William, 19
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
I know it sounds simple but arrest them. If they are causing
problems then that is violating others rights so they are breaking the law. How can we
consider ourselves to be one of the best societies in the world if we have no control over
a majority of the individuals. Our Governement is strong and by allowing gangs to have a
free turn to cause problems then we send an impresion that we are weak. We need to remain
strong against them even if it means making small sacrifices. The tricky part is balancing
the rights of the gang members with their punishments. But I believe the throw thier own
rights away when the start to cause problems in the first place. Also about the TV show
questions, I find them very anoying and refuse to answer them. Are we helping the stations
ratings?
{Note: This section of Students Only was designed just for
fun, and the results of the tv polls are used only on this website. We thought you might
be interested in seeing which law/police/community-type shows you prefer, but taking the
poll is optional.}
|
Victor, 17
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
I think that they could arrest them. If we arrested enough
gang members we could make them build new prisions to hold more gang members. Also we
could have them build low cost housing for people in need. I know it sounds crazy but at
least this way they would be helping the communitys they were destroying before. A local
group of teenagers destroyed a large numbers of windows and stuff on May 18, 1999. If they
would have known how much they were going to pay for restitution they would have gone and
purchased some bread and jam instead (Strawberry Jam). Also what are the T.V. questions
for? Is this some kind of rateings pole?
{Note: Please see comment above which explains purpose of tv
poll.}
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Nicole, 17
Fairfax H.S.
Fairfax, VA: |
The community should work together to keep themselves safe.
If they see something suspicious they should report it, or try to warn their neighbors of
other people who they feel are dangerous. Create a neighborhood watch where people take
turns driving through the neighborhood making sure everything is safe and reporting to
police if anything isn't. |
Brian, 17
Fairfax H.S.
Fairfax, VA: |
Lock their doors and carry guns to protect themselves from
gang members. |
Jayne & Heather, 18
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
I really don't have any experience in dealing with gangs, so
its hard to come up with a way to deal with them. I don't think that our community has any
gangs. I do see groups of teens hanging out in front to the mall but I wouldn't consider
them to be gangs. I think that police should be out walking around getting to know their
neighborhoods. This way the police officers will be more aware of the gangs and their
activities, and could prevent certain situations. |
Jamie, 17
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
I think that communities need do have programs for children
to go to after school and provide help for them if they need it. If more communities
offered more things for children to do then maybe that would eliminate some of the gangs
and that would be helping the problems caused by gangs. |
Amanda, 17
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
Communities need to stand together when fighting gangs. The
only way to combat gangs is to be a united force against them. In high profile areas
education on the dangers of gangs can also be very important. Showing prospective gang
members the dangers and disadvantages of gangs may keep at least some of them out of the
groups. Above all else the copmmunity as a whole must respect the officers who are doing
everything they can to keep gang violence to a minimum. |
Sarah, 18
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
Gangs are not really a visible problem in my city. I do not
know of any real gangs here, but I realize that many communities have to deal with this
problem. My suggestion of how to deal with gangs is to establish more activities and
programs for young people. Most gangs are born out of boredom when kids have nothing to do
and nowhere to go during their free time. By making fun activities available to these
kids, I think gangs would be such a big problem in some places. |
Melissa, 17
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
I think communities can deal with gang problems by putting
police officers on the streets; walking or on horses. This would make teenagers more aware
of the police officers and help them develope a better relationship with them because they
see them everyday. Another solution that could help curb gang problems is by providing
teens with more things to do in a community. By opening up teen clubs for certain age
groups, such as ones for people 12-15, 15-18, and 18-21. I have talked to several foreign
exchange students and they have many clubs of this sort for a variety of age groups and
they seem not to have any gang problems in their countries. |
Jennifer, 17
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
Communities need to make up rules and laws which are unique
to their community alone. Our town wouldn't benefit from an Anti-gang law because we don't
have gangs to deal with. The people who make up the laws would have to focus in on what
problems they would like to solve and make them as specific as possible without making
exceptions. Through school programs we should be made aware of why the rules are in place
and what they are meant to accomplish so that we will understand and respect police when
they enforce the rules. |
Dena, 17
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
I think communities must first make rules that will really
work in their area. I don't feel that laws like the Chicago anti-gang ordinance really
have a chance to work because they are so vague. Therefore, they are not very well
accepted by the general public, especially minorities. An anti-loitering law would not be
so bad as long as it is well defined and police are shown how to properly recognize and
deal with possible offenders. |
Copeland, 19
Presque Isle H.S.
Presque Isle, ME: |
Convicted gang members should be given harsh penalties. |
