ealth that is usually beyond the reach of this adolescents without the criminal activity of being involved in a gang. All of this is quite a heady trip for a young kid. Once a kid gets into a gang, over and over they are told there is no way out. They fear serious reprisals from fellow gang members if a defection is suspected. Some are told that they will be killed if they try to get out. Others are told that they can kill their mother to earn their way out. You must remember when dealing with a kid involved in this, that our beliefs must be set aside because the young person’s beliefs are what we are dealing with, and you can bet that they believe everything that gang tells them. Sociologist as well as gang members have isolated the following reasons for joining a street gang: IdentityRecognitionBelongingDisciplineLoveMoney Additionally, many kids are intimidated into gangs to avoid continued harassment. Gangs provide their members and family members with protection from other gangs as well as any other perceived threats. The current gang structure became increasingly visible at a time that paralleled the introduction of crack cocaine to the streets. Hang culture is also highly glamorized by the media including television, big screen releases, and powerful, idolized hard-core rap artists who rap about revolution and killing. This music is in great demand by both black and white kids and provides the role models for many of the dress habits and slang of today’s street culture. A lot of violence ideas are coming from the media: the movies, TV shows, radio, etc. One of the most harmful things for the teens in our times is the Internet. The dangers of the Internet are widely publicized. From the prevalence of questionable sites to pedophiles in chat rooms, the media portrays the web as a dark, unsafe realm for teens. Beside all of those topics discussed above, we all must realize that the one of the reasons f...
