I learned much from my classmates about the gang problems in Springfield, IL.  I was surprised to learn of the extent of this problem in our community.  This one took me awhile as I searched for evidence of gang activity in our district. I teach in a school district about 10 miles south of Springfield in a small rural area.  I questioned many students at the junior high and high school level and the principals after learning nothing from the elementary students.  I'm glad to say that I came up short.  No activity what so ever has been reported about gangs in this small town.  This was rather surprising because of the large number of students we have that are from lower income families.  Gary Burnett, in his article about Gangs in Schools, reported that gangs develop when large portions of a student population are not having their needs met in other ways.  I see a huge number of students pass through our school system whose needs are NOT met.  It may be only a matter of time before gangs evolve in our district.  Gangs have been moving from larger cities to the suburbs to smaller and smaller towns.  In order to help prevent the formation of gangs it may be necessary to take appropriate steps now.  Burnett talks about addressing students' feelings of helplessness and inadequacies to allow students some of the benefits that gangs give to students.   We could create postive student groups that give students a chance to belong and help fill a need.  I'd like to see organized groups that volunteer at the nursing home, that tutor younger students, that help build pride in the community by cleaning up the town.

Even though this is not a current problem, teachers and parents should be acquainted with what to look for (Gang Awareness).  Afterall, it will be easier to prevent gangs than to try to eliminate them once they've surfaced. We already have problems with alcohol, drugs and some incidents of violence.  Of course we have also attempted to combat these with drug prevention programs like D.A.R.E. and Snowflurries. Why not develop a gang prevention program-that states,  "This school campus is a neutral and safe place. The only gang allowed here is the (name of school) gang. All students belong to our gang. It's our family. Negative and disruptive gang behaviors will not be tolerated on this campus." (Developing a Gang Prevention Program)

"Awareness of gang activities often precedes identification of the gangs and members. One of the first signs that gangs are operating in an area is the appearance of graffiti, albeit without the physical appearance of gangs. Comprehension of the underlying intentions of gang activity will assist school personnel in developing specific strategies and enacting policy to counteract their occurrences. Lal and Lal (1995) provided the following list of activities and intentions:

 Activity                               Intention

 Graffiti                               Communicating, warning, marking turf
 Flashing/Slanging              Claiming affiliation, identifying, threats
 Hanging out                        Marking turf, show of force, protection for members, relaxing
 Intimidation                        Gaining control, gaining respect, instilling fear
 Recruitment                        Building a power base, establishing loyalties, sustaining membership
 Extortion                            Instilling fear, gaining respect, easy money
 Assaults/Fights                    Courting-in/out, retaliation, gaining respect, show of force
 Drug use/dealing                Acquiring money, getting high, partying
 Use/Sale of weapons           Protecting self, members, turf, drug traffic, acquiring money"
(Developing a Gang Prevention Program)
 

"There are some schools out there that are on the right track as far as gang prevention and intervention goes:

Phoenix, Arizona, The GREAT Program (Gang Resistance Education and Training) This program is a cooperative
effort between the police department, area schools, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Through GREAT, trained officers teach students various life skills to help them combat violence, prejudice, victimization, and negative attitudes towards law enforcement. The program targets elementary and middle school students. The curriculum revolves around the eight GREAT lessons:

  Lesson 1 introduces students to the program and their GREAT officer
  Lesson 2 familiarizes students with crimes, victims, and the impact of crime in their neighborhoods
  Lesson 3 teaches students about cultural diversity and how failure to accept cultural differences can lead to prejudice
  Lesson 4 focuses on conflict resolution to create an atmosphere of understanding that enables all parties to better address problems and work on solutions together
  Lesson 5 equips students to meet their basic needs in ways other than by joining gangs
  Lesson 6 explains the correlation between gang involvement and drugs and their destructive effects on the neighborhood.
  Lesson 7 encourages students to understand the diverse responsibilities of people within their community
  Lesson 8 stresses the need for establishing goals in life and suggests ways to set and meet personal goals"
(Stagg)

Another good one is:
"Project YES! (Yes to Education and Skills!) is a gang and drug education curriculum aimed at high-risk youths with lesson plans designed to be integrated into existing courses. Themes are responsible leadership, cultural diversity, refusal skills, problem solving, choices and consequences, and success and achievement." (Stagg)

Mang gang prevention programs already exist.  I think the time to iniate one is before the problem arises.
 
 

Resources:

Burnett, Gary, Gangs in Schools

Developing a Gang Prevention Program

Gangs and Victimization at Schools

Gang Awareness

Stagg, Missy,  Gang Prevention and Intervention

Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public Schools: 1996-97