Revealing gangs: School officials learn on how to detect, deal with students in gangs
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| Teresa Moser speaks to a group of school administrators Wednesday morning about her son’s dealings with being in a gang and his arrest following a shooting. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@svnmail.com) |
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ROCK FALLS – There are 16 active gangs in the Sauk Valley, with members of all colors and ages.
That was among the information 30 Whiteside County school superintendents and principals heard during a presentation on local gangs Wednesday morning at the Candlelight Inn.
Whiteside County law enforcers described how colors, hand gestures and symbols can show that a student is about to join a gang, or already is in one.
The presentation informed officials what they could do to develop awareness among teachers, the community, parents and students.
For example, Sterling and Rock Falls have laws making displays of gang symbols or colors punishable by a $50 fine; school districts also could create a code making it a violation for a student to belong to a gang.
Sterling Police officer Sarah Schmidt and Rock Falls Police officer Howard Melchi talked about common denominators – clothing, colors, symbols, tattoos, hair shaving and hand signs – that each gang has but makes specific to its group.
These days, adults concerned that kids might be involved in gangs should watch for yellow clothing with pictures of crowns, Schmidt said.
Gang members often sport professional sports apparel in colors specific to the gang, Melchi added.
If a parent thinks clothing might be gang-related, don’t let the child wear it, Schmidt said.
Pay attention to the Web sites your children access, who their friends are, and what type of activities they are engaged in, she said.
“It’s not just one symbol; it’s the totality of everything,” Schmidt said.
Why do kids join gangs in the first place? For a variety of reasons, the officers said: They have low self-esteem, are rejected by their peers and seek acceptance from a group; they belong to a dysfunctional family or have parents who frequently fight; to make money or feed a drug addiction; or because there’s a family history of gang membership.
Gangs use social networking sites to recruit members, and spread their message online, through video games, music and movies. They are becoming more organized, so their members are better educated. Some enter professional careers to benefit the gang, the officers said.
Teresa Moser also spoke Wednesday. Her son, Nathanial Galvan, is in prison for driving a vehicle in a fatal gang shooting in Sterling 4 years ago.
“A lot of times these kids don’t realize what the end result is [when they join a gang],” Moser said. “They just think it’s cool to start. They don’t realize everything that goes along with it.”
The family is pulled in, and the youths end up in prison, dead or constantly looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives, she said.
Officers made the same presentation to Challand Middle School teachers and students last year, said Chris Palmer, dean of students.
“The teachers were very active with the questions of what to look for. They ask the same questions the parents would ask, like ‘Why would these kids do this? What should we look for? and Why would they think that?’” Palmer said.
“A lot of it for me is the kids are looking for a strong family, a sense of belonging,” he said of why kids join gangs.
The presentation can be given to any community group or organization, Sheriff Kelly Wilhelmi said. Contact the sheriff’s office or the Rock Falls or Sterling police departments.
“Everybody we can reach with this will make a difference,” Wilhelmi said. “You can’t educate the public too much. Sometimes you almost have to scare people into what’s going on. Some people don’t have a clue this is going on in our society.”
On the Web
To learn more about gang symbols and colors, or other aspects of gang culture, go to http://gangsorus.com or http://chicagogangs.org on the Web.
