Denise
Samms
C.I.S
166x
“My friend’s brother was 22 years old. He was in a
gang.
One day he was taking his only son to school and
another
gang member and his friends shot him dead in front of
his son.
He had a younger sister, an older sister, one son,
and a loving
group of family and friends.” (from a student at C.I.S. 166 in the
INTRODUCTION:
Gangs have been
around for centuries. Robin Hood
had his band of “Merry Men,” the legend is they robbed from the rich to give to
the poor. The “Wild West” had its
share of gangs, “The James Gang,” with Jesse James and his brother Frank, were
notorious. Such gangs of long ago
are different from the gangs of today.
Whereas those gangs were made mostly of adults, the gangs of today are
thought to be made up mostly of juveniles.
Youth gangs have an
enormous impact on society in all parts of the country. No school district, geographic area or
ethnic group is immune from the problems of gangs. Many people believe that gang membership
is on the increase. It is estimated
there are 28,000 different gangs in the U.S with over 750,000 gang members. Many of these gang members join
when they are students.
Students join gangs
for different reasons. Can you
think of reasons some students join gangs?
What is a gang? These
questions are on the minds of people such as the Mayor of
Assume you are a
student who has been asked to be a member of a Task Force on Students and Gangs,
organized by the mayor of
While the mayor and
most adults think that gangs are a problem, some students think joining a gang
is a good idea. One reason the Task
Force wants to have you as a member, is to find out what students think about
gangs. They want to know why
students join gangs. As well,
they want to know what you think should be done about gangs and students who
join them.
Your assignment is to
provide information about these two questions. You will write a report that shows your
findings and make several recommendations to the Mayor’s Task
Force.
.
THE TASK:
Your assignment is to
investigate why students join gangs in the
Think about what
factors affect students and their interest in gangs. As you complete this exercise, you will
gain greater insight into ideas about students who join gangs. Adults and schools seem to think
joining gangs is a bad thing. The
kids who do so, however, may not agree.
What do you think?
You will
then:
q
Conduct a WebQuest search to
compile information on worksheets about the youth gang problem.
q
Write a report (4-5 pages) to the
Mayor that summarizes your findings and recommendations.
q
Give an oral presentation based on
your findings to the class.
Let us get
started . . . .
You will be using
resources from the TIPS PPA (public policy analyst) website and all other
resources listed in this WebQuest.
The web sites listed under each question below are just examples of
places where you might find information.
You can find more websites on your own using a search engine such as
Google (www.google.com).
THE PROCESS:
o
Find a
partner to work with.
o
Visit the
PPA (Public Policy Analyst Website) by clicking on http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ppa/intro.html
Continue at the PPA site and work through the tutorial on public policy. You will have to find solutions to the problem of why
Students’ join gangs in
Ø
Identify
the nature of a social problem.
Ø
Gather
evidence of the problem.
Ø
Determine
the causes and factors contributing to the problem.
Ø
Evaluating existing public
policies.
Ø
Developing public policy solutions.
Ø
Selecting
the best public policy solution.
I.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM:
Here are some questions you should answer through your
research:
q
What does
the term “gang” mean?
q
What does
the term “delinquent” mean?
q
What
makes students join gangs?
Complete Worksheet1: Defining the Social Problem:
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.html
First, you need to figure out what the problem is. Here are a couple of sites that might
help:
Youth gangs:
Coming to a school near you?
http://www.nyssba.org/adnews/misc/schools021703.htm
Street Gangs: A Dead End for Our Children
http://www.lawtonpd.com/cmprv/gangs.htm
II.
GATHERING YOUR EVIDENCE:
What evidence suggests gang membership is a problem?
- How many gang
members are there in
Youth
Gangs
http://www.gothamgazette.com/iotw/gangs/
- Are gangs against
the law?
Gangs and the Law
http://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/Policy/law.html
- How many gangs and
gang members are there elsewhere in the
National Youth Gang Survey Trends
http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs200203.pdf
Complete Worksheet #2: Gathering evidence of the problem:
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.html
III.
IDENTIFYING THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM:
q What are some of the causes of gangs?
This source provides a lot of information about the
problem and causes of gangs in schools.
When you get to this page, click on SUBMIT to be able to read what they
say:
Gangs in the Schools
Complete Worksheet #3: Identifying the cause of the problem
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.html
IV.
EVALUATING EXISTING PUBLIC POLICIES:
What have government officials been doing to reduce this
problem>
Gang Prevention
http://www.dodsafeschools.org/members/Seminar/GangPrevention/generalreading.html
Complete Worksheet #4: Evaluating existing public policies.
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet4.html
Can you find other things that are being done? Go to https://www.google.com/ and try entering these
key words exactly as shown to look for other ideas:
V.
DEVELOPING PUBLIC POLICY SOLUTIONS:
With your partner, think about what ways we might reduce
students’ desire to join gangs?
Both government officials and parents can be concerned
about doing something about gangs.
Here are some places you might learn what parents and others can think
about doing:
A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Gangs
http://www.lunaweb.com/pargang.htm
Is Your Child in a Gang?
http://www.sacpd.org/gangs.html
Diana's
Experience Getting Away From Gangs
http://www.usdoj.gov/kidspage/getinvolved/3_2_08.htm
Get Rid of
Gangs
http://www.usdoj.gov/kidspage/getinvolved/3_2.htm
Click on the
link below and print out the worksheet. Fill it out with the three different
ideas you have that might decrease the attrition rates in
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet5.html
VI.
SELECTING THE BEST PUBLIC POLICY SOLUTION:
Again, with your partner, discuss how feasible and
effective each of your three new solutions might be. Then complete the following worksheet
with your conclusions:
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet6.html
RESOURCES:
Other
resources or search engines you can visit if you would like more information
are:
EVALUATION: RUBRIC
AND STANDARDS:
Rubric
|
4 Excellent
|
3
Satisfactory |
2
Fair |
1 Poor (Do
Over) | |
|
Understanding
the
Task |
COMPLETES THE ENTIRE TASK. |
COMPLETES MOST OF THE TASK. |
COMPLETES PART OF THE TASK. |
COMPLETES LITTLE OF THE TASK. |
|
Development
and Organization |
VERY WELL DEVELOPED AND ORGANIZED. |
MOSTLY DEVELOPED AND ORGANIZED. |
PARTLY DEVELOPED AND ORGANIZED. |
HARDLY DEVELOPED AND ORGANIZED. |
|
Vocabulary |
EXCELLENT VOCABULARY USAGE. |
GOOD VOCABULARY USAGE. |
WEAK VOCABULARY USAGE. |
POOR VOCABULARY USAGE. |
|
Grammar and Punctuation |
EXCELLENT GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION WITH NO ERRORS. |
GOOD GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION WITH SOME ERRORS. |
WEAK GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION WITH MANY ERRORS. |
POOR GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION WITH MULTIPLE ERRORS. |
Standards:
This WebQuest also
incorporates the following
E1c: Read and
comprehend informational materials.
E2a: Produce a report
of information.
E3b: Participate
in group meetings.
E3c: Prepare and
deliver an individual presentation.
E4b: Analyze and
subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and
effectiveness.
This WebQuest also
incorporates the following
Standard 5: Civics,
Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a
variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the
necessity for establishing governments, the governmental system of the United
States and other nations; the United States constitution; the basic civic values
of American constitution,
democracy, and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship,
including avenues of participation.
CONCLUSION:
When you have
completed this WebQuest, you would have accomplished many
things:
First, you will have
demonstrated your ability to use the Internet to conduct research.
Second, you will have
a deeper understanding of the problem of gang membership in
Third, you will have
analyzed an issue and made decisions on what policies would be most effective
using logic and
evidence.
Fourth, you will have
written a report on your investigation of gang membership.
Fifth, you can help
bring about change by sharing your ideas with people who are concerned about
this issue.
OTHER
*This WebQuest was
prepared in association with the TIPS program,
***