Why Teenagers Join Gangs In The Outsiders

In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers who are getting involved in some dangerous experiences early in life. In the novel, The Outsiders, the “Greasers”, which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as assault. With help, society can pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. In addition, people also need to help others leave gangs if they are already in one.

Teen Gangs “Reports show that gangs are present in every state in the US, where in 1970 they existed in less than half of all states” (Lohmann). Teen gangs are started around the ages of 14 and 15. When teenagers get into a gang, he or she usually gets into the gang to make themselves look resilient or try to blend in, in account of problems at home or simply if one does not feel loved. Teen gangs are becoming a problem in the United States and the effects of these gangs are unnecessary youth deaths, alcohol and drug abuse, in addition to young teenage boys becoming another statistic in today’s society. Teen gangs are dangerous for teens owing to the fact, as it is an easy way for one to get on an inauspicious path to life.

The city of Las Vegas has changed rapidly from becoming a beautiful city to a violent place to live in. The city has seemed a rise in homicides as well in the last few years. The strong presences of these gangs are taking innocent lives and making the community a harder place to raise a family in. Many of the gangs in Vegas account for most the drug trade, as well as the staggering homicide rate. The gang problem is not only a problem in Las Vegas, but it is all over the world.

Although, many kids feel like they have to be a part of it but there are many resources out in this world to prevent them from believing so. Gang violence has been a problem in society for several of years and is a growing problem each and every day. The youth that is involved in gang violence will have numerous effects upon them that will come soon or later when associated with a group of thugs. Children and teenagers if they still go to school when accompanying a gang, they face the heightened risk of dropping out of school; teen parenthood; be victimized by another gang ; abuse drugs and alcohol; commit petty and violent

Instead of that we can help them to become better persons and to become a good member of society. People are able to change, no matter how bad it’s that they have done. As human beings, we all make mistakes and that is something that we have to consider. Teens are the future, we should help them out in this particular situation. We have a serious problem, many juveniles, who have committed crimes, such as robbery, murder etc.

It’s very bad that the FBI got involved with it. “The FBI’s Safe Streets and Gang Unit administers 160 Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Forces nationwide, staffed by nearly 850 FBI agents, more than 1,500 state and local law enforcement personnel, and nearly 100 other federal law enforcement agents,” (“Violent Crimes”). Eighty-three percent of gangs are street gangs. They came from the street and are quite violent. Most street gangs fight one another because the other has somehow “disrespected” them.

However, my sophomore year led me to take a different perspective. Many factors influenced me, including witnessing my brother graduate with a 2.0 and fail out of college, which left him unclear of his future. I also dealt with my father going to jail, and thinking that I lost my family in a car accident. I knew I wanted to work in the health field since I was young, but I realized that could not be a reality unless I took control of my life. I applied to the HOSA program and was one of three juniors who were accepted.

There are various factors as to why one would want to join a gang. One of the most motivating factors is for protection. Individuals may join a gang for protection against rival gang members; they may have family in a gang and could be perceived by others as a gang member and want protection. Non-gang members or young kids may feel the pressure of having to stand up for themselves and seek out gangs and gang recruitment. According to Maslow, people are motivated to achieve certain needs and once those needs are fulfilled they go on to the next one.

This violence has been ongoing for approximately forty years now, and the body count is only getting higher. People are raised into this gang violence, even children are receiving guns from the ages ten to thirteen. Members of these gangs join for protection, acceptance, and a family. It was known that if you were a man, you had to either fight or kill, “young black men were pretending to be men by killing each other” (Raised into Wrongfulness). People see this only as a crime and a gang problem, when it also generates from the poor education and the lack of work society is giving these gang members.

Al Pacino, the Godfather himself, has been seen and caught making underhanded deals with gangs today as he did in his younger days, we see that it is not uncommon for teenagers to join gangs as if they've been lead astray on another path that is dark. Teenage gang activity has been the cause of many petty crimes and the distribution of starter and "gateway" drugs to the general public, there are many incidents of juvenile delinquencies throughout many communities around the world, and most, if not all of the teenagers were either mildly educated, came from broken homes, or were not very well to do and were under the influence. "It has been proven that the U.S has the highest rate of teen drug use in the industrialized world. Some studies show