Not a school problem

Keep up the great work Richmond County Sheriffs department...Neighborhoods, everywhere, are going to have to stand strong together, the key word here is together, to battle against these gangs....They have been allowed to grow like a cancer that by all appearances can't be contained. The proof that they can be hurt is in the huge police operation that took more than 100 off our streets....It is with urgency that police work with the members of neighborhoods to wipe this scourge out...Oh parents, in some cases I use that term lightly, take your children back from the streets...Afterall you had them..It only stands to reason that you take some responsibility in raising them...

The gangs fill the void left by a lack of parenting. I don't expect to see any improvement without a major social improvement.

Good points Christian and PT. Parenting can prevent allot of what is going on. When that is absent, or not good enough, neighborhoods can discourage gang activity and if they work with the authorities, the gangs will go elsewhere. I lived in a neighborhood in Colorado Springs that had gang encroachment. A couple of us went directly to the offenders and told them that if they wanted to remain in the neigborhood, they had to stop certain activities. I do not know where they went to "Have Fun", but it wasn't our neighborhood and they eventually moved on. Another thing neighbors can do is to maintain their property. You don't have to be rich to be clean.

Ms. Thomas hit the nail on the head.These kids have no guidance at home,and teachers & school officals have to deal with the results.When I was in school if you cut up, you got your behind beat, and when you got home you got another one.If you cursed a teacher you were EXPELLED, period.Pregnant girls didn't go to public school either.Now if a kid is disciplined in any way, look for a lawsuit.These kids know this.This gang activity is re-enforced by rap music,violent video games,the drug culture, and teen pregnancies just to name a few things.I feel sorry for these children who will grow up uneducated and surrounded by a world of violence. Prison is not the answer.It's just a temporary fix to get the punks off the street for awhile.Parents have to teach moral values to their children.And if they can't or won't, God help us all.

Echoing the above. The sad fact is that these kids know the line. They know how much they can do and they know the dodge of being a juvenile. Frog the only Values the parents are teaching is that of being a GOOD VICTIM. I say it starts with parental "responsibility" when the momma comes into the ER in labor, she MUST provide the father's name to get the Free Money program. If she is unable or unwilling...she pays. Then the sperm donor is called infront of a judge and informed he will be financially responsible, and legally responsible until Jr hits 18. If Junior breaks the law, the absent father gets time too.