-Gangs at Kean High
Gangs at Kean High School By: Khalide De-Bin
What are gangs? To an 11th grader who is in a gang,`` It is my boys from the hood I live in.’’
To a senior male who isn't in a gang, ''Gangs are a group of idiots that gets in trouble with the Police Department and in school.’’
Parents don't always know when their kids are in gangs. When asked, one gang member said,''I don't know what my parents would do if they find out that I'm in a gang, but they can’t do me nothing. ''
There are many different reasons why there are gangs at Kean High School. The 11th grader who is in the gang said,'' Cause we are bad man.”
To the 12th grader who isn’t in a gang, '' Those people in those gangs does just be looking for attention.’’
A monitor at Kean High School said,'' I think we have gangs at Kean because some of the children start with their problems from home and then it ends up in to the school. ’’
Some gangs begin in a neighborhood. The 11th grader said,'' My boy that lives next to me started our gang.'' But it isn’t limited only neighborhood members. He said, “I geh some niggaz in other hoods that ride with my gang.”
The senior said,'' I really don't know who started these gangs, but I think it is the older people around these gang members neighbor hood.’’ He said older people influence younger ones. "If the younger ones see them doing something, they will try and do the same.”
Most of these gangs have a negative influence. The gang member said,'' My gang is a negative gang, we don't care about nothing.’’ When asked if he did robberies, the gang member said,'' Of course we do robberies, how else do you think we get our money and jewelry''?
The senior said,'' I know about some gangs that are positive, but it is really hard to find them because there are more negative gangs than positive ones.”
One important question is whether the gang violence in Kean can stop. The monitor at Kean High School said,'' I don't think it can stop because if it doesn’t stop from home, it can’t stop in school.''
The gang member said,'' No , I can’t stop because I like beef. ''
The senior said,'' I don't think it could stop because some of these children are hard headed.”
When people hear about gangs, all they think is that gang members carry guns. The 11th grader said,'' Yes we do carry guns; guns is our protection." When asked if he got in trouble with the police, the 11th grader said, ''Yes, we do, but the police can’t catch us''.
Gangs represent by choosing a color. The 11th grader said,'' My gang color is blue. Blue stand for the Crips.'
The 12th grader said, "I know there are a lot of gang colors, but I know about five of them. Red stands for Bloods, Blue stands for Crips, Green stands for Stop Light Massive, Orange stands for Bovoni Project Massive, and Black stands for straight or neutral.
When asked if he knows anyone in these gangs, the monitor said, '' Of course I do, I see them everyday.''
After all these questions, it all boils down that there are a lot of violent gangs at Kean High School, such as S.B.M (Smith Bay Massive); S.J.M (Saint John Massive); T.P.M (Tunkey Project Massive); R.V.M (Ras Valley Massive); L.S.M. (Lime Street Massive); B.P.M (Bovoni Project Massive); etc. To get this gang violence to stop, you will have to start from home.
