| Many teenagers have the feeling that
in order to be part of a group of friends, they need to join a gang. Gangs
are a group of people mostly adolescents and young adults who are “involved
in shared activities, many of which are violent or illegal” . Violence
has increased in between gangs because many times they feel that they
are competing with each other. Therefore they provoke fights. Gang members
have the feeling that they can be safe if they join a gang. However, many
times they have to do some type of violent act in order to be a member
of the gang. In today’s world gangs are to the reach of children
from the ages of 14 and above. They are exposed more to danger than older
members of gangs because they don’t have much experience on how
to defend themselves, as much as the older members. Gangs are not only an U.S. issue, but also international. Most of them, if not all, are divided by ethnic groups. The main races that are involved in gangs are African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. One of their reasons to form a gang is that, they feel discriminated from the society. Discrimination makes big effects on what the teens want to do and where the teens feel more comfortable and safe. When they feel discriminated or not accepted as part of the society, they are more likely to join gangs and become violent. Males and females are both involved in gangs. Males have a higher range but females are also part of these groups. Male gangs are the most violent ones. However the females that are involved in gangs are also involved in violence. They are more likely to get in fights with other women and fight for any reason. While the guys are more likely to fight and get to the point of using guns, knifes and other objects to defend themselves and their group members. The participation of females in gangs is increasing greatly. The number of females who get involved in violence is on the rise. The majority of gangs are all male. However, now that females are also involved in gangs, they are valued by majority of gangs. For the reason that they can look less suspicious than men they can be used to carry weapons and drugs. The number of teenagers and young adults who join gangs increases as well as violence in between them. Gangs are not only entertained by violence but writing Graffiti as well. Communities now have dealt with graffiti in their streets; do to the fact that graffiti is a way for gangs to express their thoughts. Graffiti includes symbols, letters and drawings that express what the gang or the member of the gang is thinking of. Many of the graffiti can also represent threats, announcements, or simply, a ways to communicate. Sometimes the gangs want to send special messages trough graffiti. Many of those are directed to police officers or other gangs. (www.nationaltcc.org/tcc/) |