Gang Prevention

It is very important to know the history of gangs in America, many people only hear one side of the story, but everyone deserves to hear two sides of every story. Many people believe gangs/ gang members are bad people and choose to be in a gang. Most people believe every person in a gang wants to be violent and cause issues. These assumptions are all wrong.

According to the US Department of Justice, specifically, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, said the reasons people join a gang is for protection, fun, respect, money, or because a friend was in the gang. If you could choose between the gang killing your little sibling or you joining it…which one would it be? In the book An American Summer by Alex kotlowitz, Eddie, a member of one of the gangs, said it was not an option to join the gang because they threatened his family and he had to make sure nothing happened to his family(169). Gang members usually do not joyfully join a gang, but do it to protect themselves or their loved ones. If it was an option, most people would choose to keep their family out of the threats and instead, screw themselves over by joining the gang. People need to notice and learn about why most people are in gangs. It is not fair to judge one when you only know half of a story.

Many of the kids in the gangs who don’t get threatened either grew up in the gang or had an absence of adults in their life and they had to live alone most of the time. The gang is not something people want to be proud of, it is something people HAVE to be proud of. During Gerardo Lopez Ted talk, he talks about a kid named Nelson who was a refugee from El Salvador, “Well his parents worked multiple jobs to earn a living, Nelson was alone a lot in a new country, trying to adapt to new customs, and a new language when he went to school him and all the other Salvador kids were bullied. He and the other kids took all the violence they knew as kids, all the anger they built up and formed a group of their own MS-13”. Lopez uses to be in MS-13 but luckily got out of the gang and wants to help others get out and educate the public about gangs. Just like Nelson, many other kids have no other option, know no better or it is the way to help them fit in. It is unfair that people judge gang members so quickly. Gang members don’t know anything better than to join a gang because the adults in their life have to be absent in order to support their kid, but the kids then go off and do bad things because no adult figure is telling them otherwise and they are very lonely.

Gang violence is very problematic and many others are starting to realize they need to help to fix this issue. Realizing that not all gang members are criminals is the first step. Realizing that gang members do want the opportunity to get out of the gang life is the second step. A group Called GRASP (Gang rescue and support project), helps the youth get uninvolved or not join a gang. The very cool thing about this group is it’s run by ex-gang members who got out of the gang and now are trying to help others also get out and get their life together. In order to help these gang members, GRASP offers crisis response, community mobilization, parents awareness training, presentations, community and school outreach, hospital intervention, family and youth advocacy, tattoo removal and many other helpful services. GRASP holds meeting weekly, and you’re allowed to come at any time. Many kids stay in the program for 10-12 weeks. Although this program is in Colorado, many people say it is very worth it to go there and get educated/ help about gangs. GRASP is a completely free organization. You have to be 14-24 in order to attend the meetings. Many people who come out of juvie join GRASP. Even if people are not willing to go to Colorado to get help, they still can talk with you through the internet. Although GRASP is only in Colorado, it would be great to have a organization like this in every state.

A large group that helps hang violence is called the National Gang Center(NGC). This is a nationwide project funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The goal of the NGC is to try and reduce/prevent crimes major one being gang violence. the NGC toys to prevent/reduce crime by educating parents and children. The resources they use consists of books, movies, safety tips, emailing professionals and many more. They hold meetings nation wide from trappings to workshops and conferences. The NGC posts many blogs of stories and resources to help families who have been affected by the gang violence. They provide studies and statistics to help educate everyone on gang violence. The statistics often lead parents to look more into gangs as their children could be affected, reducing the number of younger kids to gain gangs. To help get younger people involved in their project, the NGC has a twitter page. The NGC helps many families and is nationwide, we need to spread the word so everyone can participate/ get educated about reducing/preventing gangs and gang violence in all neighborhoods.

Another large helpful organization is called Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.). G.R.E.A.T. is a gang prevention, evidence-based program that involves school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curricula. This program has been around for about 30 years. G.R.E.A.T. started in Arizona in 1991. A year later the program was nationwide. In 2009 the program even expanded to Central America. The unique thing about this program is how involved law enforcement officers and parents are. 13,000 officers around American have been trained to educate children on gang violence and prevention. Over 6 million children have been taught the G.R.E.A.T. curricula. There are curricula in elementary school, middle school, summer, and family component. G.R.E.A.T. has many benefits, the most important ones being a better relationship between law enforcement officers and communities, teaches children how to solve problems, educates children before they reach the age of joining a gang and provides the chance for children to speak to adults in control to reach out for help. This program is very effective, “Results one year post-program showed a 39% reduction in odds of gang joining among students who received the Program compared to those who did not and an average of 24% reduction in odds of gang joining across the four years post-program”. G.R.E.A.T. is funded through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and is free to teach in schools. Majority of parents, children, law enforcement officers, and educators say it is necessary to have the program taught in all elementary and middle school areas.

Although there are criminals who are bad people in gangs, the majority of gang members are people struggling, and the gang is their only way out. Before judging people, looking into both sides of a story is very important. GRASP and G.R.E.A.T. are some of the larger programs to help people get out of the gang and educate youngins, but there are many more organizations and ways to leave a gang. A book called Changing Course helps educate and prevent gang violence,  BGCA, Forum, and MPG are just a handful of the programs to help leave a gang. It may be hard to process because of past crime committed, but many gang members are great people who have lots of love in their heart, just like Eddie.