Welcome back and sorry for the hiatus, since school let out I have been busy promoting my book and just generally living life to the fullest.
What I wanted to discuss in this post has to deal with the ever increasing gang population we are starting to see across this great nation. As I have had the opportunity to talk to various groups from different parts of the country, the same question keeps popping up, which is who is susceptible to join a gang? My answer to them is always the same, anyone can be a candidate to join a gang.
Usually the most likely candidates are children who have no support system at home or are being bullied at school. Many times these children will turn to any group who is willing to lend them a helping hand, unfortunately most times it seems, gangs turn out to be the sole support group.
Because of the need to recruit and grow, gang members are actively searching for children in such a predicament. Often the need for safety will outweigh any illegal activities the gang participates in and will not discourage a new recruit from joining up. This is especially true if a gang helped the child out of a predicament and have temporarily solved their problems. Because children can only see the immediate future they are often grateful for this help and will join the gang as a way to payback for their support.
The bottom line is that nowadays gangs are often made up of various races and are not just limited to one race anymore. Obviously there are still some gangs who focus solely on a single race, but for the most part these new generations of gangs will be an inter-racially mixed bag of people. The need to expand territories and bring in new recruits to the gang will often leave most gangs taking just about anyone who is willing to commit to them, thus leaving the door open to anyone who wants to join up, regardless of race.
With this being said, people who deal with gang members on a daily basis need to keep an open mind about this issue, and not dismiss a child as not having gang affiliation just because they don’t fit the stereotypical mold. As I stated earlier, anyone can be a gang member. The key is to keep an eye on such students as they interact in the hallways with their fellows peers and take note as to whom they are associating with. This will always be the tell-tale sign of gang membership. If they are hanging around known gang members they are either considering joining or have joined a gang.
I hope this post has been helpful in clarifying some points on why race is not a factor to gang membership.
Thank you and come again for another post on gang issues in education. If you need to contact me you may do so via e-mail at: cabgil@aol.com. If you would like a copy of my book please use the link on the right hand side of the page and follow the order instructions or simply click here; gangsinourschools.com
Gilbert