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.