After school and weekend activities

As illustrated earlier on, this is one of the reasons as to why many youths are active participators in gang violence is because they are idle. Most of their time after school and during weekends is quite underutilized. Because of this free time they get involved in gang violence. Parents and teachers have to ensure that any free time that young children have is used for other constructive activities. Teachers can ensure that after classes, students carry out sports activities. These sports activities include soccer, rugby, table tennis and badminton among others.

When youths get involved in these sports activities, they don’t have the time for vices like gang violence. When they play different sports their energy is well used and therefore they don’t have the extra energy to get involved in gang violence. During weekends, parents need to plan how their children will use their leisure time. Parents can take youths to visit game parks and tourist sites.

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Youths can also use their weekends in carrying out charitable activities like visiting the sick and orphanage. Parents can also ensure that their children are active in church youth programs.

Through this they get to interact with other children who have God fearing behavior. This will help prevent young children from getting involved in gang violence. Censorship of internet There is need to censor internet use both in schools and at home because some internet movies really harm children in very many ways. Research shows children who watch movies showing movies with other children engaging in gang violence may not be affected in the same way but in one way or another there will be negative effects.

Most of these negative effects may not be seen the same day that a child watches these movies but they are rather quite progressive in nature. This is mostly associated to a person who drinks beer. This person may not become an alcoholic immediately but the effects will be very visible in the long run. That is why when censorship of internet is carried out; this will help prevent young children from getting involved in gang violence. Listen As simple as it may seem, it is a solution to preventing youths from getting involved in gang violence.

When youths get involved in gang violence, they are trying to pass across a message. This happens after they have tried other avenues to be heard but no one has the time to listen. The solution to this problem is that parents need to create time and listen to what their young children have to say and their concerns. The government also needs to listen to youths in relation to issues adversely affecting them. Teachers should also not shut their ears to young people, they have concerns and they need to be heard. It should not be assumed that they are young and don’t have anything of importance to say.

This will greatly help to prevent youths from getting involved in gang violence. Guiding and counseling Stress is one of the reasons as to why young children get involved in gang violence. This is done so that they can release their stress. When teachers and parents notice that a child is stressed, guiding and counseling has to be provided. Incase these stakeholders feel that they cannot give these services then they can seek for professional counselors. This helps in preventing them from opting for gang violence. (Whyte, 1943) Opposing viewpoints

The issue of youth involvement in gang violence has been hotly debated by scholars in the past. There are those who argue for and there are also those who argue against preventing youths from getting involved in gang violence. These opposing views argue that youths are never heard and therefore when they get involved in gang violence, they are passing across a message which needs to be taken note of. Other scholars argue that they have the right to choose what they want to do. As in every person has the right to do what he or she desires with himself.

Others assert that this is just one way through which they socialize with their peers. (Whyte, 1943) Conclusion Gang violence has existed since time immemorial. Surveys carried out in United States show that gang violence was there as early as 1200 AD. In the 1920’s and 1930s, there were violence gangs that flogged the American streets. The trend continued to increase until the nineteenth century when youth involvement in this vice went overboard. Surveys reveal that youths get involved in gang violence for various reasons.

One of them being that they are very idle especially after school and during weekends. They also do this because of peer pressure from their friends and so that they are not ostracized. There are various ways through which youth can be prevented from getting involved in gang violence. One of them is through ensuring that there are after school and weekend activities. Parents need to know who the friends to their children are. All the stakeholders need to listen to youths because they also normally have concerns and issues that affect them.

Parents need to set firm guidelines concerning children’s behaviors. All these will help prevent children from getting involved in gang violence.

Reference: Bakeer, D. (1987): Crips: The Story of the L. A. Street Gang from 1972-1985. Los Angeles: Precocious California. District Attorney (1992): Gangs; Crime and Violence in Los Angeles: Findings and Proposals. Office of the District Attorney, County of Los Angeles Finn, A. (2000): Preventing Adolescent Gang Involvement, OJJDP Juvenile Justice Bulletin, U. S. Department of Justice, Washington D. C