gangsinourschools.com/blog

     Well, once again I missed a week without doing a post, and I can only say that if you are an educator, one knows how busy it gets towards the end of the school year. 

     Nevertheless, in this weeks lesson, I want to discuss gang members who come from families, in which all family members are entrenched in gang affiliations. I know it is difficult for many of us to believe that such family units exist. But I can assure you they do exist and you will come across one eventually, if you teach long enough.

     But how does one tell if you are indeed dealing with such a family? Usually the first sign you will notice is that the gang member, in school, will not care if they get caught for their indiscretions. The reason they display such an attitude is because they know their parents will back up anything they do at school, even to the point of suspension. I know it is hard to believe that a parent would back up their child even though they may have direct proof of  their child’s wrongdoing, but I have witnessed this phenomenon firsthand.

     It wasn’t long after the first incident that I began to notice a pattern to these families. Many parents who are in an affiliation will often have everyone in the family involved in gang activities. So when you deal with a member from such a family, the way they behave towards the general population, often borders on arrogance with often a hint of untouchable-ness.  

     Trust me when I say that there is nothing a school or teacher can say to these parents, or their children, that will make them change their behaviors. What you must understand is that their gang responsibilities will far outweigh anything many of us would consider important.

     One thing you will definitely notice is that in a parent conference, these parents will agree with you wholeheartedly about their child’s behavior and may even act as if they are going to deal with the issue harshly, with the opposite often occurring out of school. And don’t be fooled into thinking that they are going to help you out, because usually everything they say is a ploy to get you off their backs. You have to take into account that these types of parents probably behaved the same way when they were in school and expect as much from their children. Of course this is taking into consideration you can get them there for a conference in the first place.

     Please understand that many gang families are generational in gang affiliations and have an organized system in place that promotes this mentality. Sadly, children who grow up in the gang culture are often so desensitized to violence, they often show no remorse or emotions for their actions even when confronted with proof. If a school suspends or expels the student, it only gives them the chance to do gang activities uninterrupted, with their parent’s consent. 

     Trust me when I say that you will definitely be able to tell when you are dealing with a true, active hardcore member (parent or child) because they will often have a cold, distant, and callous look in their eyes.  

     Obviously, there are so many more issues this involves that it would take a book to explain properly, hence my book website at this link with directions to buy my book at:  www.gangsinourschools.com.  

Thanks and come again for the next mini-lesson on gang issues in education.

Gilbert

     Welcome back to this weeks post in which I would like to address how some contraband gets onto school campuses. Although I named this piece Night Drops, I’m not referring to bank deposits here.

     As I stated in my last post, gangs use drug dealing to bolster the other activities they partake in out of school. I will agree that many of these drugs are brought in when members come to school in the morning. But I can assure you that a good majority of these drugs are often delivered long before  school has officially begun.

     Past experience has taught me that many drugs brought onto campus are left in some inconspicuous place the night before, usually out on the playground. Because of the vastness of these areas they often make ideal hiding places. After the drop has been accomplished, the dealer will be instructed as to where the drugs are hidden. Once the dealer has arrived at school, they simply go to the specified location and pick up the shipment.

     You may ask yourself how a teacher on duty would not take notice of someone collecting their goods. The answer is that because there is so much activity going on, on the playground, it would be hard to detect the pick-up unless someone knew of the specified location. I can also assure you that the other members in the gang will be creating a human wall, (as we used to call it), to block the view of the pick-up.

     What you have to keep in mind is that these collections will be accomplished in a quick manner, so as to not draw attention to it. A simple distraction by the other members is often easily accomplished and usually produces the desired results. Also, keep in mind that most of these drugs will probably be in some type of foil or plastic baggie, so as to look like a piece of trash. Actually, how often do we scrutinize trash on the playground? My guess is never.

     So what can be done to limit this activity and bring it to a screeching halt. Well, I can only say that it is virtually impossible curtailing this practice, unless you have twenty-four hour surveillance cameras and someone monitoring them all night, highly unlikely. It is best to have everyone on duty paying special attention to the human wall, and definitely stop anyone who was hiding behind one, you know to kind of check it out. Other than this all I can add is to be extra vigilant.

I hope this post has enlightened you to one way contraband is brought onto our schools campuses.  Although there are many other ways I have not touched upon here, you can get a more detailed view of this problem by linking to my book site on the right side of the page and follow the order instructions.

If you need to contact me you can do so by going to this link: Attn: Gilbert at 

 gangsino@gangsinourschools.com

Thanks and come again for next weeks mini-lesson on gang issues in education.

Gilbert.

     In this weeks post, I will enlighten you to a ritual gang members partake in to earn profits for the benefit of the gang, which is drug dealing. All gangs partake in drug dealing to help the gang meet its financial goals. But you may wonder why the sale of drugs and on school campuses, no less. Well it all boils down to the betterment of the gang by bringing in easy money to utilize in other endeavors, which I will not get into here.

     Having dealt with many gang members over the years has taught me one thing, and that is, members can think of many ingenious ways to bring contraband into the school setting to reach their ultimate goal of enhancing the gang’s betterment. In addition to bringing it in, they are also very effective when it comes to making the sale and building a customer base.

     Their first objective is to establish a customer base. This is usually accomplished by giving away minuscule amounts of contraband to a potential client over a short period of time. If the gift is accepted, the member now begins to solicit the sale of more contraband to this person. They will also remind the individual that they gave them a little for free.

     Unfortunately, many of the students who buy these drugs are first time users who have the ability to make future purchases, especially if they like how the drug makes them feel. But to a gang member it all boils down one issue, which is to earn some cash to benefit the gang. All members are mandated to make some kind of contraband sale, for the sake of the gang. This is not just limited to marijuana, but can and often includes most other contraband you can think of. I will not get into specifics here because the list can get complicated, so I will classify everything else in the contraband category.

     Ultimately, after a member has built up a substantial clientele base, they will leave other members in charge of these sales and will concentrate on building new contacts, especially if they are efficient at creating sales.  

     But assuredly, what this does do is presents a dilemma which is hard to combat, because if you have more than one gang affiliation present on campus, they are all doing the same kind of dealing. So consequently if you bust one drug ring, the likelihood of having other gangs dealing is highly likely, because as stated earlier they are all mandated to enhance the gang through the sale of contraband. Sadly, this is just part of the code of being in a gang.

     In future posts, I will address how some of this contraband is brought into our schools that you may not have thought of. But for a more detailed view of why members bring contraband and how they get onto campus, you can go to my book-website at: www.gangsinourschools.com or click on the book link to the right, and following the book order directions.

Thank you and come again for next weeks post on gang issues in education.

Gilbert