Denial in Maryland

In Washington County, Maryland, the school board recently adopted a policy which addresses gangs and gang activity in the schools.  However, the assistant superintendent felt it was important to tell the public that this policy was being implemented, not because the district feels it has a gang problem, but because the Maryland State Department of Education mandated it.  He further stated, “We don’t recognize that we have an epidemic of gang activity in our schools.  In fact, we believe we have little gang activity in our schools.”  The policy defines gangs, requires staff to report confirmed or suspected activity, and mandates yearly training on prevention and intervention.  The policy further states that the police need to be notified prior to parents being informed.

Is this modern day denial?  If you have an asst. superintendent publicly saying he doesn’t have a gang problem and this is merely being done to comply with state mandates, how much effort is going to be placed into locating and providing the right training?  If the police are informed of a gang related incident or threat and they don’t act on it, will the parents still be notified?  While the majority of the problems will probably not be that serious, what happens when something “real” does happen and a pattern emerges of prior behavior? 

I reviewed the 2010 census information for Washington County.  According to the data, there is a population of almost 147,000 people and it is 90% Caucasian.  What may be being ignored is the county’s proximity to major cities that are known to have significant gang problems.  Both Baltimore and Washington, DC, are about 70 miles away.  Pittsburgh, PA and Richmond, VA are only 3 hours away. 

Further reading into the situation reveals blatant denial of the issues.  During the past school year, groups of students at local high schools, middle schools, and the alternative school were involved in bullying, theft, and graffiti AND were identified as displaying the colors of nationally recognized gangs.  However, a local gang “expert” was not ready to label this as gang activity and stated that since some of the students were seniors, they would not be returning to school anyway. 

Although it is commendable that the state board of education mandated the schools to enact these policies, it will be interesting to watch what happens in this area in the next few years.  With the proximity to the large cities, obvious gang activity brewing, and the denial of issues by the local powers that be, this area is prime for an awakening. 

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Columbine Fact

Just a quick note I ran across while reading that is important enough to share. 

I am reading a book titled "The truth behind death at columbine" by Brooks Brown and Rob Merritt.  Brooks Brown grew up with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and was the first person to encounter Eric Harris that morning in the school parking lot.  He is also featured in Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" movie. 

In the book, Mr. Brown recalls the wrath of school shootings that took place in the late 1990's. He said that the incidents were discussed in his various classes at Columbine High School and that,

"kids would make jokes about how "it was going to happen at Columbine next."  They would say that Columbine was absolutely primed for it, because of the bullying and the hate that were so prevalent at our school."

Little did they know how right they were. 

NBA Tattoos

Doesn't have too much to do with schools, but I read an interesting article today on Yahoo about NBA player Kevin Durant actually having tattoos.  As the majority of NBA players have multiple tattoos, Durant's apparent lack made his image less "thuggish" to some.  Further reading of the article, which can be found here, includes this nugget,

“Plus, we've reached a point as basketball fans where tattoos are not an automatic sign of a thug. They're perfectly normal and a common feature of the league's most popular players. LeBron James(notes) is covered in tattoos, but any marketing issues he has are tied to his lack of a championship, not the belief that he's a gang member. That point of view is thankfully a thing of the past.”

As can be seen from the picture, Durant is heavily tattooed.  He just chooses to place his where they are not easily viewed while he is in uniform.  Is this for marketing?  Is it for image?  Who knows.  But the point is, it shouldn't matter.  

Many people have the misconception that a heavily tattooed individual is a gangster or thug.  The image of NBA players took a turn for the worse after Allen Iverson joined the league.  Iverson was one of the first NBA players to wear tattoos as a fashion statement.  His tattoos are heavily talked about all over the Internet.  His attitude and antics, combined with his legal problems in high school, fueled the belief that the NBA had turned into a gangster league full of thugs.  As quoted above, even Lebron James, who before signing with the Miami Heat could do no wrong, is covered with tattoos. 

Tattoos are no longer reserved for gangsters, bikers, and soldiers.  Tattoos have crossed over into mainstream life in a grand fashion.  You can find the most successful doctors, lawyers, CEO's, and law enforcement officers with tattoos.  You can also find their children with tattoos. 

In most areas, to legally obtain a tattoo, you have to be 18 years old or have parental consent.  The problem we face now is that many school-aged kids are getting tattoos from their friends.  The biggest issue here is not that the tattoos are gang related, but the sanitary condition of the equipment.  However, just like the misconception of those speaking about the NBA, just because a student in a school has tattoos, this does not make him a gang member.  Every tattoo means something different to the person that wears it.  

Looking at rapper Lil Wayne, it is easy to see that his tattoos are very significant to him.  Although he now claims gang affiliation in the majority of his songs, Wayne had many of these tattoos when he was an up and coming artist.  In some circles, the tear drops under the eyes means the person has killed someone, in others it stands for years in jail, while in others it is to pay respects to fallen friends.  And for others, they are just popular.  While Lil Wayne and those close to him know the reason for his, we cannot respectfully make assumptions.  Now don't get me wrong, several of his tattoos are easily identified as being gang related, as many of his lyrics are.  Couple that with the success of his music, it is no wonder that kids everywhere want to emulate his behavior. 

But again, just because a person of any age makes the decision to get a tattoo, does not mean they are a gang member.  As educators beginning in the earliest grades teach our children, don't judge a book by it's cover.  Unfortunately, people working in schools everywhere do not always practice what they preach (or teach in this instance).  Making assumptions about children, and then placing labels on them, can do much more damage then them running out and tattooing themselves will ever do.  There is a simple solution though; for parents, teachers, or people anywhere who wonder if something is gang related...ASK!  And if you are not comfortable with the answer, seek help.

To be fair, I can't close this out without acknowledging that there are NBA players who have gang related tattoos.  Yahoo ran a similar tattoo story several months ago about Golden State Warrior guard Monta Ellis getting a large tree tattooed on his chest.  What Yahoo (and the majority of every other website who ran the story) failed to notice or mention, is that also visible in the picture are gang symbols in each of Ellis' forearms.  The "GD" on his right arm and the 6-pointed star on his left are very obvious identifiers of his gang affiliation. 

 

Dress Code

With school starting soon and many parents beginning their yearly school clothing and supply shopping, many begin to question why a dress code is needed in school.  The following was taken from a local middle school in Texas: 

BACKGROUND

Student dress, according to research, plays an important role in the success of middle school students. Our goal is to enhance a positive learning environment and minimize the influence of peer pressure through clothing styles. A standard dress policy will:

- Promote school pride and unity

- Improve student conduct and performance

- Increase self-esteem

- Decrease peer pressure & competition in regards to clothing, style, brands

- Decrease gang influence & -Increase student safety at school

The thought is that by not allowing certain types or colors of clothing, students involved in gangs will be less likely to display their affiliations.  This is wrong on many levels:

• Gangs are no longer strictly red or blue.  The same school that this was taken from allows blue and light blue clothing, but not red.  And their school color is purple.  Almost every color under the rainbow is claimed by a gang.
• Dress code policies have to include much more than clothing.  Haircuts, facial hair (including eyebrows), tattoos, and even shoes have to be included in policies to effectively curtail gang influence. 
• Gangs adapt!  If a gang involved student wants to display his gang at school, he’s going to. 

Rather than creating policies that do not adequately meet the needs of the school, more effort should be placed into intervening when a student is in violation of one of the rules. 

The same holds true for increasing self-esteem and competition.  What many fail to take into consideration are shoes.  Not only does the price and brand easily distinguish the haves from the have nots, the condition of the shoe as the year progresses is also an large sticking point in school social circles. 



Get Involved!

One of the most successul ways for a parent to ensure their child does not become part of a gang is for the parent to be an active participant in their child's school.  In the elementary school years, parents are always present.  PTA meetings are filled with parents and cameras waiting to watch a presentation (usually musical) after the meeting.  Parents are there to pick up their kids and speak with teachers.  When middle school comes, many parents lose the connection to their kid's schools.  They suddenly become too busy or they want to allow their child to be independent.  Children often join gangs because they are missing a "family" feeling in their home, and they are joining them in middle school.  Having a parent involved in their school activities is a big part of that.  Here are a few quick tips for anyone wanting to get more involved;
  
   - Know your child's teacher and exchange contact information, including email
   - Know your child's schedule
   - Attend open house, meet the teacher, and PTA evening events
   - Have lunch with your child at school several times a year
   - Know your child's friends
   - Support your child by attending trips, sporting events, and school activities they are a part of
   - Know where your child goes after school and randomly visit or watch him/her walk their route

The brief moments of embarassment your child may suffer are far less severe than the negative implications of letting them go. 

Gangland

This is going to be the first of several posts aimed at parents.  I have no hesitation in speaking on this because I have lived through several of the “high-risk” scenarios that parents often use as excuses for why their children are delinquent.  I am also a parent.  The majority of the problems faced by teachers, school administrators, and school police and security personnel can be traced back to one thing…parenting.  School discipline issues are a direct result of home discipline issues.  If we as parents do not teach our children how to act in the home, we can’t expect them to act properly outside the home.  What are worse are the parents that glamorize gang activity in their households.  A few years ago, there was a news story about young parents getting into a physical altercation because they could not decide which gang their child was going to join, his or hers.  More recently, a father was convicted for tattooing his gang symbol on the chest of his young son. 

While those may seem obvious to most, there is something else that many parents, even those who consider themselves the good ones, fail to see as a problem.  Television shows like Gangland and American Gangster are not appropriate for children.  While the shows can be very informative for adults or professionals in the field, children are watching these shows and become mesmerized.  Sure they see the violence and prison associated with stories, but that’s not what they go back to school to talk about.  Kids in elementary school through the country have water-cooler type discussions about what they see on the shows.  They learn the hand-signs, adopt the colors and names, and eventually start to mimic the behaviors.  While that is not the intent of the shows’ producers, it is a by-product of parents who are not engaged in the lives of their kids.  Even if the television has to be the babysitter, make sure the show is age and content appropriate for the viewer.  This may seem like a simple step; however it can have positive results.

On a closing note, I had the opportunity to hear TJ Leyden speak at a conference today.  TJ is a former white supremacist skinhead who now speaks against racism and violence.  He can regularly be seen on the aforementioned Gangland series and several others.  I have added his blog to my list of blogs.  Please take the time to read it.