Gangs and School Violence

A Phi Delta Kappa survey of public attitudes toward schools revealed that 72% of the respondents considered the growth of youth gangs a very important cause of violence in the public schools. This was second only to "the increased use of drugs and alcohol among school- aged youth," a factor also associated with youth gangs. Is the public perception accurate? Chuck Hibbert informs us that "the overwhelming majority of violence that occurs in the public schools has absolutely nothing to do with gangs. There may be groups of kids fighting, but not necessarily a gang. Most often it may not be a gang, it's just a group of kids." Leroy Robinson agrees, "Most fights are not gang-related."

It is not always easy to decide if an incident of violence is gang-related. A gang is usually defined as a group whose primary purpose is to engage in criminal activity. Gangs exist in many settings and among all racial groups. Also, there are many different types of gangs and different levels of gang membership. Because of this diversity, it is not always easy to recognize a gang.

Some educators emphasize the role of gang "wannabes" in school violence. Rob Lugo tells us, "If I find a hardcore gang member, I am much more willing to talk with them than I am a wannabe gang member. A wannabe gang member is more likely to pull out a gun and whack ya. They are more likely to lay you out flat because they want to be gang members so bad."

Lugo also reminds us that there are many different kinds of gangs. "You have your preps, your jocks, your nerds, and your hoods, are they gangs? When we think of gangs, we think of Vice Lords and Disciples and all of this kind of stuff." We usually don't consider these student groups as gangs, perhaps because they don't have a crime-related focus. However, the dynamics of the group and the potential for a group response to provocation are similar.