Filtering Our Community

653 Words3 Pages
Filtering our community. Gangs are a violent reality that people have to deal with in today's communities. Our kids are the main targets of this phenomenon. Our kids do feel that being in a gang is both an acceptable and prestigious way to live. The main reason of gangs or the formation of gangs are a direct result of human beings' personal wants and peer pressure. To determine how to effectively end gang violence we must find the way that these morals are given to the individual. Unfortunately this is never easy. However, by looking at the way humans are influenced in society, I believe there is good evidence to point the blame at several institutions. These include the forces of the media, the government, theatre, drugs and our economic system. The main reasons for gangs are caused by peer pressure and also from greed. Many teens in gangs will pressure peers into becoming part of a gang by making it all sound glamorous. Money is also a crucial factor. A teenager between the ages of 10-12 years old can easily make $200 to $400 for small part time gang related jobs. One of the ways that kid’s morals are bent so that gang violence becomes more acceptable is the influence of television and movies. The average child spends more time at a TV than she/he spends in a classroom. Since nobody can completely turn off their minds, kids must be learning something while watching the TV. Very few hours of television watched by children are educational, so other ideas are being absorbed during this period of time. Many shows on television today are extremely violent and are often shown this from a gang's perspective. Many movies now made of which some is heavily gang related. However, to a child this portrays a violent gang existence as acceptable. Content in television also takes a big part in influencing young minds. Sex is
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