Madison Metropolitan School District

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Madison Metropolitan School District

• Gang Prevention Program
• Deb Ptak, Principal, Sennett M.S.
• Luis Yudice, MMSD Safety/Security Coordinator

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Training Objectives

• Provide an overview of MMSDs efforts to reduce
  gang activity in schools.
• To share data on gang involved youth in our
  community.
• To discuss characteristics of gang involved youth
  and gang identifiers.
• To discuss MMSDs program.
• To provide resources/links.

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Policy Statement

• MMSD is committed to ensuring the academic
  achievement of all students by providing an
  orderly, safe and secure learning environment.
• MMSD will implement the following measures to
  prevent gang activity and to support students and
  families who may be gang involved.

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Whats a Gang?

• Three or more people who form an allegiance for a
  common purpose and engage in delinquent or
  criminal activity.
• Generally use symbols and group identifiers.
• Gangs are White, Latino, African-American, Asian.

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Gangs in Dane County

• 2007 Enhanced Gang Task Force report
• Diverse group of community members corrections,
  schools, faith communities, UW Madison, United
  Way, business, law enforcement, Madison, Sun
  Prairie, Stoughton, Oregon.

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Key Findings

• Gangs have been in Madison for decades.
• Gangs have a growing presence in our schools and
  have impacted the communitys perception of
  safety.
• Police incidents, gang activity in the summer of
  2007, State Street crimes, Oregon shooting in
  2005, MMSD gang activity in 2007.

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Juvenile Crime and Referrals

• Increased crimes of aggression.
• Group fights, weapons.
• Youth self-identify to police and corrections as
  gang involved.
• Increase in Latino gang involvement and family
  concerns.
• Graffiti and indicators of violence and conflict.

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Youth Violence

• Youth violence is considered a national public
  health problem according to the US Surgeon
  General, National Institute of Health, the Center
  for Disease Control, the American Academy of
  Family Physicians, USDHHS Substance Abuse and
  Mental Health Services Administration, and others.

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Gangs in Dane County

• Folks-GDs, Money Before Bitches, Smash on Sight
  Guys, Deuces, Black T-Shirt Boys.
• People-Vice Lords, P-Stones, Yung Assassins, ,
  Latin Kings, Money Over Bitches
• Surenos-Southside Locos, Clantones, Goof Troop
  (girls).
• Nortenos-Chicano Pride Association, MS, Ojos
  Rojos, Latin Saints.

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Gangs

• West Coast-Little Boy Crips, Outlaw Bloods,
  Cambodian Bloods, Khmer Pride.
• Girl Gangs-Block Burner, Smash on Sight Girls,
  Goon Squad.
• White Supremacists-National Socialist Movement
  and White Revolution
• Motorcycle-Outlaws and Hells Angels

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Gang Involvement of Youth Sent to Corrections

• Among males has increased steadily 28 in 2004
  and 49 in 2005.
• Female gang participation remained steady in
  2002-04.
• Female referrals have decreased, but crimes of
  aggression have increased in school and in the
  community.

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United Way-Disconnected Youth Data

• There are approximately 72,000 school-aged
  children and youth living in Dane County.
• Of these, there are at least 4,000 who are not
  part of a strong educational, cultural, and
  economic infrastructure in our community.
• At least 500 will not graduate with their peers.

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Why Join Gangs?

• Prestige or status among friends
• Make money
• Protection from other gangs
• Sense of identity
• Recruitment from family, friends and peers

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Risk Factors

• Prior-early involvement in delinquency, violence
  and AODA issues.
• Poor family management and problematic
  parent-child relationship.
• Low school attachment and achievement and
  negative labeling by teachers.
• Association with aggressive peers and peers who
  engage in delinquency.

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Risk Factors

• Neighborhoods in which large numbers of youth are
  in trouble and in which drugs and firearms are
  readily available.
• The accumulation of risk factors greatly increase
  the likelihood of gang-involvement.
• SourceThe National Youth Gang Center
  www.iir.com/nygc/faq/htm

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What Does This Mean?

• Participation in gang activities has a high
  probability of leading youth into criminal
  behavior and of being referred into the criminal
  justice system.
• School to prison pipeline.
• Schools can make a difference and need to be
  actively involved.
• How can schools intervene?

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Impact of Gang Membership

• Youth are more criminally active during periods
  of active gang membership-serious and violent
  crime.
• Negative family and school contacts.
• Aggressive peers and delinquency.
• Source The National Youth Gang Center
• www.iir.com/nygc/

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Gangs and Schools

• More likely to bring weapons to school
• Bring violence into schools
• Bullying of students
• Believe they wont graduate
• Higher truancy rates
• Few teacher role models
• Alcohol and drug use, drug trafficking
• Recruitment, intimidation/extortion

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MMSD Gang Response

• Acknowledge that gangs exist in our community and
  that gang involved youth attend our schools.
• The district is committed to providing an
  orderly, safe and secure learning environment.
• The district will support all students,
  regardless of gang affiliation.

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Gang Response

• The district will clearly identify behaviors that
  are unacceptable and that will not be tolerated
  in school.
• The district will provide early intervention and
  support for gang involved youth.
• The district will work with the students family
  to re-direct the student into positive activities.

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Anti-gang Strategies

• The district will provide guidance and training
  to staff and will utilize a number of measures to
  prevent gang activity in schools.
• Measures include sanctions for violation of the
  MMSD Student Code of Conduct.
• Referral to law enforcement for criminal
  prosecution.

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Best Practice Intervention Suppression-Schools

• Gang activity is about relationships,
  affiliations, power and control.
• Interventions must also be about relationships
  affiliations without demeaning power and control.
• Suppression efforts must be clear, direct and
  consistent.

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Best Practice Universal Intervention

• Build strong student/staff relationships.
• Have opportunities for students to explore their
  power in positive ways.
• Have opportunities to explore issues of race,
  economic status gender, bullying, harassment
  AODA.
• Have explicitly stated student reporting policies
  and procedures.

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Best Practice Intervention with gang involved
students

• Engage in honest, direct and respectful
  discussions.
• Establish the expectation that school is a gang
  free zone.
• Reinforce the concept that they can check it at
  the door and become a student for a few hours.

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Intervention

• When appropriate, inform/engage the family.
• Identify a staff member to act as a point person
  and confidant.
• Establish and maintain a trusting relationship.
• Create links with community agencies and police.

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Best Practice Suppression Efforts

• Graffiti and Tagging.
• Symbols, hand shakes gestures.
• Clothing colors, head gear, jewelry, haircuts.
• Body markings, tattoos, eyebrows.
• Internet use at school.
• Cell phone use at school.

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Suppression

• Counsel, warn, inform of consequences, then
  implement the code of conduct.
• Student searches, when appropriate.
• Frequent student body reminders regarding
  anonymous reporting.
• Staff policy regarding immediate reporting of
  suspicious activity.
• Sharing of information among staff.

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MMSD Code of Conduct

• 107-Dress Code, disrupts teaching or poses a risk
  to safety, health/ security
• 112-Causing a disruption
• 114-Participating in gang activities or
  anti-social group activities that disrupt school.
• 206-Verbal threats
• 207-Harrassment
• 215-Extortion, intimidation/gang

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Code of Conduct

• 221-Taunting, inciting, encouraging a fight
• 301-Volatile acts
• 308-Coercion, extortion, gang involved
• 310-Serious threats to students or staff
• 401-Possession of weapons
• 402- Possession of drugs

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Gang Activity- School and Police Consequences

• The range of school consequences can range from
  counseling to expulsion.
• In addition, students may be arrested for crimes
  ranging from misdemeanors such as disorderly
  conduct, to felonies.
• Some students who have been referred to the
  criminal justice system return to our district
  under court supervision.
• Work with community agencies.

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Local Gangs and Identifiers

• Gang graffiti-Important to differentiate from
  tagging.
• Gangs-Look for numbers, 5-6 pointed stars,
  pitchforks, crowns.
• The Surenos-SSL, XIII,13, color blue, SUR 13,
  13th letter of alphabetM, Mexican Mafia
• Nortenos-XIV, 14, color red, CPA

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Colors and Dress

• People Nation, Vice Lords-Black and gold or black
  and red. Teams-Pittsburgh Pirates/Steelers.
• Folk Nation, Gangster Disciples-Black/gray, and
  silver/white. Teams-NY Yankees, Oakland Raiders,
  Georgetown Hoyas.
• Surenos-Blue
• Nortenos-Red

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Hate Groups

• Youth are recruited through the internet.
• White power music broker Bryant Cecchini, AKA
  Byron Calvert announced the distribution of
  30,000 CDs titled White Power and Some
  Niggers Never Die.
• Remember, we dont just entertain racist kids,
  we create them Cecchini

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Hate Groups

• Hate Groups An organized group or organization
  that advocates hate, hostility, or violence
  towards members of a racial group, ethnicity,
  religion, gender, sexual orientation or other
  designated sector of society.
• Since 2000 extremist organizations have risen by
  54.
• Factors Failing economy, immigration fears,
  election of President OBama.

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Hate Groups/Incidents

• Graffiti, vandalism against synagogues, private
  property and schools.
• Vandalism to Monona Grove, LaFollette, Sennett,
  Hamilton, East and Falk.
• Recruitment of middle school students by the
  Nationalist Socialist Movement over the internet.

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Dont Pre-Judge

• Be careful not to assume anything about a student
  based on appearances.
• Youth fashion and appearance is a universal
  urban look.
• Hip hop culture is mainstream.
• Analyze behavior and risk factors.
• Be well informed and do your research.

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Graffiti and Symbols

• Look for gang identifiers, names, put downs.
• Look for symbols, pitchforks, playboy bunny, top
  hat and cane, pyramids.
• Look for numbers, 13, 14, XIII, XIV
• Graffiti written upside down, backwards or
  crossed out shows disrespect.

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What Can Teachers Do?

• Contact your school principal to share
  information and to coordinate appropriate
  responses or to involve outside resources.
• Gather information, observe, ask respectful
  questions.
• Maintain a balanced approach.
• Implement the Sennett model

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School Responses

• Who else is involved or at risk?
• Whats the family situation? Supportive of the
  child and school or in denial or gang-involved.
• Is the student court-involved? Coordinate with
  case worker.
• Create an individual education plan and provide
  appropriate support systems.

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School Engagement

• Remember, some kids join gangs to fit in and to
  be a part of a group.
• They may not be succeeding academically or may
  not feel comfortable at school.
• Strategy-Offer encouragement, strive to engage
  student in school activities, clubs, sports.
• Critical-Develop positive adult-student
  relationships.

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What Can the Family Do?

• Be informed, conduct additional gang research,
  identify resources.
• If concerned about your childs behavior contact
  your school and ask for assistance, share
  information.
• Know your childrens friends and interests.
• Spend time with your children, seek connections
  and conversation.

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Families

• Maintain balance as a parent while being
  respectful of your childrens lifestyle.
• Clearly state your attitude toward gangs.
• Discuss values and model positive behavior.
• Teach problem solving and negotiation skills.
• Eat meals as a family as often as you can.

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Family

• Support your schools-Make them your own. Attend
  events, show interest in your childs school
  life.
• Ask for assistance and support and take advantage
  of valuable school and community resources.

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Summary

• Gangs have existed in our community for some time
  and gang involved youth attend our schools.
• National statistics indicate that gangs are
  present in many communities in the U.S. and that
  gang activity is prevalent in cities with
  populations over 100,000.
• Most gang members are male, female involvement
  5-8.

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Summary

• Many gang members are recruited in middle school.
  Nationally, 7 of boys and 4 of girls
  (adolescents) reported that they had belonged to
  a gang in the past 12 months (Gottfredson and
  Gottfredson, 2001).
• Race/Ethnicity-According to the National Youth
  Gang Survey, 49 are Latino, 34
  African-American, 10 white, 6 Asian.
• Appropriate interventions are needed.

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Summary

• Middle School age students are the most
  susceptible to gang recruitment.
• Interventions must occur in the home, at school
  and in the community.
• Keys to success Education, collaboration among
  family, school, police and community resources.

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Conclusion

• Gangs are not a police or a school problem.
  Gangs are a community problem.
• No single strategy is effective and over-reliance
  on law enforcement is counter-productive.
• Communities need to adopt a comprehensive
  strategy that addresses the needs of families and
  of youth.

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Conclusion

• The family is the most influential factor in a
  childs life.
• Despite apparent anger or display of hostility,
  children appreciate having rules and structure.

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Commitment to Save Kids

• If we dont stand up for our children, then we
  dont stand for much-Marian Wright Edelman,
  President and Founder of the Childrens Defense
  Fund.
• Children are worth fighting for Principal
  Milton McPike

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Resources

• The National Youth Gang Center-www.iir.com/nygc/fa
  q.htm
• The Southern Poverty Law Center-www.splcenter.org/
  index.jsp
• The Federal Bureau of Investigation
  www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/ngic.violent_gangs
• The Madison Police Department-Detective George
  Chavez, Officer Lester Moore

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Resources

• The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource
  Center-www.safeyouth.org
• Know Gangs-www.knowgangs.com

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• Questions?