Along with gang membership comes easy gains for the gang member. The gang members are easily consumed with the money, power, protection, and thrill of being a part of something they feel is great. Instead of committing to a 9 to 5 job, considering if the unemployment rate would permit it, gang members can easily get the desirables all rolled into the package that accompanies gang initiation. They get the sense of identity, status, and boost in self-esteem that human nature craves. The risks that these gang members take on include loosing their lives to the spur of a few short-term thrills. Gang life is predicated

on immediate economic gain from drug and other crime profits and as well as social gain. Mainstream life is oriented toward the future, and social and material gains are slower but steadier, more reliable, and less risky. Even though, the material gains seem to be the obvious temptation, there are deeper meanings to why these children turn to gangs.

Another way that America's youth are being swayed into the direction of gangs is from the media has always been a powerful way to convey information. It is very successful at getting across to people of all races, ages, creeds, and occupations. The same way that the media gets to these people is the same way that it influences children who are in gangs, or children who will eventually join one. Television for instance is all-powerful in this aspect. Just like the informational programs such as The Discovery Channel, and the Learning Channel that teach children, there are also the channels that constantly broadcast violence, and terrible moral values. The media portrays as heroes movie characters like Rambo, who achieve their goals by murder and who have to prove their manhood every ten seconds to avoid being called a wimp. There is also clinical justification that negative projections from TV are associated with actual violent behavior among the influenced individual. The American Medical Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, the U.S. Surgeon General's Office, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and the American Psychological Association have concluded that study after study shows a direct casual link between screen violence and violent criminal behavior. During youth, the gore and horror that thrives in television threaten a child's values that are in the process of molding. Seeing TV shows depict the rewards of a life of crime and drug dealing as financially profitable they joined gangs and began dealing drugs for the local drug lords. Teenage inmates at Maryland State Penitentiary, who were described as impressionable, made this testimony.

It is entirely unfortunate that so many of Americas youth are subjected to such low standards of life that they turn to gangs just to stay alive only to end up dying. In prevention of the risks of gang membership, the society should begin taking drastic measures. If home life for a child has its tribulations, let there be a positive society, a resourceful community, or a caring neighbor that he can turn to. It would make the task of minimizing gangs a lot less complicated if the negative influences of the media, capitalism, and flaws of the economic situation wer

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Approximate Word count = 1747
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)