"How can kids take responsibility for their own actions when they are told consistently they are bad, corrupted kids caught in the crossfire of a messed up society? Most of them start to believe it if told enough. They may begin to think,'Hey, society has caused us to be this way so we better start fulfilling this idea.'" Stephanie Wilson, Colby High School, Colby, Kansas
*At this point we would like to suggest that readers obtain a copy of Urban Sanctuaries: Neighborhood Organizations in the Lives and Futures of Inner-City Youth a 1994 book published by Jossey-Bass and written from interviews conducted on the streets by Milbrey McLaughlin, Merita Irby and Janet Langman. (Contact the Foundation if you need help.) Stephanie's excerpt above reminded us of a passage on page 32 in which a 17 year-old gang member tells us something that all of us, but especially teachers, should know about the way kids "in the crossfire" view schools:
*Moreover teachers and schools generally are experienced as hostile, uncaring entities that label gang youth as 'lessers' and treat them as if they were 'invisible.' What Tito recalls from his school days is that teachers 'think 'cuz you're in a gang that you're just wasting your time [in school]. But you don't have to get up in the morning if you don't want to. You get up in the morning, you get dressed, you take a bath, and you go there 'cuz you wanna go.' Tito feels teachers are not even going to try to teach gang members. Yet he thinks that 'all gangbangers need is somebody to talk to 'em. Sit'em down and say, 'Hey man, this is the only way you gonna learn, man. If you go around like this, ain't nobody else gonna teach you.' However, he says, '[Teachers] don't do things like that. They won't sit down. They won't come by me and say, 'You know, Tito, you should try to do this work 'cuz if you don't do it' They all let me sit there all day. [They] walk right past me.'
*If you can read that passage without being touched then you'd better read it again. You and I and Tito know that feeling sorrow and making "feel- better" promises is not enough. Action is required!
*Gangs
"There is no real education about racism and gangs." Christie Brady, Eureka High School, Eureka, Illinois
*Most of the students quoted here have had little first-hand experience with gangs. We have had students from large inner-city schools participate in past HSF programs, but this year's contest demanded more time than those teachers could give. But kids talk, even without first-hand know- ledge. What they have to say may be a bit more authentic than what adult- researchers are reporting:
"A friend of mine in Eatonville, Washington got caught up in a gang forming in Tacoma. After transferring to my school, he had plenty of stories of friends killing or being killed in the de-initiation from his gang. The only way out is getting out of town and when you live in South Central that's no choice at all." John Fleming, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"In my personal experience, living in Seattle for two years, you pick up on gang activity quickly. I heard of most violence occurring on weekends. At that time a lot of gangs were coming up from Los Angeles. A friend of mine was involved with a gang. He said to me,'Ya get in the big cities and violence is something that is just there. Ya better kill them before they kill you. It's best to keep your damn mouth shut; silence is your best defense. Ya talk shit and you're gonna die.'Gangs can and will get just about anything they want. If it's guns or drugs they'll find it or get someone who can." Josh Barnes, Deer River High School, Deer River, Minnesota
"I've been on a few ride along with a police officer and on his radio there were problems with gangs constantly. We responded to one call which reported about gang trouble. The Cambodian gang was arguing with the Sureno gang about race, but an officer broke it up before anyone was injured." Todd Gordon, Pioneer High School, San Jose, California
"The scary part of all these gang related crimes, is that they are not just one area of the county, but wide spread and growing. The larger, more powerful gangs are swallowing up the smaller ones. They are becoming more violent...once the gangs do make truce they don't know what to do with themselves next." Nicole Schepp, Barnesville High School, Barnesville, Minnesota
*At the end of the 1993-94 school year an honors student with a 3.97 grade point average, who was also president of the student council, was sense- lessly killed as he was leaving a graduation party in San Diego. He was a victim of gang violence.
"Some of these armed citizens are children, and they walk the streets with loaded weapons. Most don't realize the severity of their actions. They feel safe just knowing they hold the potential to protect themselves. But they couldn't be more mistaken. Shawnee County Sheriff Dave Meneley stated in a speech to high school students that an individual carrying a weapon is four times more likely to be injured or killed. Even with these warnings and facts most youth ignore such statistics. Due to their false sense of invincibility they feel as if they are the exception. Many even bring their weapons into schools and other public buildings where the risk of problems greatly increases. Many students complain of not feeling safe in their own school." Erik Pollom, Seaman High School, Topeka, Kansas
"Students are afraid to pass through certain areas because it its the territory of a gang. If this territory has been invaded you better watch your back for the rest of life." Chad Lane, Barnesville High School, Barnesville, Minnesota
"Gangs are almost always revolving around sex. In many gangs, guys have to have sex with many females in order to become a member of the particular gang. I also heard of a female gang in which girls have to have sex with a person with the AIDS virus in order to become a member." Danna Hines, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri
"In Chicago a group of gang members fell upon two teenage girls who were walking home one night. They repeatedly raped them and then strangled them. They made sure they were dead by standing on their necks. During the trial they repeatedly showed signs that they were proud of being in a case as big as that one. Later a member of that gang was seen on a tape saying the words, 'Life means nothing.' Violence on television also teaches other negative things." Brad Ziegler, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Illinois
"In Wichita about 74 gangs sell drugs, run guns, steal and kill. Members now numbers about 1,200. In 1992 36 gang-related killings occurred...To help in the Wichita gang problem, a violent crime/gangs task force was developed." Dennis Kregar, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas
"In the past few years Topeka has gone from being simply the capital of Kansas to being infamous for gang-related violence, youth crime and bigotry." Erik Pollom, Seaman High School, Topeka, Kansas
"Gangs are just another of the obvious side affects of a warped nation. When kids feel more safe and secure in groups of other kids carrying guns and drugs, and who knows what else, there is something wrong." Rebecca P. Moore, Aubrey High School, Aubrey, Texas
*At the age of 11 a young boy was given a shot gun by a violent sub-group of the South Central Los Angeles Crips and he began a life of violence that earned him the name Monster. From his prison cell in California he wrote a 383 page book full of violence and gore which he insists is nothing more than "reality and life the way it happens every day." In South Central, he claims, everybody belongs to a gang. He joined for power and to stay alive and intends to spend his life outside prison agitating against our current political system.
"As the traditional social supports have disappeared for most teenagers, they begin to learn things from their peers, drug dealers, or other people who engage in criminal conduct. Instead of going to school and working their way up to a good job through education, young people see the fast and easy money drug dealing makes and make their money through gangs and drug dealers." Beth Civitarese, Antietam High School, Reading, Pennsylvania
"Gangs killing gangs, drive-by shootings, and guns in school are all harmful in more than one way. Younger kids who have older brothers who carry guns and are in a gang will most likely grow up to be just like the person that they looked up to when they were a kid. If kids grow up to be like their role models the U.S. is going to be a very unstable place to live...if we would all try to set new morals for younger kids today, then one hundred years from now kids will look at academic role models with good grades instead of kids today who look for role models in how many people they have killed." Ronald Scheffler, Barnesville High School, Barnesville, Minnesota
*The following is from an interview aired on C-Span Monday September 27, 1993 with Chris Matthews, Washington DC correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle:
"As an American I'm offended whenÐpeople in Europe can't visit this country, rent a car and drive to the airport in safety. What's wrong with this country?
The reason we're the greatest country in the world, the greatest country ever, is because we've succeeded at home. It's not because we've won wars abroadÒwe've lost a few abroadÒbut we've tried to build a fair, successful society. We're failing at that now. Whole parts of this country are failures in terms of society. Kids are growing up getting shot at, having to arm themselves to survive. This is a problem.
It's easy to go to Somalia and send the troops. It's like a John Wayne movie. Send those troops to South East Washington to disarm people. We can't do it! The bottom line is that we can't solve our own problems. We have to do it legally and constitutionally. But we have not found a way to make our streets safe. Public safety should be the number one issue in this country domestically and we're afraid [to touch it] Clinton won't touch it. The Republicans won't touch it. All you do is say 'capital punishment' once in awhile. That's not the solution; the solution is law enforcement. Every city has this problem and it's getting into the suburbs and the country. The problem is that we are so good at going overseas and promising to solve people's problems in Beirut, or solving their problems in Grenada or in Panama [but] we can't restore order and public safety in the United States, and that's our problem."re order and public safety in the United States, and that's our problem.