Gangs in Todays Cities
Gangs in Today’s CitiesGangs in Today’s Cities
Gangs are a violent reality that people have to deal with in today’s
cities. What has made these groups come about? Why do kids feel that being
in a gang is both an acceptable and prestigious way to live? The long
range answer to these questions can only be speculated upon, but in the
short term the answers are much easier to find. On the surface, gangs are
a direct result of human beings’ personal wants and peer pressure. To
determine how to effectively end gang violence we must find the way that
these morals are given to the individual. Unfortunately, these can only be
hypothesized. However, by looking at the way humans are influenced in
society, I believe there is good evidence to point the blame at several
institutions. These include the forces of the media, the government,
theatre, drugs and our economic system.
On the surface, gangs are caused by peer pressure and greed. Many
teens in gangs will pressure peers into becoming part of a gang by making
it all sound glamorous. Money is also an crucial factor. A kid (a 6-10
year old, who is not yet a member) is shown that s/he could make $200 to
$400 for small part time gang jobs. Although these are important factors
they are not strong enough to make kids do things that are strongly against
their morals.
One of the ways that kids morals are bent so that gang violence becomes
more acceptable is the influence of television and movies. The average
child spends more time at a TV than she/he spends in a classroom. Since
nobody can completely turn off their minds, kids must be learning something
while watching the TV. Very few hours of television watched by children
are educational, so other ideas are being absorbed during this period of
time. Many shows on television today are extremely violent and are often
shown this from a gang’s perspective. A normal adult can see that this is
showing how foully that gangs are living. However, to a child this
portrays a violent gang existance as acceptable. ‘The Ends Justifies the
Means’ mentality is also taught through many shows where the “goody guy”
captures the “bad guy” through violence and is then being commended. A
young child sees this a perfectly acceptable because he knows that the “bad
guy” was wrong but has no idea of what acceptable apprehension techniques
are.
Gore in television also takes a big part in influencing young minds.
Children see gory scenes and are fascinated by these things that they have
not seen before. Older viewers see gore and are not concerned with the
blood but rather with the pain the victim must feel. A younger mind
doesn’t make this connection. Thus a gore fascination is formed, and has
been seen in several of my peers. Unfortunately kids raised with this sort
of television end up...
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