Anti-Gang Visit Grim, but Necessary : If a single Bowman High School student got the message, the program was worthwhile

It’s hard to convince young people to avoid gangs, especially if they see gang membership as their only way to gain loyalty, respect and friendship. And how do we convince current gang members to get out before they become hardened criminals or another premature death statistic?

You can send police officers into the schools and youth centers but only some of their audiences will listen, and many more won’t. You could drive a group of potential gangbangers out to a prison or jail or police lockup to talk to incarcerated gang members who regret their choices, and it might have some influence. Or you follow the lead of Jereann Bowman High School in Santa Clarita. Bowman is a continuation school for students with disciplinary problems in the William S. Hart Union High School District.

Bowman got some visitors who commanded a lot of attention. One was Miguel Montoya, 16, who said: “If you want to gangbang, there’s a price you gotta pay.”

Montoya’s spine was pierced by a rival gang member’s gunshot. Montoya’s “loyal” gang homeboys simply left him there on the cold South-Central Los Angeles pavement. The price he will have to pay is paralysis and a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

The visitors were part of a group of former gang members now involved in Teens On Target. That’s part of a statewide network of rehabilitation programs for youths who suffer physically or emotionally from gang violence. Ten of the group’s 15 members are paraplegic, or paralyzed on the entire lower half of their bodies.

At rehabilitation hospitals in parts of the country where there is serious gang activity, gang violence victims have begun to replace accident victims with distressing frequency. For that reason alone, the Hart High School District was right to allow this grim visit. If it convinced just one youth to question his or her path, it was worth the effort.