As I am sure you know gangs has become a hot topic of conversation in the news media. Schools and local media are beginning to educate parents on the signs of their child being involved in a gang. Have any of you had any experience in observing gang behavior? It is beginning to appear in our school and I am curious for words of wisdom.

I haven't seen direct signs of gang behavior, but our school has a lot of gangs present. I think we have student representing 5 or 6 gangs. The students that have been pointed out to me as being in a gang, seem to act just like the other students. Actually, I was very surprised to find out that certain individuals were in gangs. I have heard from one student, and this is probably the same in every gang, that students will "die" for eachtother. They are very protective of their members, and even though it is difficult to get out once you are in. They will support one another, if you want to call it that.

One thing to look out for is clothing and jewlery. Some gangs will wear a certain color or a certain type of tee-shirt to represent a certain day or event. But, other than that I haven't seen any particular behavior with gang members.

I haven't seen a lot of gang behavior, but growing up I was in something close to being a gang. We didn't have guns, but we'd carry knives or other easily conceilable weapons to fight with if we were ever in a tight spot. The thing about having a gang of buddies is that you have someone to always stick up for you. I would look for signs in the less fortunate or people that live in tougher neighborhoods. Abuse by parents was one thing almost all of my buddies and I had in common. I like the quote by Robin WIlliams from Good WIll Hunting, "YOu know why he does that Gerry? Because anyone of them would take a bat to your head if he asked them. You know what that is? Loyalty! You know why hes like that? Because the first thing that ever happened to him was that he was abonded by the people he loved."
Being in a gangf is big time protection at school too. People who would normally bully do not or they get messed up. It serves as a way to keep people from further hurting you. The biggest hurt always comes from things that are emotional. A gang also protects you from that by keeping away people who could possibly hurt you.