A close friend of mine grew up in Compton, California. Her neighborhood was the center of gang violence. She shared with me many stories about killings that she had witnessed as a young child. She said that after awhile she became immune to the violence and that the sight of people getting hurt did not affect her one bit. From the outside looking in, that sounded horrible. She also shared that young children migrated to join these street wars and soon the gangs took over the community. At age 17, she moved to Virginia, which was a totally different atmosphere for her. She began volunteering at local boys and girls club and working with youth. While working there she had so many stories to share, she began speaking to large groups of youth about gang violence. She soon got the opportunity to travel around the world to different communities encountering the same issues she grew up around. Her harsh environment turned her into an advocate against gang violence.
In Central America, 85% of young children and youth make up a street gang. The factors related to the street gangs are high-income inequality indices in the world. Other regional trends that may worsen patterns of gang violence in many
Countries include extreme poverty; highly urbanized populations; growing youth populations facing stagnant job markets; and an absence of political will to fight crime in a holistic manner.
I would be so interested to hear your friend speak. In my life I feel very sheltered when it comes to knowledge about gangs and violence. We do have gangs here, but I know the areas not to go and it really doesn't affect me. It would be so insightful to listen to someone who had these experiences as a child. How was she able to not get caught up in the gang life? Obviously, moving to Virginia must have really helped her, or was this in her adult life?
ReplyDeleteShe moved to Virginia during her teenage years. She was scared of gangs violence and she wanted to provide an escape for those trapped in that lifestyle.
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