow of your lessons easily, word will get around to the different gangs and they will also test your resolve. So how does one combat this issue and get the lessons you need to covered?

     The first thing you need to do is to distract them from their train of thought. First you must continue the lesson while staring at the student in question while you slowly walk over to them. Once you get to the student whisper something that only they can hear that is totally off topic. An example of such a comment would be; do you not feel well today, or it looks like you have a headache. Do this quickly without disrupting what you are doing. Next continue the lesson as if nothing happened. The student will look at you as if your crazy but it definitely gets them off of what they were doing. If the student starts up again do the same thing, but this time direct you comment on their behaviors. It is best to continue this process, at least until you are done lecturing and you have the class engaged in an assignment before dealing with this student one on one, privately at your desk. 

     You have just done one of the most important things to keep control in your class. You have defused the situation by taking away their ability to disrupt your lesson, plus you have earned some much needed respect by their leader. You see by taking control of the situation and not letting the distraction bother you or the class the members know that you will deal with things quickly and discreetly. By sensing that you will use this tactic every time they will come to understand that they will not be able to disrupt your class and will be less inclined to continue these types of disruptions.

     Sadly, they will probably take on their other teachers, since you just closed the door to that opportunity in your classroom. I have always used this tactic when dealing with gang members and I have been quite affective with it. What happens is it allows you to gain control of your class and it allows members to correct their behaviors without being singled out in front of the class. Heck! Some members may even start to try to help you gain control of the classroom by being more cooperative with you because they know they cannot ruffle your feathers. This is what they look for in a leader, someone who is not so easily flustered.

     Try this tactic and see if it helps you out with the control you have in your classroom with gang members. Obviously, there will always be those few students who will not cooperate no matter how they are approached. But rest assured if you have one of those students in your classroom and you have firm documentation of your interactions with the child they will eventually work their way out of your classroom and school.  

I hope this mini-primer on power struggles in the classroom is helpful to you.

For a more detailed view on power struggles and dealing with it in the classroom, you can refer to my book: Gangs in our Schools An Educators Guide, which can be purchased through my book website at this link: www.gangsinourschools.com and going to the book order information section.

If you would like to leave a comment or post about your experiences with this issue in the classroom please feel free to post your comment here.

If you need contact me about this or other issues privately you can contact me,

Gilbert Cabrera, at gangsino@gangsiourschools.com which is my web mail.

Come again for next weeks post on gang issues in education. 

Thanks, Gilbert

     I know many of you realize that if you see tagging in your schools there is a gang presence that needs to be addressed. But, before I give you alternatives in dealing with this problem, let us distinguish the hidden meanings of their tagging.

     First off, gang members are mandated by membership to display their symbols by the use of tagging anywhere in visible locations. Do not be fooled into thinking that these tagging will only be on school walls, textbooks, or their desks. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tagging. Start to look at their valuables more closely and you will notice that they will have just about everything they own tagged.

     I have seen not only their notebooks tagged but also their hands, arms, pants, shirts, and shoes tagged as well. I have even witnessed the sides of their shoe soles tagged, with some members even going so far as to tag the bottom of their shoes. As you can tell it is very important for members to display their tagging and they will go to great lengths to accomplish this goal.

     You’re probably wondering why the need to go to such great lengths. It all boils down to their need to show they are a presence in the school and that they have control of such. A tag shows everyone in the school that they are claiming the tagged areas as their own space and no one else better try to move into it.

     But, this does not mean a rival gang will not tag over the top and try to assert its superiority over the gangs symbols they just tagged over. When a tag is tagged over by another gang a fight is on the horizon by both factions for control of the area. This is why it is pertinent that all tagging, no matter how insignificant in size, be covered by school personnel, immediately. Because gangs are trying to prove their power over each other, tagging will often create many problems in schools if they are not removed as soon as they are detected. This is especially true if you have more than one gang being represented in your school.

     I’m not going to go into specifics as to what a tag looks like other than to tell you that it looks like a combination of some form of Gothic and Old English lettering. This is usually the way most tagging will look when found. But again no matter the style or size of the tagging it proves there is a gang presence in your school. 

     So now that you know what to be aware of in tagging lets get down to the true meaning of a tag. Basically, a tag is nothing more than an advertisement to the world of the gangs presence. But at the core of the tag is the hidden agenda of the tag which is called a roll call. Basically a tag tells other gangs a gangs name, names of members in a gang, as well as paying homage to any fallen comrades who died for the gangs’ cause. In addition, it sends the message of presence and superiority of the gang over other gangs.

     To combat tagging and reduce the potential for confrontation between gangs, school personnel need to have members remove all signs of tagging on their persons and belongings when found. All tagging should be documented and kept in a data base by the school so they know how many gangs are present in the school, by keeping such documentation. Staff should also go into student restrooms during all breaks and check for tagging so if any are found they can be categorized and removed promptly.

     And finally, do not be intimidated by a member when you confront them about their tagging, just stay cool and get an administrator or resource officer involved to escort the member out of your room to have their tagging corrected. Or better yet, if this confrontation can be completed before class it eliminates a power struggle in class, plus you will usually have a colleague present in the hall because of passing duty. Thus giving you a witness to the offense. And by all means do not try to get into a power struggle with the student by giving them the opportunity to disrupt your classroom over this issue. It is not worth the headache or energy expended when all you have to do is have the member escorted to the office for correction.

     I hope this information on gang tagging has been helpful. If you would like to leave a comment, please post your comment or further suggestions on your experiences on this post.

For more detailed information on gang tagging refer to the book, Gangs in our Schools An Educators Guide, available for sale by visiting my book site and going to the order information book link at: www.gangsinourschools.com

If you need to contact me personally,  you can drop me a line at: gangsino@gangsinourschools.com 

Come again for next weeks post on gang issues in schools.

Thanks, Gilbert