Street gangs are corrupting streets and neighborhoods all over America and even around the world. They are very tempting for many teenagers because they are an easy way to get money and reputation. What many people do not realize is that once gang members join most gangs it is nearly impossible to get out. Gangs might seem like an easy lifestyle to make big money but they are actually a wretched nuisance that plague the streets of big cities and even some smaller cities in America. An example is that 100% of cities with population greater than or equal to 250,000 reported gang activity. This shows how many gangs there really are in America.

Many gangs require incredible physical abuse whether you are joining the gang or trying to leave it. Most gangs require you to get “jumped in” which means you get continuously pummeled and beat up by fellow gang members for a period of time. If you are planning on leaving a gang you are often put on a hit list to get killed. You might luck out and just get beat up. This shows how repulsive the gang life really is.

Most gangs are primarily male but some admit women. Statistics show that 94% of gang members are male and only 6% of gang members are female. The females that are in gangs are treated very poorly. They are often required to have sexual intercourse with any of the males in the gang when asked. Also instead of getting jumped in like the male members of a gang they are required to get “sexed in” which means they have to have sex with a large number of men in the gang. So gangs are a violent lifestyle where you could get easily killed they are also a breeding ground for diseases like AIDS.

Many gangs try to influence the youth to join. Gang members often sit at high schools or even middle schools to recruit young members. As many as 400,000 youths are in gangs nationwide. The majority of youths who join gangs do so because they lack a positive support system at home. Another big cause of youths joining gangs is the lack of alternative activities which cause boredom especially if they live in a gang filled area. Little do they know is that gangs are actually quite boring most of the time. Gang members often just sit around most of the day waiting for something to happen or sit on a street corner selling illegal drugs.

One positive thing I can see about gangs is they are like a very close family. This is good for kids that never had much of a family growing up. Gang members usually always have each others back. What is bad about gang life is that gang members usually become so close with each other that they often end up spending more time with the gang than their friends and family that are outside the gang and they often end up losing them because of this.

. So for the most part gangs are a very horrible path and should definitely be avoided because if you don’t avoid them and live the gang life you are very likely to end up in prison or dead. I believe that for gangs to be stopped or at least reduced in numbers the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) needs to make stricter laws on gang related crimes, especially homicides. This might cause people to think twice before joining gangs. I also think that more police should be stationed at schools in gang territory to stop gang members from recruiting the younger crowd. This would greatly decrease the number of youth gang members.