Do You Really Want to Know? Gangs.

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Do You Really Want to Know?

Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles is a model program for rehabilitating former gang members by teaching them job skills like working at a local bakery. Photo Source: www.homeboy-industries.org

Do you know what color stands for the Crips? Do you know what the numbers “274” mean? Street gangs have their own language—combinations of signs and symbols that declare gang membership.

Is your friend, older brother, cousin, or neighbor participating in a gang? What can you do?

Awareness is one of the first steps in preventing gang involvement and the downward spiral of violence and crime that results.

Quiz: Basic Gang Awareness

1. What does Burger King mean other than being a fast food restaurant?

2. What does McDonalds mean other than being a fast food restaurant?

3. What is the significance of the color “Black”?

4. 274 stands for?

5. VL stands for?

6. Flying my flag means?

7. Blue is the primary color for?

8. Red is the primary color for?

9. Crips wear their flag to the left or right?

10. Bloods wear their flag to the left or right?

Answers: 1. Burger King = BK = Blood Killer, 2. McDonalds = Colors Red and Yellow = Bloods, 3. Black = Bloods Live As Crip Killers, 4. Black Gangster Disciples (B=2, G=7, D=4), 5. Vice Lords, 6. Repping my set/Representing my group/Bandana=Flag, 7. Crips, 8. Bloods, 9. Left, 10. Right

Watch YouTube video clips of “Gang Thang: Choose Not to Lose”:

Gang Thang Part 1
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Eq-JpdsXs

Gang Thang Part 2
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrL8sixWUgE

Gang Thang Part 3
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nmq83EGAbE

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there are over one million gang members in the United States and nearly 80 percent of crime in the nation is gang-related.

What can you do to prevent gang involvement, violence and crime in your community or city?

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention offers some things to look for including:

-Negative changes in behavior, such as withdrawing from family, declining school attendance, or staying out late without reason.

-Unusual interest in one or two particular colors of clothing or a particular logo.

-Interest in gang-influenced music, videos, and movies.

-Use and practice of hand signals to communicate with friends.

-Peculiar drawings or gang symbols on schoolsbooks, clothing, notebooks, or even walls.

To learn more download the “Parents’ Guide to Gangs” brochure.