Crane News

   The gangs in Crane High School are so dangerous that people are afraid to come to school. When people do come, they leave early by running out of the school building. The cause of the problems in Crane are all of these different gangs, better known as 5-6,BD,GD,VICE LORDS. If you are not in one of these gangs, they assume that you are with another gang. Then they want to start a fight, which will lead to something else. There are a lot of fights in Crane because of gang-related problems. There have been fights when people got their eyes blackened and noses busted, heads busted, lips, busted, and even killed. Those fights were very dangerous to sit and watch, some people say they love to watch fights, but when it comes to Crane fights, you should just continue to go where you were headed before you end up a victim.     

People have been in gangs for lots of years now and probably will continue to stay in gangs for some time. Gangs are made up of mostly boys that join them to make friends, hang out together, and make money. There are a lot of young boys that grew up with older brothers, cousins, or uncles who were in gangs and pass it down to the younger children. 

But one might ask why young people joining gangs are? The most obvious answers are for protection and feeling wanted. They might not have a father and when they are around gangs they feel safe. It is also about their surroundings-they might not have a choice. Peer pressure is also in the school, to join them, to be cool, and to be a part of the crowd. Teens are motivated also for money, clothes, and shoes. When boys join gangs, they feel they are a part of a family. When you are a part of a gang you think people have respect for you. For young people being a part of a gang, you will have back-up, and then you might feel you do not need school any more.

As difficult as the gang situation is now, it was not always that way. The Vice Lord leaders in the 1970s changed their gang name to ” Conservative vice Lords ”. They developed new logos and advertised themselves as a community outreach group. They even went as far as to petition for a community outreach chapter named ”Conservative vice Lord Incorporated”. This started with two Vice Lord leaders trying to build up the community and empower it. The Chicago police also never fully supported the organization from the start. The programs of the CVL tried to create networks of information so that future generations could grow up with a sense of knowledge and self-worth. The Conservative Vice Lords, Inc. served as an example of a movement to bring sustainable power to the people. From 1967-1969 years the former CVL gangs opened businesses and community programs in Lawndale community, which receive notice from politicians and government official neighborhood clubs. But they could not change the community. Thing have changed in the future and gangs are more violent, because we have young kids 10-15 years old gang banging and killing each other over stupid stuff. If today gangs would behave more like earlier gang members, maybe the world would be different.