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.