Today there are more than 2,000 youth involved in gangs across Canada. According to national statistics, about 95% of hard core gang members are high school dropouts. Youth gangs are growing everyday, recruiting deceived teens that are led to believe that living the gangster life will give them everything they have ever wanted. The reality of this matter is that these teens are being lured into an early death.

Being a teen is a crucial stage in one's life. It's a time of experimenting and discovering new things, a time to become independent and strong. Some teens however, find this transition period from a child to a young adult quite difficult and turn to gangs to experience the sense of belonging missing from their home or social life. They are seduced with promises of money, sex, and power without realizing they are heading towards an inescapable trap. The majority of gangs are extremely difficult to get out of, some cases resulting in death. Toronto Police documents reveal that teens who join gangs feel powerless in their own lives and need the perceived power and status that a gang would give.

Becoming a member of a gang involves an initiation. The individual must demonstrate their capabilities of strength by getting brutally beaten by the other members. If they can manage to stand at the end of the initiation they pass the test and become a new recruit. The gang then becomes their new "family". Nevertheless, this membership involves many consequences. For instance, gang members have a high risk of getting hurt, severely injured, or killed. Most of these members end up with a criminal record that could follow them for the rest of their lives; illegal activity such as drug trafficking, alcohol abuse, possession of firearms, and creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in a community.

Most believe that gangs involve males only. This is not the case, according to Statistics Canada, "the rate of violent crime among females has more than doubled in recent years (+127%) compared with an increase of 65% among young men." Youth of all genders and races are joining gangs today, some as young as 10 years of age.

Teens must become aware of the deadly realities of gangs. Newspapers across Canada are constantly being filled with stories of youth homicides, which tend to relate back to gangs and/or gang activity.

The Toronto Star reported on Sunday October 20th 2002 that a 35 year old male was murdered by a shotgun wound to the head. Authorities claim that he was involved with certain gang members regarding drugs. The suspects were described as being in their late teens and early twenties. The Edmonton Journal reported on August 10th, 2002 that a 19 year old gang member known as Hoang was hit by five bullets as he walked across the parking lot of Barry T's Grand Central Station. On June 6th, 2002 19 year old David Phan, a known drug dealer and gang enforcer, was gunned down in the parking lot of a south-side nightclub. A loaded assault rifle was found by his side. The Winnipeg Sun reported in 2001 that a 16-year-old boy, whose name cannot be revealed due to the Young Offenders Act, was fatally injured. The young man was "curb stomped" and killed by at least four males in front of a Spence Street rooming house. During a curb stomping, it is said that the victims mouth is opened and forced across the concrete edge of a street curb. Kicks are then administered to the back of the head in attempts to break the jaw or teeth. These fatal endings just go to show the true brutality behind gangs. As a teen, you have the right to a future. This future should not have an early ending, it should have a new beginning once teens begin to realize that the "gangster life" is not everything it's made out to be, the violence can stop.

If you know someone who's involved in a gang there is a way to help.
Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868
Gang Hotline 1-800-900-GANG
Youth Crisis Hotline 1-800-448-4663

 

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© 2003 Tiny Giant Magazine

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