Gang Recruitment On The Rise In Schools

[MJS]

http://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-hartford-gangs-1016.artoct16,0,3887593.story

HARTFORD — - The city is suffering from a "gang infestation," with more than 138 street gangs and 4,000 members, including 800 under age 17, according to an internal police memorandum obtained by The Courant.

The trend that disturbs police the most: "In 2009 the most alarming increase in gang activity has been documented within the public middle schools," the document says, describing middle school playgrounds with a "prison yard atmosphere."

It notes that as "smaller gangs are joining forces against larger rival gangs … recruitment is at an all-time high."

Its sad, IMO, that kids can't find a more positive thing to do, other than join up with a gang, who is far from positive. I went to a fairly small school, so I didn't have this issue to worry about. However today, it seems like gangs in schools are a common thing.

Has anyone else noticed this happening where they live or in their school systems? Any suggestions on how to fight this problem?

 

[MJS]

Nobody has any gang issues in the schools in their towns? Gee, I thought this topic would spark some good debate.

 

[jks9199]

Nobody has any gang issues in the schools in their towns? Gee, I thought this topic would spark some good debate.

Mike -- give me a little bit of time... This isn't a quickie topic. Yes, we're seing gang recruitment on the rise in schools and in younger people. But it's a complicated issue...

 

[Big Don]

There were a few gangs in the small town I went to HS in, and still live in. Everyone knew those kids weren't the sharpest tools in the shed and even without gangs were destined for prison.

 

[Jade Tigress]

I've always gone to large schools. We moved to the burbs when I started my freshman year of high school. The high school I would have gone to in Chicago was full of gangs. The high school I attended in the burbs was equally large but no gang activity.

But even though it's been said there are now gangs in the suburban schools, I have never seen it personally. My daughter just graduated, and my son goes to a large high school here, and the middle school they went to is large. There haven't been any issues like the one described in the article. Thank God.

I have no doubt that there are many other schools where it is happening

 

[MJS]

Mike -- give me a little bit of time... This isn't a quickie topic. Yes, we're seing gang recruitment on the rise in schools and in younger people. But it's a complicated issue...

No prob. I was just surprised at the lack of replies. I do think this is a topic worth discussing, as its something that has the potential to effect anyone with kids, in addition to the cities and towns that the schools are in.

 

[MJS]

There were a few gangs in the small town I went to HS in, and still live in. Everyone knew those kids weren't the sharpest tools in the shed and even without gangs were destined for prison.

I've always gone to large schools. We moved to the burbs when I started my freshman year of high school. The high school I would have gone to in Chicago was full of gangs. The high school I attended in the burbs was equally large but no gang activity.

But even though it's been said there are now gangs in the suburban schools, I have never seen it personally. My daughter just graduated, and my son goes to a large high school here, and the middle school they went to is large. There haven't been any issues like the one described in the article. Thank God.

I have no doubt that there are many other schools where it is happening

Can't get the link to open at work for some reason. Anyways..IIRC, there was some mention in the article about spending quite a bit of money for some sort of mentor program for the kids. I think it said something about pairing up kids with adults, sort of like a big brother/sister program. IMO, I think its a nice start, but on the other hand, I dont think thats the best solution.

 

[jks9199]

It was a decent article on gang prevention.

Gangs have spread out of the "traditional" environments and are present in just about any community now. Some are indeed local gangs without formal national ties -- though many of these will claim a national gang for the status. Others are real sets of the national gang, typically formed when someone moved out of the inner city or LA to get away from the gangs. Instead of leaving the gang lifestyle, they end up setting themselves up as an OG in the new area. TV, movies, the music industry, and the media in general further glorify the gang lifestyle.

Fighting gangs is a multi-front effort; suppression and enforcement must be coupled with intervention and education. Unfortunately, the intervention/education side of things is often run by idealists with less than a clue about what they're dealing with, so they do things like line up with groups like Barrios Unidos, who often are led be people who claim to be out of the gangs... but aren't really. Or the Growth & Development movement that was nothing more than a front for the Gangster Disciples in Chicago...

 

[KELLYG]

When I went to Jr. High School, I never felt a Gang presence. The divide was more on White to Black racial lines. The school that I went to was a horrible place, you could not walk anywhere by yourself with out fear of getting jumped. We would have frequent locker searches with drug sniffing police dogs, searching for weapons and drugs. The teachers were also stressed to the max and as helpless as the students. Health class in particular, we just watched endless films on drunk driving and substance abuse.

Maybe the strangest thing about the above was this was in 1979 in a medium sized school in NC.

 

[sfs982000]

Gang involvement in my actual high school was minimal while I was there (and I went to an average sized high school). Most of what I saw was a few kids here and there hanging out with the gangs in differnt towns and trying to bring it into "our house" so to speak. The teachers and local authorities educated us to the best of their abilities to keep recruitment in check. Basically I think what was a big factor was we as students just didn't put up with it and knew better. Unfortunately I know that is not the case in many schools these days. I can't even say that better after school programs would help some of the kids. There are so many variables that come into play with this it's hard to nail any one thing down. My standpoint now as a parent of 2 small boys is to be engaged with them in as many positive activities as I can and to educate them to the best of my ability.

 

[MJS]

When I went to Jr. High School, I never felt a Gang presence. The divide was more on White to Black racial lines. The school that I went to was a horrible place, you could not walk anywhere by yourself with out fear of getting jumped. We would have frequent locker searches with drug sniffing police dogs, searching for weapons and drugs. The teachers were also stressed to the max and as helpless as the students. Health class in particular, we just watched endless films on drunk driving and substance abuse.

Maybe the strangest thing about the above was this was in 1979 in a medium sized school in NC.

There have been a few cases in schools here in CT where dogs were brought in to search. Somehow the sight of drug dogs sparked a huge fear into the students, *rolls eyes* and the parents made a big stink. IMO, its another case of people not wanting to admit there's a problem in the system or the town.

BTW, I'm all for the stuff you mentioned. The lockers are the property of the school. The school should be able to do what they want regarding searches. Cars parked on the property...same thing. Its a privledge to park not a right. The students do not own the school property, thus the school should have the right to let a dog sniff the outside of a car. If the dog hits on something, they go from there.

 

[MJS]

Any other suggestions on how to fight the gang issue in schools?

 

[sfs982000]

There have been a few cases in schools here in CT where dogs were brought in to search. Somehow the sight of drug dogs sparked a huge fear into the students, *rolls eyes* and the parents made a big stink. IMO, its another case of people not wanting to admit there's a problem in the system or the town.

BTW, I'm all for the stuff you mentioned. The lockers are the property of the school. The school should be able to do what they want regarding searches. Cars parked on the property...same thing. Its a privledge to park not a right. The students do not own the school property, thus the school should have the right to let a dog sniff the outside of a car. If the dog hits on something, they go from there.

You're absolutely right when you say that schools should have the right to do what they deem necessary to protect the teacher/student population. Unfortunately there are many students that believe that the stuff they use while in school is their own personal property and treat it as such. I personally don't believe that the schools would bring in drug dogs and police officers to search lockers and whatnot with out a good reason. They have a responsibility to the parents, the students and the rest of the faculty to act on any and all situations that could affect both the students and teachers in that school. I believe that all the so called trauma that some students state they have from observing lockers being searched is total b.s.

 

[MJS]

You're absolutely right when you say that schools should have the right to do what they deem necessary to protect the teacher/student population. Unfortunately there are many students that believe that the stuff they use while in school is their own personal property and treat it as such. I personally don't believe that the schools would bring in drug dogs and police officers to search lockers and whatnot with out a good reason. They have a responsibility to the parents, the students and the rest of the faculty to act on any and all situations that could affect both the students and teachers in that school. I believe that all the so called trauma that some students state they have from observing lockers being searched is total b.s.

I dont recall the exact details of the incident I mentioned, but you're right...I do not believe the school would have done so, without good reason. As for the supposed trauma and fear the students had...I chalk that up to them worrying about what was going to be found. I mean, if I were a drug dealer and/or user, and I had a stash in my locker, and I saw a dog coming, yes, I'd say that would be a pretty traumatic event. But hey, if the kids didn't engage in that activity, nothing to worry about.

 

[RandomPhantom700]

Cars parked on the property...same thing. Its a privledge to park not a right. The students do not own the school property, thus the school should have the right to let a dog sniff the outside of a car. If the dog hits on something, they go from there.

My apologies for the off-topic, but actually, the cars in the parking lot remain to be the property of the students, whether the parking lot is theirs or not. So they still have an expectation of privacy.

However, this doesn't mean the drug dog searches are violative. Since the dogs, properly trained, only react to the presence of illicit substances or bombs, depending on the dog, their use doesn't breach privacy; there's no possibility for a false-positive, in other words, so no innocent victims of searches. I forget the name of the case, but this was specifically addressed during my Con. law class.

Long story short, the cars are still their property, but the dog searches are still available to the schools. And yeah, should be used more often.

 

[MJS]

My apologies for the off-topic, but actually, the cars in the parking lot remain to be the property of the students, whether the parking lot is theirs or not. So they still have an expectation of privacy.

However, this doesn't mean the drug dog searches are violative. Since the dogs, properly trained, only react to the presence of illicit substances or bombs, depending on the dog, their use doesn't breach privacy; there's no possibility for a false-positive, in other words, so no innocent victims of searches. I forget the name of the case, but this was specifically addressed during my Con. law class.

Long story short, the cars are still their property, but the dog searches are still available to the schools. And yeah, should be used more often.

No worries about off topic...while the thread is talking about gangs in schools, part of gang involvement usually involves drugs, so...

I do agree...the cars are the property of the students or their parents. I guess where I was going with this was, the school IMO is in the right, seeing that the parking lot belongs to them, to bring a dog thru the lot. If, when passing by a car, the dog hits on something, and they (the school and/or LEOs) have reason to believe there are drugs in the car, I'm sure it wouldn't take long to get a warrant, if needed, for the search of the cars.