Welcome back to a new posting on gang issues in education. It has indeed been a while since I have done a post, but the theme here is quality of information not quantity. So with that in mind, this writing will distinguish between the hard-core members versus the wanna-bes in the classroom and the dynamics associated with both.
But before we can distinguish between both factions some background information must be understood between them.
The hard-core member is one who has been in a gang for quite some time and has earned the status of hard-core from their respective gangs. Although each gang has different criteria for hard-core members, the one common element amongst all gangs, is that hard-core members have earned a reputation within the gang. The common link as well as main criteria being the member not afraid of using violence to further the gang both financially and as well as furthering the gangs reputation. Any hard-core member in any gang will have these two qualities and have earned the right of hard-core status.
The wanna-be on the other hand has only begun their journey’s into the gang and have earned no rights from the gang. And in the classroom these are the students who will be the most disruptive to your class. One key difference between hard-core and wanna-be’s is that the hard-core member has already earned their stripes and do not have to prove themselves anymore. Although they lead by example out of the school setting they are only really in school to make sure that the wanna-be’s are adhering to the code of their particular gang. So in a sense the hard-core member will often be polite and will even go so far as to to their school work and turn it in on time.
While on the other hand the wanna-be has been instructed by the gang to earn hard-core status and is mandated to disrupt the educational process of the classroom. This disruption is done to start earning points towards hard-core status. In a sense they are required to get into as much trouble as possible and are awarded status by how many times they can get thrown out of the classroom as well as get suspended from school. The more times this occurs the more status they will earn within their respective gangs.
All members join a gang for various reasons but they all want to eventually achieve hard-core status and are also mandated to do so by the gang. They also want to earn such status because of the perks associated with it, which is another post in itself. So the bottom line is that the hard-core member will usually sit in the back of the classroom, and may or may not do their work, but will usually not be a class disruption while the wanna-be will be nothing but continual trouble.
But now that you have an understanding of gang dynamics of both factions, you will know why some gang members are disruptive to your class while others are not.
If you need more information on this or other topics related to gangs in an educaitonal setting you can buy a copy of my book by going to the static page http://gangsinourschools.com and ordering using the pay-pal link, or sending $19.95 plus $4.00 shipping and handeling care of Gilbert R. Cabrera, P.O. Box 13591, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88013.
Please feel free to contact me via e-mail for further infomation or if you have any comments or questions at cabgil@aol.com.
Thanks and come again to another post on gang issues in education.
Gilbert R. Cabrera