A Teacher with a Student Who is Trying to Leave a Gang

I recently had an email from a teacher who expressed concern about a student she had in his early teens who was involved with gangs. I offered her my thoughts regarding the situation, and she answered me very positively: "It's good to have someone to talk to about the hard stuff."

It was very rewarding and humbling that what I had to offer seemed to be so genuinely appreciated. I post the key elements of the situation and of my response here, with the hope that they will be of use to others, as well. The information has been sanitized to eliminate references to any specifics.

The basics of the problem is that a male gangmember in his early teens was in trouble with law enforcement for a drug-related issue, which, in turn, was gang-related. The gangmember expressed an interest to this teacher to leave the gang, and she wanted to know what to do to help him. My response was:

In circumstances like this, a coordinated approach, involving law enforcement, school staff, parents and clergy has often worked.

It goes like this: the gangmember decides he wants to get away from the gang. Of course, the gangs always say you can't leave. However, nearly all gangs usually respect a sincere desire to leave the gang and turn to God. So, the now-soon-to-be-former gangmember gets the cops, school, the family and clergy involved, and tells them he (or she) just wants to leave the gang -- not tell on them, just walk away -- and turn to God.

With this support network in place, the gang has nothing to lose by letting him go, since the member is not telling anyone, especially the cops, details about the gang. However, the gang does have something to lose by messing with the former member, since everybody knows that the person is leaving the gang, and anything bad that happens the gang will be investigated first. If the member has difficulties, the school, family and clergy can work together to help steer him on the right track.

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To me, the key is to get Jesus involved in his life to open doors for him. As a teacher, presumably in a public school, First Amendment considerations may prevent you from evangelizing. However, nothing prevents you from reporting what you were told is an effective strategy. If the student asks your personal opinion on it, you would then be free to offer your opinion.

Another key feature is attitude.

Please relay to him from me the following advice:

Change your life. Change the way you dress, so you don't look like a banger. Change the way you act -- you may not realize it, but to some extent you act, and react, like a banger. In short, change everything that might make someone think you are a banger. They will stop associating you with gangs, and the gang problems will leave you alone.

Many people think that just by moving somewhere different, they can get away. But, without realizing it, they take with themselves the same attitude, dress and mannerisms that let others know they are gang-affiliated. So, even though they are trying to avoid trouble, trouble finds them.

A friend of mine was a banger on the northwest side of [a major American city]. He moved to the south side, deep in a rival gang's country. Nobody knew him in the new hood, and his homies from the old hood wouldn't go to that part of town. He changed the way he dressed, talked, acted. He started going to church, got married. Today, he's a devout Christian, happily married with kids, his wife has a nice job, he's going to college, and his job as a security guard allows him to study on the clock. Now he can kind of joke about his past.

Get with Jesus, and ask Jesus to show you the way. Jesus will be happy to show you how to get out of trouble, because He hung on a cross exactly to get you out of trouble.

In her response, the teacher expressed concern about involving herself in the situation, due to possible ramifications for her family. She also commented about how other faculty members were already working with this student, including some who were more specifically detailed to deal with these types of problems. Consequently, she was allowing the other faculty to take the lead in this situation.

The basis for concern seemed to be that she felt she knew very little about gang-related issues.

My comments were as follows:

For some kids, the "fond" memories of what they did with their gang buddies are overpoweringly tempting, and they backslide. Some kids aren't very sincere to begin with; they're just hoping to get out of trouble with the authorities that they are currently in. But, it is important that the kids have somewhere other than the gang to turn to.

If there is that much concern about a gang problem in your community, then, as a teacher, I suggest you visit our website. Reading the message boards could be especially enlightening: http://www.streetgangstyle.com/gs/board/listboards.php

After spending two to three hours a week over the course of several months, you'll be much better prepared to identify gang-related issues and you'll have a better handle on how to deal with them.

One of the best things you can do is just be there for the kids. They have parents who often don't understand them, or who have problems themselves; they have teachers who are so often too inundated with workload and bureaucracy to help them. They have friends, who are just as lost as they are. What they really need are authority figures who will take the time to get to know them and help them out.

What I'm recommending here is legitimate professional concern. Let some of the kids come in and sit with you before or after school for a little while. Help them with their homework, and maybe they can help you decorate the classroom. Solicit their input in preparing class activities and assignments. And, be ready to listen to them. Learn about what kind of resources are available in your community for drug-related, gang-related and rape-related issues. When you come across a particularly bad problem, steer the little gal or guy in the appropriate direction for the help needed.

You can be a real light for them in a world that is usually dark and scary. And, they will love you for it. Your Creator will appreciate it, too.

Seek the Lord's help with all the issues you face in life. Nothing is too small or too trivial for Him. He created you, He knows all about you; nothing should be too embarassing to bring to Him.

On the contrary, if you think that a matter is too unimportant or embarassing to address with God, then that matter and its associated concerns become a small barrier between you and Him, and that is not good: what you want is for Him to show you how to solve your problems.