AmberCox

Mrs.KinleaHensel
EnglishIII
4/10/15
GangViolence
Gangsarebecomingagrowingprobleminsocietytoday.Moreyoungpeopletodayare
turningtogangstosolveproblemsintheirlives.Whenyoungpeoplejoingangs,itsbecause
theyarenotgettinganyattentionathome,noparentalsupervision,nocommunicatingandmuch
more.Inthiscase,thesearemanyreasonswhyyoungteenagerscomeapartofgangstoday.
Gangsdestroyteenagerlivesandtheirchancesofhavingagoodeducationinlife.
StreetgangsarecorruptingstreetsandneighborhoodsalloverAmericaandevenaround
theworld(Matthew).Ipersonallythinkgangviolenceisverytemptingforteenagersbecausethey
areaneasywayforyoungpeopletogetmoneyandtohaveareputation.Whatmostyoung
teenagersdontrealizeisonceyoujoinagangitisnearlyimpossibleforyoutogetout.Gangs
mightseemlikeaneasylifestyletomakebigmoneybuttheyareactuallyawretchednuisance
thatplaguethestreetsofbigcitiesandevensomesmallercitiesinAmerica(Matthew).Living
thislifestylecanbeverydangerousandmanyways.Manyfamilieslosesomanylovedonesto
thislifestyletoday.
Manygangstodayrequireincrediblephysicalabusewhetherjoiningorleaving(Ahmed).
Inordertobeinagangtodaymostgangsrequireyoutogetjumpedorfightallmembersone
ononeortheysendyououttoaccomplishoneoftheirmissions.Ifyoueverdecidedthatyou

wantedtoleavethegangyou'recurrentlyattendingmostlikelyyouwillbeonthehitlisttoget
killed,ifluckyyoumightjustgetabeatdownbyfellowgangmembers(Douglas).Thisshows
howrepulsivetheganglifereallyis.Manyteenagersdontrealizewhattheygotthemselvesinto
untilafterthefact.Manyyoungpeopleoftenmakemistakeslikethisandwishtheyhaventhad,
Butyoualwayslearnfromyourmistakes.Youdonthavetobeadopeboyordopegirltomake
bigbucks.Withagoodeducation,andmindsetanythingspossible.
Manygangsareprimarilymalebutsomegangsadmitwomenalso.Statisticsshowthat
94%ofgangmembersaremaleandonly6%arefemale(Ahmed).Femaleandmalegang
membersaretreatedverydifferentlyThefemalesthatareingangsaretreatedverypoorly.For
femalesinorderforthemtobecomeapartofagangtheyareoftenrequiredtohavesexual
intercoursewithanyofthemalesinthegangwhenasked.Theyhavetogetsexedbyalarge
numberofmalesinthegang.Itrulythinkthisisverydisrespectfultothefemalepersonallyand
toherbody,themostbeautifulartofgod.Therearemanythingspeoplehavetodoinordertobe
apartofagang.Mostofthethingsyoungpeoplegothroughjustforsomeattention,andloveis
soheartbreaking.Gangsareaveryviolentlifestyleanyonecouldlive.
Manygangstrytoinfluencetheyouthtojoin.Manyfellowgangmemberssitaround
highschools,middleschools,gasstations,streetsandmanymoreplacesjusttryingtogetyoung
peopletobecomepartoftheirgang.Asmanyas400,00youthsareingangsnationwide
(Matthew).Themajorityofyouthswhojoingangsdosobecausetheylackapositivesupport
systemathome(Matthew).Anotherbigcauseofyouthsjoininggangsisthelackofalternative
activitieswhichcauseboredomespeciallyiftheyliveinagangfilledarea.Mostofthetimegang
membersjustsitaroundandwaitonsomethingtohappen,orgetoncornersandsaleillegal

drugs.Tomethisdoesntseemanyinteresting,buteveryonehastheirownreasoningforthe
decisionstheymakeandchoseinlife.
OnethingIcanhonestlysayaboutgangsistheyarelikeclosefamily.Theymakeyou
feelwelcomed.Thisisonlyagoodthingforkidswhoneverreallyhadafamily,orneverhad
someonetoshowthemthatloveandaffection.Fellowgangmembersalwayslookoutand
protectoneanother,theyhavethatspecialbond.Fellowgangmembersspendsomuchtimewith
oneanotherthatsometimes,theygrowstrongerbondswithfellowmembersapartofthegang
insteadofoutsidefriendsandactualfamilymembers(Douglas).wouldntsaybecomingapartof
agangisagoodthing,buttomostyoungpeopleitsthebestthingthateverhappenedtothem.
Forthemostpartgangsarenotagoodthingatall.Gangviolenceisverydangerousevery
day,minute,andhoursomeonesloveoneiskilledbecauseofthisnonsense.Gangviolence
shouldbeavoidedbecauseifyoudontavoiditandchoosetolivetheganglifestyleyoumight
endupdeadorinprisonlaterondowntheroad(Douglas).Beingapartofagangmightsound
good,butitsnotatall.Ibelievethatifeveryonewouldcometogetherasoneandshowour
youngpeoplethatloveandaffectiontheyneed,thatencouragement,wordsofadvice,leadership,
andrespectthegangviolencewoulddiedown.

WorksCited

DouglasHarper."gang".OnlineEtymologyDictionary.
MatthewO'Deane."gang".GangInvestigatorsHandbook
"TheGrowthofYouthGangahmedrashid".