Now that we have been in our middle school placements for a while I wanted to hit on something that I find shocking to me every day I walk into my school, the involvement of gangs. Within two days of being in my school, I found that gang presence was something everyone was looking out for and was brought up nearly everyday. Whether a student was wearing a certain combination of colors, drawing certain figures, wearing their clothes in a certain way (one sleeve up and one down, one pant leg up and one down, rubber bands on clothing, ect.) the school dean or police officer is informed. Growing up in the area my whole life, I never was aware that this part of town had gangs or the extent to which there are. My mentor teacher informed me that their first staff meeting at the beginning of the year dealt with gangs education to make teachers aware of what to look out for. For me this is a whole new world and only about 7 miles away from my home. It is a new concept for me that my students who seem so innocent and bright can either be invovled in or have to worry about gangs. Knowing this makes me want to become more informed an as a teacher always be aware of and understanding that I can never truly know what my students have to go home to.
I tried to look a little further into gang involvment in middle schools and found a PDF that discusses why children join gangs, what it means to be in a gang, certain well known gangs and their signs, and how to determin what students may be headed in the wrong directing and how to redirect them.
http://www.merrillville.in.gov/applications/DocumentLibraryManager/upload/Gang_information.pdf
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I have a lot of family from the Buffalo Grove/Arlington Heights area, and I have spent a lot of time there growing up. I really find it shocking when I learned about the gang involvement in the area. I never really thought about how gangs could be so close to where I grew up. Even in Crystal Lake where I grew up one of my teachers in high school talked about gangs that were around the town. I found it hard to believe because I had never really seen any indication of gang involvement. However, I realize that this is not true of all students.
Today when I was in my elementary school classroom I was there for D.A.R.E. and the topic for the day was gangs and gang violence. The officer read a book called It Doesn't Have to Be This Way: A Barrio Story by Luis Rodriguez. It was a story about a boy who is asked to join a local gang, and how he has to make the decision of whether or not to give in to peer pressure and join the gang. I feel that it was a very good way to open up a discussion with students about gangs and how they can change a person's life. I feel it is important to have these conversations that may be controversial or uncomfortable because like you said you never know what your students are going home to and why not discuss the issue in a safe and nonthreatening environment.
I grew up in Hoffman Estates which is only about 20-25 minutes from Wheeling, and I remember learning about gangs in school and going through the DARE program since about 4th grade. We had a governmental housing area about ¼ of a mile from my house and many people from Chicago were pushed out to this area when the city was renovating. When this happened some of the inner-city gangs started moving out to the suburbs. In 7th grade I first started hearing about gangs in our school, which continued on into high school and only became more serious. I don’t know what the names of the gangs were, but one wore baby blue while the other wore black and tan. Unfortunately at a young age (summer going into freshman year of high school) I saw the effects that gangs can have. Two of my classmates along with some of their friends were killed in a fire while they were sleeping which police officers say was likely caused by gang rivalry. It was such a reality check that no matter where you are whether you are in a big city or even in a suburb, it is important to be aware of gangs and try to implement gang awareness in your classroom. Students need to feel like they belong and it is important to give students opportunities to be involved so that they stay away from bad choices.
When I read the PowerPoint PDF I was surprised with two things, the first being that a motive for a student to join a gang is if there is limited English spoken in their household. I don’t understand why language would influence it one way or the other. The second thing that I was surprised about was that there is an influence because of the glamorization of gangs in the media. I never thought about it before but some rap music glamorizes gangs. What do you think? Are there any other media forms that glamorize gangs and could influence students one way or the other?
Becky,
I myself was shocked when I began hearing about gangs and other issues in the middle school. A girl in my 8th grade class is dating a gang member. He is a freshman in high school and dropped out. She comes to my mentor and me talking about how she is upset that her boyfriend is involved in gang shootings, and how he has already gone to jail once. This girl has come to us and we have told her to think about her choices. She knows that what he is doing is wrong and talks to the social worker at our school to help her through her thought process. It upsets me to see that this smart girl, knows that her boyfriend is in a gang but chooses to be with him. She has her head on her shoulders, but I honestly think she is uneducated about how dangerous it is to be affiliated with such a person. I think that as a teacher it is important to be informed of gangs, but also students should be aware of their friends and surroundings.
It scares me because many students in middle school are sheltered like I was. Now that I hear more and more about these gangs I feel that students should become educated like the teachers.
I am not sure if this is true, but I heard from a second grade teacher on my team at Tarkington that most gang members are "born" into the business. Many times in order to quit from the gang it results in death. (I do not know if this is true). How can we help students who do not want to be involved in gangs and simply cannot leave?
Becky,
I myself was shocked when I began hearing about gangs and other issues in the middle school. A girl in my 8th grade class is dating a gang member. He is a freshman in high school and dropped out. She comes to my mentor and me talking about how she is upset that her boyfriend is involved in gang shootings, and how he has already gone to jail once. This girl has come to us and we have told her to think about her choices. She knows that what he is doing is wrong and talks to the social worker at our school to help her through her thought process. It upsets me to see that this smart girl, knows that her boyfriend is in a gang but chooses to be with him. She has her head on her shoulders, but I honestly think she is uneducated about how dangerous it is to be affiliated with such a person. I think that as a teacher it is important to be informed of gangs, but also students should be aware of their friends and surroundings.
It scares me because many students in middle school are sheltered like I was. Now that I hear more and more about these gangs I feel that students should become educated like the teachers.
I am not sure if this is true, but I heard from a second grade teacher on my team at Tarkington that most gang members are "born" into the business. Many times in order to quit from the gang it results in death. (I do not know if this is true). How can we help students who do not want to be involved in gangs and simply cannot leave?
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