How can we stop gang-violence in inner cities and motivate young people to place importance on education?

Question

This question was asked at the Dropping Knowledge event on 9th September by Stephanie Allen, 53, Santa Monica, California, USA. To find out more about Dropping Knowledge check out our blog:

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Answer 1

There are some cultures and tribes that say...



"It takes an entire village to raise a child"



If we all watch out for all the children and raise them together then may be they won't be inclined to join a gang for acceptance. It is not a matter of using jail, violence or boot camps to teach them a lesson and scare them into being a good samaritan, it is a matter for us to join together as a society, adults, educators, "hero's", to raise them.



We can't lay individual blame on the parent(s) schools or teachers for misguided kids in the streets or to use them as the answer to correct the problem. It is us as a society who should be to blame because we are scared, don't care, not my problem, I have my own problems, who are to blame. If we all watch out for one another then the world would be a better place to live in.





Many hands guiding the young, enrich their knowledge to make a better world.

Answer 2

Well first of all, someone has got to get through to all these teens who end up pregnant and on welfare, who think drugs and booze are the be all and end all and who have access to guns and bullets in mommy and daddy's bedroom closet.



These kids have to be SCARED STRAIGHT. No other way around it.



Parents should be made accountable for minors. Minors should have curfews and those curfews should be enforced and if not parents should be fined. The more curfews the bigger the fine.



Again, the big SCARE factor. Believe me it works.



I've taken care of many a bully that victimized my children, and it wasn't by getting through to the bully, because they would just stick out their tongue at you and worse, but when you threaten the parent with charges, wow...does the bullying suddenly stop! Twice I've had parents remove their children from the school (and run). What do I care, I've solved the problem. But the problem is bigger than this and must be taken seriously by society and by our judicial system.



Charity begins at home. So does discipline. I don't care how ignorant you are, it doesn't take a genius to raise a child and keep them off the street.



As I said if you are having teens and crackheads bearing children and then having government supporting them...well there is something wrong with this picture. Why would someone from an environment like that work, when they can sell drugs and earn hundreds or thousands a day. If that is what they are born into it's a pretty rare bird that will leave that environment.



Stop the problem from happening at the source and eventually the gang-violence will trickle off.



It's no easy thing mind you. We need to get tough with guns as well as drugs. Canada needs to get wicked and mean with the good old USA who needs to do something about this problem of guns there. Time to hang up the cowboy boots and bring out the whip I think.

Answer 3

How can you stop gang violence?

The same way you can motivate

parents to love their children.

When you figure that out,

the education will come naturally.



This entire problem is about love

and caring. Parents do not love

their children because nobody

loved them. They do not know.



These kids have just been

born like cattle to people

who could care less about

a new life or whether it

'makes it' in the world or not!



The lack of love breeds the

lack of caring. Nobody cares,

because it doesn't do any

good to care.

They are stuck in a hopeless

downward swirl. They can't go

up, because they never

even LOOK up!



It is in all humanity to seek

love and attention, a positive

feeling, and a sense of

belonging....ta da!....the gang!



The 'belonging' may be the

only time the child has ever

had a sense of being a 'part'

of something.



The saying about strength in

numbers, is true - they gain

their strength from knowing

that they are hooked up with

people like themselves.



They all have something in common.

The bathe their emotions in the

sense of being a part of something.



They feel they must take the harsh

treatment of the 'leaders'

(parent symbols) because that

is just like they had at home

from their parent (s?) and older

stronger siblings.



They have only been taught

survival. (and that is self-taught)

If indeed they have survived!

Quite a few don't! Not love.



Find a way to make mothers

LOVE their children (and it is

NOT by giving them money!) and

you will not have the problem of

gangs, or lack of education.



Any mother who loves her child

will see that they get an education

so that they can enjoy a richer life.



We actually have the same problem

with people with a higher standard

of living. Even they go through the

'motions', they do not have genuine

love for their children and they are

just as lost as the gang members.



It is just that their parents 'buy them off'

with trips to the mall and camp and

anything else to 'get the kids out

of their hair!'



We have lost love. LOVE

breeds understanding and

caring and nurturing and

everything that this world

is lacking.



How can you teach love?

How can you legislate love?

How can you penetrate

and saturate love into the

areas that it is needed?



There is only one way that

I have ever known about, and

you don't want to hear about

that........

Answer 4

Charity begins at home. So does discipline. I don't care how ignorant you are, it doesn't take a genius to raise a child and keep them off the street.



As I said if you are having teens and crackheads bearing children and then having government supporting them...well there is something wrong with this picture. Why would someone from an environment like that work, when they can sell drugs and earn hundreds or thousands a day. If that is what they are born into it's a pretty rare bird that will leave that environment.



Stop the problem from happening at the source and eventually the gang-violence will trickle off.

Answer 5

This is a very important question, but unfortunately, at the point when people already join gangs, the damage is almost irreversible. In order to solve such an issue it would take an enormous effort to educate the potential parents. To do that we need to look at who typically gives birth to a future gang member. Young people typically turn to gangs because they provide the sense of family that they lack at home. The question then becomes how do we give that sense of family to kids who grow up to become gang members when their parents don't provide it? Community outreach programs like big brother and big sister help, but the government needs to also provide more places where troubled youth can turn to. Even when the occasional troubled youth gets to go along on a trip or to a camp that parents usually pay for, through a scolarship program for instance, it is hard for the child to then come back home and be hit in the face with their harsh reality. This is a tough tough situation.

Answer 6

We can show these gangs there are other ways, but inner city gangs have been a problem since before the Civil War, so I rather doubt it is that simple. It's not poverty that holds them there, just look at the type of cars they own and drive. You are as likely to see a $50,000 SUV parked in front of a run down home in a poverty area, as you are to see them in high income areas. Being a cab driver, I see it every day. People like Jesse Jackson do help keep many in poverty by not encouraging them to enter blue collar work, the training for which takes 1/5th the time of a college degree, and has starting pay rates $10,000 higher than business college graduates. And, they are not as likely to get laid off.

Answer 7

I know this will sound odd compaired to some, but I do not think putting religion back in schools will help.



Offer more programs that let them have fun learning. Not just the same boring classes over and over. Ok so you have to learn English, let them create something besides essays. Have a poem contest or even a rap off to see who can use the most proper words with out sounding goofy. Could work.



Let them vote on the ciriculem instead of just learning it. They will surprise you. Note what they suggest, dont just toss it out. Happens alot, we dont listen. One teacher threw out an idea given her by a student, another found it not realizing it was written by a student. The first teacher hadd the same issues all year, the second one had more a students then in any other year. All the kid suggested was they be allowed to make creative posters on what they were learning in History to keep track of where they were. There was a small prize for the best one to be voted on by the studnet body, no names allowed to be placed on the posters until after the vote was final. This kept the popular kid from winning just because they were popular. A free day for a student is a small prize granted, but it still something to strive for. Free time in class just for making a reminder poster? Hmmm... Hey it worked.

Set up classroom courts, where they can talk out thier problems and have some one mediate offical rules for certain behaviors. Kids are smarter than we think, if they help set the rules they are less prone to break them.

Creative math, not just boring algebra. Dont make it the usual x2 times 3percent equals y, use things they are interested in like if Joe wants to buy a car that cost 500 dollars how long will he have to work at $6.15 an hour to save up the money. Trust me that will grab them. They are already thinking about it. Offer to use something they give you as a math problem. Make it interactive not dictative.

That is really all I can come up with off the top of my head.

Answer 8

A lot of inner city gangs are growing because the young are feeling part of something, giving them a sense of importance by being part of the gang. To feel this then they must be lacking belief in themselves, for themselves and probably little hope in change for themselves because they are unable to see into the future (and we all thought we knew it all as teenagers didn't we ;)), unable to foresee the changes that can be created with motivation.

If there were more facilitys for the youngsters to see their own potential-to create motivation and somewhere to encourage this ambition then it may help to separate them from the gangs. It's a slow progressive program required because it takes time for hope to creep in if not got any. They will start working for themselves rather than the gang-give them a hope for them rather than avoid thinking of their futures therefore falling into the gangs to fill a gap

Children has to be taught to have confidence in themselves, and that has to be an early implantation like school as well as home

Answer 9

As humans the most we can do is warn them not to go into gangs. (Mind me im 13 just sound like im 30 lol). I disagree

with the person that said " they need to be condidered as human beings". They ruin society they prevent mankind from aceiving their goals. They do not diserve mercy. Honestly I focus on my education. I am in honors classes. Personally I definetly don't think they diserve understanding and should be destroyed.

Maybe they have problems in their families but why

do they have the right to ruin the world just because of their personal problems? The world should show no mercy on gangs because they show no mercy on the world. That would most

definetly stop them from joining gangs. To see what becomes of them if they do. Again and again people try to sympathize with these horrible people but why? Sometimes we just have to give up. I have a window theory. The window is siciety. Dust and

grime are things that ruin society like gangs and murderers and rapists etc. When the dust and grime is cleaned of the world is perfect and the window is clean. Sure it will get dirty again and

we clean again. Right now what we are doing is putting a curtain on the window (sympthaizing with gangs pretending it works).

So as an awnser the only thing that can stop them is eliminating them. That would stop future gangsters from becoming gangsters.

Answer 10

We have to go back to the drawing board and start over.

Education is really the key, but when you have young people living in conditions that they do today, especially in the inner cities, where young people has so much thrust on them at such an early age and see things that some people in other neighborhoods only see on TV, such age murder, rape, drug deals and just everyday abuse.,

there is no such thing as normalcy for these young people.

I am going on but I don't have an answer, because there are so many things that must be changed, if we can reach some of the younger children of gang members etc. we might stand a chance

to turn some of their lives around before it is too late for them.

Answer 11

We need to get the cities on our side first. Organize families, neighborhoods and areas, once you get community cooperation it will be eaiser to reach the children.



All children have some respect for their families or an authority figure at some point in their life. If we can motivate small neighborhoods to take care of their children as a community we can reach some before it is too late.



Even for teenagers who are thought of as it being too late to reach, there is always time. It just takes time to build a trusting relationship with eachother. It helps if the autority figure is someone from a similar background, but it is not necessary.



Don't blame one ethnic group for all the violence and degradation of society, it is just as much a white problem as it is any other color problem. Our society seems to perpetuate the myth of the poor violent minority. I have seen just as many white gang bangers as any other color. It isn't the rap culture either, as I am a professional who is college educated, but loves rap music. I am not violent, I teach kindergarten, do not rely on stereotypes.



Stop hiring sub-standard teachers. There are many many great teachers out there looking for work. Often I walk into a school district and am horrified by the quality of the teachers. Do not hire alternate route to licensure teachers. 9 times out of 10 the teacher who has taken the "alternate route" is a poor quality teacher who really shouldn't be teaching in the first place.

Answer 12

from someone who lives in the ghetto... we need more jobs. there is no incentive to focus on education when after you graduate all you can get is a job that pays minimum wage. there are many people with degrees who cant find a job, so what hope does that show to our youth? the best bet for us is not education but work experience, so many will take odd jobs or work many jobs to make ends meet and hopefully be reconized for it and earn raises. Plus, have you seen the price tag on a good education these days? There are too many colleges out there taking advantage of supply and demand, and charging high fees. If education were less costly it wouldnt be such an issue. Everyone goes to school when they are young because it is FREE. More people would go to school if it didnt cost so much and if they earned enough money to pay for it. There are not enough scholarships out there for everyone.

Answer 13

OK first we have to understand what makes young men and women join a gang in the first place.

1. Peer Acceptance.

2. Sense of belonging to something.

3. Money to do things.

4. Feeling of Power.



I'm sure there is more but that's part of it.



In my mind something like this take a multi pronged approch.



1. We have to do anything we can to help get the parents involved in their childs life and remind them that if the child is at home you are still the parent and IN CHARGE. But you can't do that on autopilot.



2. We have to find ways in the schools to teach racial tollorance and acceptance, so the "Haves" don't aillenate the "Have Nots".



3. We have to find interesting things to get these young people involved in to keep them busy doing something constructive in there lives.



4. We need to find ways to create job opportunities that pay something more than minimum wage so these kids can feel a level of accomplishment without having to turn to illeagal means to make a living.



Now this is all nice idea stuff by I have no idea how you set any of this into practice. Some of this is already in place and we may just need to revamp existing programs to make them more attractive to today's youth. But other than that, that's all I have...



Good Question.

Answer 14

I came from a culture very different than the US culture, but now I also have adopted the US culture. Where I came from most men had a 2nd or 3rd grade education. Most 15-16 year olds were either farmers or fighting for the US secret war in Laos for $3/month. Most girls were discouraged from going to school (My wife).



I came to the United State when I was 10 in 1976. My wife came here when she was about 12 in 1982 or 1983(as an orphan because mom and dad were both killed by North Vietnamess soldiers). I have an older brother that came to the United State when he was already 18.



I graduated from college with a B.S. degree. My wife (never went to school until she came to the United State) graduated from Madison with a Master in School of Social Work. My brother took a year of ESL and graduated from Madison with a Master in Electrical Computer Engineering.



Why did I told these stories? We have a culture.



Inner US City youth have lost the American culture to the culture of gangs. Thier loyalties are to thier gangs. Thier hopes and dreams are lost to the hundred of years of discriminations. Thier cultures are what the media portray them to be.



I might not hold a PHD in Social Science but I had live among people that these Social Scientist have not. Many blacks and US Mexicans have consider me an older brother in many States across the United State.



How can we stop gang-violence in inner cities and motivate young people to place importance on education?



Role model! These inner City children need role model and a window to the American dream.



Athletes as role model are good but it won't incite these children toward education. People like Colin Powell and C. Rice should be role model for these kids. Thier success will give these children a window into the American dream.



In the US complex society parents are not always there to give directions to these kids, but the school could by having a require class in ethics.



Just my 2 cent thought. Disregard things that are too wacky on my post! I have no PHD in Social Science.

Answer 15

According to the Police, there are 30 thousand gang members in Los Angeles county alone. Place them all on and island and let them fight among themselves.

It will be a small loss as far as society is concerned.

There is no way that anyone will ever be able to stop gang violence. People join gangs, because they don't know what to do with themselves and the feel so alone, that they need to adopt brothers to make them feel like a whole person. The Intellect is low and the Ego is High.



There is no way you can reach them and any methods used, is about as useful as stopping people from using drugs. No Way Jose

Answer 16

Get better leaders. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have done nothing for the black community but give them an excuse. It's been 142 years since slavery has been abolished. Affirmative Action has been in effect since 1961. So the opportunities are out there and what has not changed? The slave mentality, the white man has kept me down mentality. Jackson and Sharpton feed and promote this and it keeps them in power and the inner cities just the same as they have been. Sorry I couldn't be any more politically correct, but that is what I see and what I've seen.

Answer 17

Gangs are just for the kids that society has pushed into feeling that they don’t belong. So when we can all sit down and look at the source of the problem instead of the problem we will see less of the things that turn our youth to violence.



TV is not the reason

Music is not the reason



It is those who always say its ok to blame these things as to what influence our youth.

I played army and did all sorts of crazy things, But I never killed anyone or was violent as a result of the music I listened to or the Movies I watched. It Is a poor excuse that we have allowed people to blame something other than themselves for their actions.

Answer 18

As much as I don't like gangs....



I have to say...

just b/c they are in a gang doesn't mean they don't think an education is important, and it doesnt' mean they will not pursue an education...



Also just b/c someone doesn't stay in the traditional style schools doesn't mean they "aren't" getting an education.

;-)

Lets be real here, and please don't over genralize...



(also learn why gangs came about, and the history's behind them, and what made them into violent bodies enventual, they can serve as a reminder on how CHANGE can go down the wrong path even when something starts out as revolutionary)



::: Peace :::

Answer 19

Without ever having been in a badly affected area I'd say the best way of ending violent gang culture (when youths are involved), whether feasible or not, is to start an initiative of volunteers willing to show aforementioned young people a different way of life, and the satisfaction; for instance, a Doctor could take a group to his/her hospital and show the progress some seriously ill patients are making. I think this works, at least in theory.

Answer 20

Gang-violence is caused by social circumstances whose root cause boils down to over-population (of the human race as a whole). People can argue how to implement global population control methods all they want (or avoid the issue, as is traditionally done), but that doesn't change the fact that humans are trying to subvert the laws of nature to promote unsustainable population growth. There are consequences to this exponential population growth, and they include war, crime, poverty, famine, ... basically all the grave social problems we struggle with today. The problems, such as gang violence are only getting worse because we are continuing to take the human population above the carrying capacity of the planet.



The only viable, long-term solution is to establish a controlled population living in a sustainable fashion.

Answer 21

Now that's a good question. To stop a gang-violence would be one big step closer to world peace. I don't know if that is even possible. But if you pray and have faith and a will then anything is possible. I would say that one way to help stop or fight this epidemic would be more good policemen on the force, less bad cops joining the violence, also city families that are normally neglected by our government programs shown more attention, better rehab programs and much more hands on from the part of our society that likes to say what to do and not do anything to see that its done. if you catch my drift.

Answer 22

Gang Violence and street "toughs" will always be part of a society where a large percentage of both Urban and inner-city kids are no longer part of a Nuclear family, (i.e. Mother and Father and siblings-other close relatives)-and are being raised by a single mother or father. Kids will always look for ways to feel like they "belong"-and gangs and street toughs fill this void especially for boys who have an absent father figure. Big Brothers seems to help a little-but peer pressure and "gangs" make a boy feel like a man instead of a boy-so my gut feeling is that gangs and gang violence will always exist in one form or another...

Answer 23

The problem is the parents, not the kids. If the parents do not care about what their children are doing in school, why would the kids care? I think something that merits investigation, at least in the U.S., is the correlation between poverty and violence. In the last, oh, I don't know, 6 years, there have been so many budget cuts to social services, welfare, and medi-care, that poverty has risen tremedously. If a family can not put food on the table, how can they care about books? I think the UK had it right with their efforts to lower poverty rates among children. There should be a residual affect in a couple years with violence diminishing. The first step to ending violence needs to be to end poverty.

Answer 24

I think the most important people to motivate are the kids parents. It seems to me that if parents place an importance on education it rubs off on the kids also some of these kids have never been shown right from wrong. The reason they join gangs is so that they can "belong", the violence is almost a secondary part of it. It is just not "cool" to be into education either, it's never rebellious enough. GET TO THE PARENTS FIRST.

Answer 25

Stop glamorizing gangs in the videos, showing money, women, jewelry and clothes. Need another program called Scared Straight where youth go to the prisons and harassed by the inmates. Having pro athletics come and talk to the youth about the values of education, also talking to members of gangs that where shot and crippled or lost other love ones that were not in gangs by drive-by shootings.

Answer 26

Offer youth centers to the children of these towns/city's. ( The smaller the town then maybe they can combine the youth centers.) Children of all ages need a place to go that is safe. I feel every town/city should have on. In order to pay for these youth centers I feel the price should be included in our city taxes. Instead of tearing down old churches, what about turning them into youth centers and ask for volunteers to help run it. Educate our children, teach them that drugs/violence is not the answer. Be more accepting of each others faults and differences. Each center would be hate free. A place where a child of any age can go safely w/o being teased b/c of his/her difference.

Answer 27

no quick fix answer but we must address our social issues on a global scale. Poverty and education are major factors when it comes to gang related crime. By offering a real chance at a future is the only way to ease the problem yet it will not stop it. Zero tolerence is harsh but given the right set of cicumstances it could work.

Answer 28

Unfortunately, one cannot. They can remove them from the ghetto, but they can't remove the ghetto from them. Eventually, they'll have to learn the ways of the world if they're to succeed but often they find respect being more of an issue rather than making anything better for anyone else. Thus the violence. It's a very selfish, and disrespectful vicinity. Everyone using everyone else as a stepping stone to get where they want to go, rather than helping one another as a community. I'd have to say grab them while they're young and take them to a better learning environment, so they wont be exposed, and thusforth become, the negativity and malice they're seeing everyday. Once they learn those ways of life, they can never be removed from them. Sooner or later, that basis of mental foundation, will become their instincts. When money trouble comes, they're stealing. When a bit of a conflict arises, they're fist fighting, or worse. When they're young, take them to a place of positivity and nurture their minds to become a positive aspect of society, to make theirs lives more successful, rather than being a statistic, rather than being another gang murder.

Answer 29

By making education more accessible at a higher level and making unemployment and early pregnancy a bad option.



I think the biggest improvement would be to improve discipline in schools to give teachers back the respect that they deserve. Unfortunately all to often the attention of the teacher is taken up by the distracting and misbehaving members of the class, which leaves the 'good' kids unmotivated.

Answer 30

well..in the uk we first need a government that is caring enuff to bother with young people.we too are now starting to experience the gangland culture that yourselves have endured for many years.our kids are starting to shoot each other,smoke crack and drop out of school at an early age.sad state of affairs but when the music industry and other sources place making dollar b4 teaching(which is the meaning of music after all)the young people the correct way,then i fear there is not alot we can do apart from buy our kids a gun and a bulletproof vest.it's not just music over here it's also league football and major sports....TOO MUCH MONEY>>>>>

Answer 31

Well, the first thing we have to do is stop pretending that rap is music, or anything other than a huge detriment to blacks in general. Then we have to convince blacks that to be educated is not to be an "oreo." Being a low class, barely literate, wanna be pimp-drug dealer, who can hardly speak the english language is not what makes you black, and it does not show ethnic pride. After that, gangs as we know them today will die off, and the whole damned human species will rise.

Answer 32

due to the freedoms that we enjoy today in our society we lack the hunger for leadership as piers for our young people that supposedly are the future of this great nation,my first suggestion is to say ,give back the parents the power to rule kids like before and and make them more accountable for their actions,parents that work dual jobs to keep a roof over their heads are prone to all sorts of neglect of their children due to the primary obligation of the home which is earning a living,how many single moms are stuck between choosing to work and stop caring for their children at least for 8 to ten hours daily,we as a nation are losing the social battle against predators of our young,they circumvent the laws and hide behind the actions of our innocent young people,for example the notorious M!3 gangs of LA are growing because they ground themselves in neighborhoods that are poorest and are very populous with young people ,a rich environment for overworked parents,with lots of kids that have lots of time ,unsupervised and have little self esteem,they make them join by any means possible,if parents are given the means to keep their children close gangs and crime will diminish considerably,at present we can only hold ourselves responsible for being cowardly,civilly,my question is how can our government allow in the land of the free a gang to control an eight city block area in this day and age?

Answer 33

A lot of people have a lot of ideas on how or what? Have we tried Communicating with these people to find out why all is as it is yet?Different cultures thrown together in a society that is struggling to understand where or what is happening. Let`s start at source & take it from there preferably without getting shot first!

Answer 34

This is a great Question. I think teens join gangs b/c they feel like they need to be part of something so they can feel special and supported. cities or neighborhoods should have FUN after school programs that involve doing what they think is fun but also helping them with homework in a way that makes it exciting!!

Answer 35

They need mentors to prove that there are other ways to succeed in life. Also, the entertainment industry needs to wake up and realize that they are sending the wrong message to American youth. Children aspire to be rappers because they believe it's the quickest and easiest way to earn an income, when in reality, the chances are extremely slim that they will make it that big. Youth need to be exposed to professionals who have grown up in similar situations, but managed to rise above the odds and make something of themselves. There's tons of other solutions too. There's a great book on this issue: Solutions for Black America (I forgot the author - sorry!)

Answer 36

That's quite easy! Start executing (once convicted) every gang member who gets caught. we can then use the tax money that was once used for theses thugs in prison to motivate young people to and help them afford better educations and colleges.

Answer 37

there are two ways in which a person can can cooperate with another - by choice or by force - all group activities were pressure by the group majority forces the minorities to follow the authority is defacto use of force - like when the Saudi Bin Laden kills innocent people in America - and when the American Bin Laden kills innocent people in Iraq you see the same vulgar face of the group thinking - The Main manner in which people should interact with each other is by each person's selfish choice --- In the case of sex - which is the fountainhead of life -we call all kinds of perversions sex thereby degrading sex -likewise selfishness is the motive force that carries life forward -we take all kinds of perversions and call it selfishness -thereby degrading selfishness. If education fails to excite the youth we need to re look education -revamp it most of what is touted as education is junk -decayed.unless there is a paradigm shift in the field of education we might have to resort to the gun to force youngsters to study the junk that constitute the major syllabus

Answer 38

This starts at home. From the womb kids should know that reading is important. If we teach our kids that learning is fun they will reach for knowledge. For the teen agers in gangs now the punishments have to be more harsh.

Answer 39

It starts at home. Parents need to be good examples, regardless of their financial situation or education level. If you are going to have a kid, be a parent - both moms and dads. Give kids a reason to feel good at home so they don't need the approval of some gang, instill in them the importance of education, get them into sports or encourage other hobbies, such as music and art, to keep them busy and to give them something to be proud of.

Answer 40

I would try to recruit the Rap and rock groups to write patriotic lyrics to there songs, incourage them to begin dressing in a more conservative fashion , let them lead the younger generation with words in song and the way they dress, this would be a good beginning, then get local governments to have bill boards around the inner city that promotes the new songs and the groups that preform them. Parents should begin more activities with thier children , know what they are listening too, and watching on TV

Answer 41

To solve such a problem begins with men. We have to return to the inner city to teach our young men about real love and responsibility. Each of us is a parent to these youngsters, whether part-time, full-time, blood related or simply spiritual parents. Until men return, the gang violence will continue.

Answer 42

The same way you stop the violence that upper class suburban kids get into, you raise them better, i.e. better parenting, inner city parents are too wrapped up in trying to keep there life "half" straight...while upper class parents are out trying to keep up there big time lifestyle.



In both scenarios the kids are left to their own devices and get into what they want. One group (inner city) is left to fend for themselves and make there own ends meet



The other, the upper class children, are given no limit credit cards and told to entertain themselves.



Parenting and keeping your kids away from bad friends.

Answer 43

We can always take all the mainstream rap artists out. They're the ones who're promoting gang violence to the point where 12-year-olds are carrying guns.

Answer 44

I say the answer is simple as American Pie. Simply post up huge signs saying sex here! Attract the crowd, lock the doors, and plug in American Pie movie and tell thim to write a report on it. If you live coz no one shot you then it's a sign you were meant to give them intelligence.

Answer 45

You can't stop a person from wlaking in front of a bus if they are already stepping in the street at the time. You have to try and get to people when they are not in the road already. They might listen to you then.

Answer 46

There's only so much you can do to encourage success in a child when they're going home to environments that don't continue to foster these ideals. For now, we can only HOPE to break the cycle in the current generation, but even that's a gamble.

Answer 47

All Gang Members Are Terrorist !!, If your in a gang ,send all gang members to Iraq ,and you will see the street boys as they say chicken out, gang member are drive by terrorist and should be treated accordingly

Answer 48

,NO! there is not the political will to stop it....to many people making money off the public system...there are hundreds of programs sponsored by public money to stop it..it create jobs for the people that run them..i have a good laugh when i saw a video about one of these programs,, in my opinion, not one of those kids were gang affiliated...but hundred of thousands of public money spent...paying the administrators $100k/year plus bennies...the prison needs inmates to keep the correctional officers employed...the social programs of keeping breeding women on the dole, warfare, housing..kid raising kids on and on and on and on...get them to vote vote vote promise and deliver on these programs...and the public elitist get free trips to DC, food very well paying mean-less jobs....NO, you don't destroy a system serving the elitist few....new Orleans, new Orleans, new Orleans showed the undercurrents....

Answer 49

Volunteer

Answer 50

Parents need to be involved with their children at a young age, and instill the morals in their kids that most are missing now adays.

Answer 51

Intensive parent training and maybe, I know this is radical, but just maybe we should put prayer and the 10 Commandments back in school particularly in early education. If parents aren't training their children in what's right and wrong then why not give the schools the tools? I know this is some radical thinking!! Good Luck.

Answer 52

Come on, people have been asking that question for lets see a couple of centurys. It isn't gonna happen. There has always been gangs in this country and there always will be. That's like asking "will muslims ever like us?" The answer is no and that has been going on for a millineum. ANYMORE DUMB QUESTIONS?...........FLO

Answer 53

Motivate the parents to raise their children in this way. Most of them know no other life, but to be violent and wild. These kids are raising themselves.

Answer 54

Real schools not the hell holes they call schools. Teachers that don't give up on there students. A crack down on crime in those neighborhoods. People to get real about their childrens future.

Answer 55

Give them hope. Inspire them with true beauty.



Check out Prison Fellowship Ministries

http://www.pfm.org



That's why it's unconscionable that they've been sued after being effective. The "People for the American Way" and groups like them are trying to destroy America, and their racism and elitism is an effective tool.

Answer 56

First of all, we must respect them as human beings. Not call them punks.

My friend is reaching out with a street and prison ministry, as

well as hoping to use music, and videos.

He teaches the Way of the Warrior, taught by every Nation.

How to find maturity through self-respect. Having the heart of the warrior, but carrying oneeself with honor.



GANG FOR GOD [e-mail]

Answer 57

Create more programs that reward innovation, and personal efforts.

In the end, you can only help those who want to help themselves. But unfortunately, those kids do not come across too many opportunities to be innovative, and create somehting unique.

Answer 58

Raise and use funds to create positive neighborhood programs,social centers. Assign mentors to each area to reach out to these misguided kids, so that they can have something/someone to believe in so that they can in the end believe in themselves.

Answer 59

Cut off welfare, public assistance, public housing, The dole, Food stamps etc. etc....It is these well meaning liberal government assistance programs that has created a permanent underclass

and destroyed two parent families.

Answer 60

Be a better example and give them good role models to emulate. Get INVOLVED daily! How can we expect them to lead better, constructive lives if we, as a generation and society, haven't figured out how to do it ourselves. Children require acceptance, A need to be neeed, if you will. If they can't obtain this from a good source, they will aquire it from a bad one.

Answer 61

Send them to summer/winter Camps like the Americans seem to do.

Answer 62

A working answer to this problem....would be worth more than points......it would be a Nobel Peace Prize..or something. But a working answer would be hard to find..even harder to act on...

Good Luck.

Answer 63

Turn off TVs

If you want change, keep it in your pocket. Your money is your vote and the machines don't count.



So, you don't have a question, you are promoting your group. Huh.



http://www.growingpower.org

http://www.localharvest.org

http://www.newdream.org

Answer 64

parents need to be more involved with their children and what they are doing....parents are so apathetic about what is going on in their childrens schools and neighborhoods.....and homes....parents are trying to go on vacation and leaving their children home alone......parents want to blame everything and evreryone else but ultimately they are responsible for their children and parents are dropping the ball

Answer 65

I agree with the second post. Help the parents to change and they will help their children. If you look at the families where both parents are successful then you will see successful kids.



Help the parents to take responsiblity both the male and female.

Answer 66

Simple. Make everyone realize we are all breathing the SAME AIR. Let's all respect each other, like we are all one big family.

Answer 67

Media plays an important role in all this. All we need is awareness. If you discuss it, people will understand... slowly.

Answer 68

Give them responsibility. Make them responsible to others for their actions. Give them respect unconditionally. Generosity of spirit is never wasted.

Answer 69

Get them involved in designing an action plan to help them selves.

Answer 70

Bring back some good old fashioned discipline for a start,i wish they would bring back national service,that would soon sort them out

Answer 71

Thats the way the government wants it and why they let drugs into this country.

Answer 72

BY asking youth to follow the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi.....

Answer 73

take them to the border wall and show them how much money is being spent and make them see that the money that could go to helping people like them isn't going to.

Answer 74

Educate Then..

Answer 75

Emphasize that you don't have to be in a gang to hook up with hot women.

Answer 76

We kicked God out of our schools and lives what did you expect would happen?

Answer 77

make parent resposible for their kids an inforce curfew laws

Answer 78

we need to show these gangs another way of life

Answer 79

You must change the "hip-hop" culture. It is a culture of death adn destruction.

Answer 80

Don't blame the "young people".

Blame the parents.



"There are no bad soldiers. Only bad officers"

Answer 81

Eliminate sports in the schools.

Answer 82

wow yahoo answers is really kissing your anus muscles heavily today aren't they?

Answer 83

Your questions are pretty good.

Answer 84

evenly distributed wealth and resource does away with crime.

Answer 85

GANG VIOLENCE HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A VERY LONG TIME. AS TIME GOES ON AND RULES ARE RELAXED, IT IS GETTING WORSE AND MAINLY BECAUSE:



WE HAVE A GOVERNMENT WHO ALLOWS DRUGS IN THE COUNTRY AND THEREFORE IN THE COMMUNITIES AND ON TO THE CHILDREN.



WE HAVE A GOVERNMENT WHO DOES NOT ALLOW PARENTS TO DISCIPLINE THEIR CHILDREN IN THE MANNER OF WHICH THEY NEED TO BE DISCIPLINED. SOME OF THESE UNRULY CHILDREN NEED AN OLD FASHIONED BUTT WHOOPING!! FORGET A "TIME OUT" CHAIR!!



WE HAVE PARENTS WHO ARE AFRAID OF THEIR CHILDREN DIALING 9-1-1 ON THEM AND THE KIDS WILL DO IT AND HAVE DONE IT.



WE NOW HAVE PARENTS WHO ARE TRYING TO MORE OF A FRIEND TO THEIR CHILDREN THAN PARENTS FOR FEAR THEIR LITTLE BAD A.$$ KIDS WILL NOT LIKE THEM ANYMORE. THEY ARE NOW AFRAID OF THEIR OWN KIDS. THESE ARE KIDS WHO WILL CURSE THEIR PARENTS OUT AND THROW A PISSY FIT IN PUBLIC WHEN THEY ARE TOLD SOMETHING THEY DON'T LIKE OR CANNOT HAVE SOMETHING THEY WANT.



CHILDREN ARE NOW BEING RAISED BY TV, VIDEO GAMES AND THE INTERNET. SOME KIDS WOULD RATHER TALK TO CHILD PREDATORS THAN TALK TO THEIR MOMS AND DADS. SOME MOMS AND DADS ARE TOO BUSY WORKING LONG IGNORANT HOURS TO SUPPORT THAT MATERIALISTIC LIFE STYLE AND TO KEEP UP WITH THE JONES'. DIDN'T KNOW THE KID WAS IN THEIR BEDROOM BUILDING BOMBS OR PLANNING TO KILL MOM AND DAD!



NO LONGER CAN THE NEIGHBORS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD HELP STEER THE CHILDREN IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD. WE DON'T HAVE THAT CARING VILLAGE ANYMORE. SCARED TO SAY HI TO THE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN.



WE NOW HAVE SCHOOLS WHERE PRAYER IS NO LONGER ALLOWED TO BE RECITED. (TERRIBLE)



WE HAVE TEACHERS WHO CAN NO LONGER PADDLE THESE BAD A.$$ KIDS BECAUSE THE PARENTS ARE SCREAMING, "NO, MY PRECIOUS LITTLE BABY IS A GOOD LITTLE BOY/GIRL" AND THE KIDS HAVE PLANS TO BLOW UP THE SCHOOL AND SHOOT ANYONE IN SIGHT!



TEACHERS ARE GETTING CURSED OUT AND BEAT UP BY THEIR STUDENTS BECAUSE THEY ARE EXPECTED TO DO HOMEWORK AND TURN IT IN THE NEXT DAY.



TEACHERS WHO ARE TRULY GOOD TEACHERS CANNOT MAKE A DECENT WAGE. THEY SHOULD TO GET TOP DOLLAR FOR WHAT THEY HAVE TO DEAL WITH!! WE HAVE PRO BALL PLAYERS WHO ARE MAKING TOO MONEY AND THEY HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING TO HELP A YOUNG MIND DEVELOPE OR LEARN ANYTHING PRODUCTIVE ALL THE TIME AND JUST AROUND CHRISTMAS..



WE, IN AMERICA THINK IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO BE AN ENTERTAINER THAN TO BE A TEACHER. ENTERTAINERS MAKE BIG MONEY AND LIVE GRAND LIVES. TEACHERS ARE LIVING FROM PAY CHECK TO PAY CHECK BUT THEY ARE THE ONES TEACHING OUR CHILDREN AND IN SOME CASES ARE A PARENT FIGURE TO THE ONES WHO ARE TRULY LOST AND HAVE NO SUPPORT AT HOME.



SOME HIP HOP MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH SOME OF THE VIOLENCE BUT WHITE KIDS AS WELL AS AFRICAN AMERICAN KIDS AS WELL AS LATINO KIDS ARE RAPPING AND LISTENING TO THIS STUFF.



DRUGS AND VIOLENCE ARE ACROSS THE BOARD. IT IS NOT JUST ISOLATED TO ONE RACE.



KIDS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WHEN THEY COME HOME TO AN EMPTY HOUSE. EITHER MOM IS DOING IT BY HERSELF OR BOTH PARENTS ARE OUT WORKING TO SUPPORT THAT FABULOUS LIFESTYLE OR TO MAKE ENDS MEET.



A GANG IS A SUBSTITUTE FOR ANOTHER FAMILY BECAUSE SOMEONE DID NOT HAVE THE TIME FOR THEM WHEN THEY NEEDED FOR SOMEONE TO BE THERE FOR THEM.



EVERYBODY IS MAD AT EVERYBODY. THIS ONE DON'T LIKE THAT ONE. THAT ONE DON'T TRUST THE OTHER ONE. WE ARE IN A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS AND NO ONE IS DOING WHAT IT REALLY TAKES TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. EVERYBODY IS PASSING THE BUCK. IT IS ALWAYS SOMEONE ESLE'S FAULT.



RACISM AND PREJUDICE IS A SOCIAL "ILL" THAT AMERICA IS LOADED WITH FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH AND THE EAST TO THE WEST. THAT ALONE HURTS THIS COUNTRY ON EVERY ANGLE AND ESPECIALLY IN THE INNER CITY.



WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO REALLY DON'T CARE OR DON'T KNOW WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON OUT ON THE STREETS OF AMERICA. HE IS COMPLETELY CLUELESS AND WHAT IS EVEN WORSE . . . . HE DON'T GIVE A DAMN!!



OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE INNER CITIES SUCK!!!



NEED I SAY MORE???!!!!! I COULD GO ON. WAKE UP AMERICA, WE HAVE PROBLEMS AND SOME OF THEM ARE SLEEPING RIGHT NOW IN THEIR CUTE LITTLE DECKED OUT BEDROOMS THAT ARE FULL OF WHO KNOWS WHAT!!

SOME OF YOUR CHILDREN ARE SLEEPING WITH PISTOLS UNDER THEIR FRILLY LACE PILLOWS AND DOWN FEATHERED MATTRESSES. YEA, DRUGS ARE IN THERE TOO. SOME PROMINENT PARENTS ARE IN DENIAL . . . THEY WILL NEVER KNOW . . . UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE.



I KNOW THERE ARE GOOD KIDS OUT THERE. YES, I KNOW THEY DO EXIST. MY LIST IS ONLY FOR THE SMALL AMOUNT OF "PROBLEMS OF SOCIETY" THAT EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT AND WHO THEY ARE.



LOVE YOUR KIDS AND LET THEM KNOW THAT YOU LOVE THEM. LET THEM KNOW YOU EXPECT MORE OUT OF THEM THAN WHAT THEY EXPECT OF THEMSELVES. GIVE YOUR CHILD A HUG AND KISS EVERYDAY(ESPECIALLY THE TEENAGERS, THEY LOVE IT). GIVE THEM QUALITY TIME RATHER THAN QUALITY THINGS TO OCCUPY THEIR TIME TO STAY OUT OF YOUR HAIR OR YOUR BUSINESS.



THAT IS HOW THE GANGS BENEFIT. WHEN YOU THROW YOUR KIDS OUT OF YOUR BUSINESS, YOU ARE THROWING THEM INTO THE STREETS! THE STREETS ARE THERE WITH OPEN ARMS TO SWALLOW THEM UP.



THERE ARE GOOD INTELLIGENT KIDS RUNNING IN GANGS, REACH OUT AND GRAB HOLD AND PULL THEM BACK INTO YOU BUT DON'T WAIT TOO LONG TO DO IT.

Answer 86

Gee I don't know.

Answer 87

I don't think it CAN be stopped.

Answer 88

PLEASE SUPPORT THE GANG