Street Gangs Essay Example for Free

Street Gangs Essay Another risk factor involves domestic violence at home for these young people. If they aren’t getting enough attention and instead been getting enough beating from their families, these young people would rather be with guys from the gang rather than stay at home. More and more of these youths are being driven away from their families and towards the company of strangers because of the violence that they experience from their own families (Parco, 2008). If they are unable to feel safe at home, then surely they would feel safer anywhere else. Another risk factor would be the media that glorifies violence. Everywhere you turn, you see advertisements and movies about people killing other people, or people stealing from other people and getting away with it. If these are the things that the youth are being exposed to, then there is the likelihood of them wanting to be just like these hoodlums, these crooks who earn big money from doing bad things (Killian, 2007). With the existence of these factors, concerned individuals, especially the parents should be able to see the signs of their children possibly joining these gangs. But another risk factor arises when the parents are in denial of the gang problem. If they don’t give much attention and focus to it, then their children may likely be the next gang members. If these parents neglect the signs, they would often overlook anything that may be odd or weird with their children’s actions. Its better to be mindful of these hints, or else these children may all end up in gangs and be involved in gang related troubles. Another risk factor would involve the community. This is about the lack of adequate community youth support systems, which is essential in addressing the needs of the youth so that they won’t go towards the way of the gangs. Without adequate community support, more and more young people would opt to join gangs as they have no other means of recreation in their spare time. With much unsupervised time, the more these youth would be involved in petty crimes that could be blown to unmanageable proportions. It is best that these risk factors be properly interpreted and addressed if we wouldn’t want our children to join these street gangs. This is because there is always danger associated with being a member of these gangs. No matter what benefit a member gets from joining, there is always a corresponding danger with his association to these people. Gangs often have access to firearms and illicit drugs, thus exposing the young ones to the dangers of both elements. Fights between rival gangs are not limited to fistfights, but instead they can get seriously hurt or killed because of the guns that some of them posses (ClevelandClinic. org, 2008). Gangs view schools as a negative element, so they may influence their members not to go to school, thus hampering education for them. With police records filing up for the members of the gang, the more their future become blurred. These police records limit future employment opportunities for these people, leaving them with minimum wage earning jobs that they can work into. Gang wars and fights between members of gangs also put their families and friends in danger, as they often become an easy target for their enemies. There are several signs that parents and concerned people can look into in order to know whether one is a member of a gang or not. This includes a sudden decline in the academic performance of the child, as well as an increasing disinterest in school. Another sign is the withdrawal of the person from their usual family activities. They can also be heard using unknown vocabulary and peculiar clothing style or choice. They could also have a sudden change in friends and usual company. Weird hand signs are also evident, as well as having a new nickname. These people also tend to develop bad attitude towards other people especially to the family and authorities. Aside from staying out later than usual, they also tend to require more privacy for themselves even in their homes with their families (Boone, 2007). The information regarding gangs can be put to good use by deciding what approach would be more applicable to a person who may be associated to a certain gang. This could also be used to plan an intervention measure in order to save someone from the harshness of the gang world. References: Boone, D. (2007). Why Do Kids Join Street Gangs. Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www. gwcinc. com/Why%20Do%20Kids%20Join%20Street%20Gangs. html ClevelandClinic. org. (2008). Gangs and Violence Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://my. clevelandclinic.org/healthy_living/violence/hic_Gangs_and_Violence. aspx FocusAS. com. (2007). Why Do Young People Join Gangs? Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www. focusas. com/Gangs. html Killian, J. (2007). Why do kids join gangs? Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www. news-record. com/content/2007/08/26/article/why_do_kids_join_gangs Parco, B. (2008). Lack of affection, attention, fun push youth to join gangs Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://globalnation. inquirer. net/cebudailynews/news/view/20080316-125016/Lack-of-affection-attention-fun-push-youth-to-join-gangs