Is joining a gang considered normal for young teens now?

NO it is not normal. Not for young teens that want to amount to anything in life. This is the wrong road to go down and I would pull him off of it asap!

No. It is not normal. Your son needs help.

NO.

Bad!

Nope, it sure isn’t.

“normal” doesn’t equal good. I hope your son can get out of the gang w/o being hurt.

It is not normal for boys to join gangs in most neighborhoods. You might want to seriously consider moving if possible, because he may not be able to remove himself from the gang.

See if you can get some professional counseling and perhaps join a group of teens for good, rather than a gang, such as the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps.

You’re going to get a lot of comments telling you to do everything in your power to get your son out of this gang. I suggest taking their advice.

No, it is NORMAL for boys to join sports in school not gangs outside of school. If you allow him to continue this behavior he will never grow out of it. In fact, this will become his lifestyle. He needs help. He needs a positive role model in his life. He needs to be more involved in school.

Uh, no.

Gangs are not normal teenage behavior. This person is trying to rationalize his actions by saying “well everyone does it”. Not everyone does it. He’s headed down a bad road which includes violence and prison.

And why would you trust a child who is clearly getting into trouble with illegal activity’s definition of what is “normal” behavior?

I won’t say it’s good.
And I won’t say that gangs specifically are normal.

But for a boy to go against his parents’ wishes? That’s normal.
For a boy to take part in some mischievous activity? That’s normal.

Kids are like explosions. For the most part, uncontrollable. Just try to point the explosion in a direction.
Try to get him to join a sports team or something.

No they aren’t normal, if you told him not to do it that may be why he joined, just as long as you don’t catch him smoking.
I am in High School and I see alot of gangs there, they all think they are cool but they aren’t!

Teenage boy here. Nope, not normal, at least for the people I know, and certainly not good, for anybody. Bring him here, and we’ll talk some sense into him.

I thank you all for the advice! That’s why he is in a wilderness camp! To get help and I thought if I got him away from the gang it would be best! We can’t move! Can’t afford that! I believe him, Likeradar, because he is my son! The gang he’s in is more into grafitti than violence. That’s how they get initiated in. I just can’t wrap my head around it. I was a loner, my husband was a loner, my daughter was asked to join ‘So-13’ Not sure about the spelling, but that is a BAD gang. Everyone he looks up to spoke to him about it and it was like wind in the trees to him. He always wanted to join the Navy and I’m encouraging him to do that.

@ShanEnri So-13?! Thats bad!!

It may be normal if you live in an economically depressed area, and your family has no educational aspirations for you.

Yes, Tink1113, I know and she refused the offer! That’s why I don’t understand why he did it! Even though the gang is local and non-violent, it could still cause him trouble in the long run! I don’t know the hispanic word for the gang’s name, but it means “the avenues”. Anyone hear of it?

Sur 13???, idk but i’ve heard guys in middle school who always said that and they were in that gang

@ShanEnri, no idea if this is the same gang, but there is a wikipedia article on a gang galled The Avenues: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avenues_(gang)

I’m really not well-versed on gangs but I’m sure there are quite a few gangs around the nation that have the same name as eachother. I bet if you went to your local police station they may have some information.

Yeah you can’t let your kid go down that road. When I was living in Tampa Bay there were a decent amount of gangs and I knew two kids who were in them (they had just gotten into it). They were good kids but one got arrested for possession of narcotics(didn’t even knew he did drugs) and the other dropped out of school and pretty much dropped off the radar, none of my old friends know what happened to him.
take every one’s advice, to have every comment unanimous on a site like fluther rarely, if ever happens, I think we’re on to something.

The Avenues in Spanish is Las Avenidas. From what I understand, they are tied in to the “Mexican” Mafia. Belonging to such a gang can be a road that leads to jail in the end.

While street gangs are moderately common, it is most decidedly not normal for young teens to join them. However, many teens do like to belong to a group and so you will see informal peer groups where everyone dresses the same, or more formal groups such as Boy Scouts or Athletes for Christ (to name a few of many).

I watched a documentary on how it is becoming pretty normal once, check it

oh and if it is Las Avenidas I highly suggest you watch the show Gangland because they did a piece on that gang and they are dangerous as fuck…

Your kid is trying to pull one over on you. Or if this really is “normal” to him, you need to turn his life around. Like today.

No, its not normal. Next time he tells you being in a gang is normal ask him this: ” So is it normal for a hispanic to work in housekeeping or in fast food restaurants?” Of course it’s not normal!

When I read this question it made me sad because that proves why society is crumbling and instead of fluthering you should go to Borders to buy some parenting books. When he comes back from wilderness camp you should be prepared and establish new rules.

@El Persequidor: Actually I’m taking parenting classes!

@ShanEnri ***YAY***

@ShanEnri I think it’s great that you are taking parenting classes. This is not going to be an easy task but you must give it all you have. This is a battle between you and this gang. If you let them win, you will lose your son forever. My little cousin joined a gang when he was a teenager, now he is dead. Shot and killed at age 21. Be strong and let him know how important he is to you. YOU are his family, not this gang. I wish you luck because I know it won’t be easy.

WHEN are they going to start making films and music where gangmembers are depicted as the TOTAL LOSERS they are?

Not for a while. That’s not very profitable.

So sad, GA, whats up Sir Sarc?