NGARUIYA4 Mary Ngaruiya
John Zamparelli
English comp
Problem solution essay Final Draft.
GANG VIOLENCE IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS
There are approximately 27,900 gangs, with 774,000 members, impacting towns, cities, and communities across the United States. According to a recent bulletin released by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 23 percent of students aged 12 through 18 years reported presence of street gangs in their schools. Almost half (46%) of students in public schools reported street gang presence. In addition, 21 percent of students in suburban schools and 15 percent in rural schools reported presence of street gangs. According to a survey conducted by the National Parents' Resource Institute for Drug …show more content…

Another effective gang prevention program involves enforcing school uniforms to all schools and students. School uniforms are a counter measure against easily identifiable gang colors. Gang colors are specialized clothing worn by gang members to identify and distinguish them from rival gangs. There are many gang colors such as blue for “crips” or red for the “bloods”. Crips gang was formed in Los Angeles in the 60s and the blood was a reactionary gang group that was formed to counter the crips. The gang colors create conflict since individuals can easily identify the gang affiliations and respond favorably if from the same gang and violently if from the opposing gang. The crips think they can effectively cripple the bloods through violence while the bloods think they can counter the crip by baying for their blood. Gang members have a sense of belonging and usually protect members of the same gang through gang color identification. School uniforms have been introduced as counteractive measures against the gang colors. According to dictionary.com a school uniform is “an outfit, a set of standardized clothes worn primarily for an educational institution”. All students of the particular school that requires uniforms must wear the uniform during school hours. Boys' uniforms often consist of dark short or long trousers and light-colored shirt, often with a tie. Girls’ uniforms vary between school systems but typically consist of a