Thursday, October 3, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Monday, September 30, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
Gang Violence Prevention
In some communities, gang
violence has become unmanageable. Violent actions of gang members continue to
devastate families. Victims’ families
and ex-gang members are left with a life time of physical and emotional scars.
Many still fear for their lives as gang violence continues. Gang Violence in our communities can be
controlled or prevented if more intervention programs were created to help
educate and encourage misguided adults and youth.
What is a gang? Gangs are described
as a self-formed association of peers, bound together by mutual interests, with
identifiable leadership, well-developed lines of authority, and other
organizational features, who act in concert to achieve a specific purpose or
purposes, which generally include the conduct of illegal activity and control
over a particular territory, facility or type or enterprise. (Boulton,
2011)
Organized groups such as, Drug Cartels, Bloods, Crips, Italian Mafia and Chinese
Triads are examples of gang units. Gangs contribute to the cause of crimes
committed in our communities, schools and jails. These groups are known for committing the
worse crimes mentioned in this country today.
History proves that controlling through
fear gives them power. Some targets have been innocent people including members
of their own society. Crimes such as rapes, murders, robberies, assaults and drug
distribution are often the crimes of choice. Gangs recruit and attack without
discrimination. The elderly, women, children including their own family members
are not excluded.
Recent reports show, in 2008,
juveniles in the United States accounted for 16 Percent of all violent crime
arrests and 26 per cent of all property crime arrests. Homicide was the second
leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24 years. Also in 2008, l,
280 juveniles were arrested for murder, 3,340 for forcible rape, and 56,000 for
aggravated assault. (Hughes, 2012) . Most youth have
been exposed to this type of behavior since childhood. When interviewed and
asked, “why join a gang and commit crime” many gangsters answered this question
the same way, “This is all I know”. Most youth and adults use gangs as an
outlet, seeking a way to escape their current condition. Some join for a
confidence boost, a feeling of belonging, protection, friends, a place to live
or money (Carlie, 2002) .
Gangs are support systems. They provide all resources needed for
survival.
Providing information and encouraging support
to people, who are interested while motivating them to utilize the positive
resources available instead of negativity, can prevent and reduce the rate of
gang violence. There has been an increase in gang prevention programs. In North
Carolina a program named Elements has been created. Elements gang prevention
program provides intervention outlets in hopes of controlling gang affiliation
and violence. “The mission of Elements is to prevent children/adults from
joining gangs, to intervene with young people who have gang affiliation, divert
youth and adults from continued gang involvement and to suppress those who seek
to prevent any of the above." (Hughes,
2012)
. For youth, many of these programs are located within their school. To be
specific, G.R.E.A.T is a prevention program that’s located in a middle school. G.R.E.A.T
stands for Gang Resistance Education and Training. Their focus is to create
prevention strategies for youth hoping to teach them to avoid gang membership. Additional
strategies are to prevent violence and criminal activity including teaching our
youths to develop positive relationships with law enforcement. (Esbensen, 2012) With this type of
program, most will make better decisions instead of committing crimes. Possibly,
some will leave or detour from joining a gang.
An inexpensive way to decorate your kids room
Most of us decorate our children’s rooms with playful colors and curtains amongst other things that excite their imagination. Every now and then our children want to have their room updated. How about different decorating ideas. If you cannot think of any, I will be glad to help. Here are a few ideas for you to consider An inexpensive way to decorate your kids room
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Misplaced
I’m Frustrated with life. I can’t find my way out of poverty
All I want is to make it in this world
Things have never been easy
Life has been hard since I was a little girl
I didn’t ask to be here
But I thank my mom, dad and god for creating me
I appreciate life, I just want to be somebody
Happy continuously
That doesn’t seem like the plan for me
I’m getting headaches from thinking too much
Just trying to put my life plan together
Trying to set positive examples for my children
I just want to be the best example for them
They say follow your dreams
Dreaming has not gotten me anywhere so
I write and I pray and I search the internet world for outlets
Then I pray some more
It does not get me anywhere but I try
Hoping that god opens up more doors
I need to find my way
I just want to be happy, successful and free
Free from all my childhood scars
Poverty
Free from all the bad memories
I want to uplift and inspire someone like me
Someone who wants to be successfully free
Just like me
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