Gang Violence and Our Schools

A few weeks ago, my school held a professional development seminar given by two Baltimore City detectives who, very matter-of-factly, gave us the real details about gang activity within our school and the neighboring community. Listening to these two detectives, we learned about hiding knives in hair combs, gang initiation and the appeal of the gang lifestyle. While I appreciated that our administration had organized this meeting, where were the strategies for preventing more children from joining gangs? I just assumed that in a neighborhood traditionally terrorized by gang violence and drug activity, the school would provide preventative measures to help students break free from this lifestyle. Knowing that many of our students live in these violent communities and are not getting the familial support, protection, financial stability and love that they crave, it is easy to see why children join gangs. The fact that we are aware of the emotional needs of our children, needs that are driving them to gangs, leads me to believe that, as a school, we should be filling some of these needs. Unfortunately, this does not occur. It seems we are quick to acknowledge that our students are part of gangs but are unwilling to provide any extra supports necessary, in the early grades especially, to dissuade a child from joining a gang.

As a school community, it feels like we have given up on our children. Maybe the schools think the gang problem is too big for them or would prefer to ignore it, but whether we ignore it or not, this problem is only getting worse. For example, at 2:15 on Tuesday afternoon we were told that the school was in “crisis mode” due to a group of kids waiting outside the school for one of my 8th grade students in a gang related dispute. While of course it was upsetting to know that one of my students was in such serious danger, what upset me the most about this incident was the school’s reaction. Rather than taking a step back and realizing we had lost one of our children to some extremely dangerous gang activity, the school reacted as if there was nothing we could have done to prevent this or to help him now that he is in so much trouble. It was as if he was just another statistic and we were writing him off as another one lost to the “dark side”.

The hopeless mentality that I see at my school is extremely disappointing. Knowing that middle school is probably the most challenging and life changing stage in a child’s development, where they transition from childhood to adulthood and often choose their path in life, how can we give up on them so easily? As an 8th grade teacher, I have watched my students change significantly over the past eight months, some for the better, but many for the worse. The number of gang tags and tattoos has increased significantly and students who were once scoring 90’s are now in danger of failing. Our students are in crisis. The environments where they spend a majority of their time are not giving our children the support they need to make good decisions. For many of our students, their home lives are stressful environments where they feel invisible or even unsafe. As a result, to many students school is a safe haven where they can be protected and are given the attention they crave. When we do not believe that our students can be something besides a statistic and do not provide the supports that we as a school can and should provide such as after school activities, counseling, teachers who care about their students and administrators whose main goal is not to increase statistics, than we have failed as a school and have failed our students.

I realize it is unfair to blame our schools for the prevalence of gang violence in Baltimore City. However, the schools certainly deserve some of the blame when they sit back and do absolutely nothing to prevent our young children from joining gangs and resigning to a life of crime. Our children have names, stories and a tremendous amount of potential and it is our job to make sure they do not become nameless statistics. Until schools are able to provide supports for children at risk of joining gangs, the gang problem in Baltimore City will continue to grow, affecting children as early as elementary school