Do Gang Members Mean To Commit A Crime?
During our BNC session we learnt that sometimes people don’t mean to commit crimes and we found out that they usually trick children into helping them out and once you are involved in a gang it is very hard to get out of it. Sometimes, when you are in a gang, it feels like you belong there, and the people care about you and give you money and that is why some people are in a gang.
Usually, it starts off with someone in a gang asking you to drop a package off to someone and give you £5. Sometimes, children think £5 is enough money to go to the shop with their friends and then get some sweets and have some fun. Unfortunately, that package may have contained drugs and that means that you are already caught up in some gang stuff.
As you grow up and you start to really start to feel like you’ve have a place and a home in the gang but you also start realizing what you’re doing so you may try and talk to the leaders but as you’ve grown up they may turn to violence and then it is really hard to get out of the gang and you are probably going to hurt you because you want to leave. They feel trapped.
If they must stay, they start getting angry and may turn to violence themselves, that means that others are in danger because they are angry. And it started because the child took a package over for someone, thinking they were helping them. They are trapped in crime, they can’t turn their lives around easily, they can’t just leave, they are in the gang. they used to think that they had a home and a family, but that changed quickly. People are scared when they walk past. They need to escape the gang, but it isn’t as easy as it looks.
Comments (74)
Well done for this post. I gave you a star because of your use of storytelling. You seem to have listened carefully and empathised with the situation that some people might find themselves in. Well done for communicating this clearly, without exaggeration. What advice do you think you could give people to prevent this from happening? It would be good to hear different ideas from lots of students in the BNC!
John Ruskin 22 Jan 2019
I agree because if you're doing a crime , you have got EVERYTHING planned out and they're going to do it WITH NO FUSS . So they DO mean to commit it .
Can you think of any examples of crimes that were accidental and therefore not planned?
Boutcher C of E Primary School 22 Jan 2019
I really like this topic unconventional_brain; a well-deserved star, so well done!!
John Ruskin 22 Jan 2019
I think that they comit violent crime on purpose because why comit it for no reason☹️
Boutcher C of E Primary School 22 Jan 2019 in reply to Olivia @ the BNC's comment
My advice would be to try and teach children stranger danger and no matter how much money hey want to give you, just say no otherwise they will just end up in the gang and that could ruin their life.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 22 Jan 2019 in reply to sensible_football's comment
I agree with you because there is a reason behind everything, they can wouldn't just go out and kill someone.
Phoenix Primary School 22 Jan 2019
Do you think you can add examples?
Ormiston Bushfield Academy 23 Jan 2019
A solution could be a safe place that is actively taught/advertised about where young people can go once they have realized that they have been involved in crime or gangs. They may not be necessarily required to reveal information about what and who they have been affiliated with but just helped and supported to find a way. Although this may work cracking down on things like gangs and drugs as early as late primary school may help to choke the amount of those entering this questionable lifestyle.
Notley Green Primary School B 23 Jan 2019
do you think that they do it on purpose i think they do because there in a gang but if they were told what to do they don't but that is just my opinion so think what you think
John Ruskin 23 Jan 2019 in reply to Olivia @ the BNC's comment
Well ... maybe some are just by accident . Maybe the person wasn't a criminal and they didn't see what they were doing .
Graveney School 23 Jan 2019
I agree with your statement about how they don't usually want to hurt you,I like your post ,I just think it needs more facts to base your argument as some people won't agree with your statement .Good job.
John Ruskin 23 Jan 2019
I think some gangs feel like it’s the right thing to do when they are angry because if they were angry about something at school I think they would sometimes think it’s right to stop the stress by hurting and taking it out on another person without thinking it through first.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 23 Jan 2019 in reply to tidy_forest's comment
Do you have any examples that you can think of or research about that would suit the post?
Boutcher C of E Primary School 23 Jan 2019 in reply to benevolent_solution's comment
I agree we do need to open up somewhere that people that are involved in this can go but will the gang turn against that person and hurt them because they don't want to be in the gang and they told someone about it?
Boutcher C of E Primary School 23 Jan 2019 in reply to honest_wilddog's comment
I think that the people that are recruited as children don't do it on purpose but the people that actually want to join the gang do it on purpose.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 23 Jan 2019 in reply to generous_banana's comment
The children probably don't understand what they are doing but the adults know exactly what they are doing and how they are tricking the children.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 23 Jan 2019 in reply to balanced_volcano's comment
Have you got any more facts on this that you learnt in your BNC lesson?
Boutcher C of E Primary School 23 Jan 2019 in reply to balanced_volcano's comment
Thank you balanced_volcano
Streatham Wells Primary School 24 Jan 2019
Wow! You got in some really good points there! Some people think leaving a gang would be easy but really some people in the gang may make it hard for you to leave as they think you might tell the police about the gang, or their parents, depending how old they are. I think the best way to actually get out of a gang would be to tell someone but people sometimes don't think of that.
Streatham Wells Primary School 24 Jan 2019
I think it's not really fair on the child because you never see it coming so so I think their parent or carer should teach the kid what to be cautious with
Streatham Wells Primary School 24 Jan 2019
I don't think gangs want to do crime but some do. so the reasonable answer is that no not all gangs want to do crimes
Boutcher C of E Primary School 24 Jan 2019 in reply to fair_seal's comment
Like you said fair_seal people would make it hard for you to leave the gang so I don't think they can tell anyone, they may have to try and do it themselves. If they told someone, the whole gang could turn against you.
John Ruskin 24 Jan 2019 in reply to faithful_pineapple's comment
I agree with you faithful pineapple because they let their anger out on other people.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 24 Jan 2019 in reply to shrewd_queen's comment
That's true but as we are children, we know that sometimes we don't listen and then you regret it but parents should warn their children about it rather than keep it a secret. When they reach a certai age the should warn them.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 24 Jan 2019 in reply to remarkable_fox's comment
I disagree. Gangs usually do crime otherwise they are basically just a group of friends.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 24 Jan 2019
Thanks for all your comments. Do you think gangs members do mean to commit a crime?
Beverley St Nicholas Primary School 25 Jan 2019
Yes and no because they could be threatened to commit crime but other wise they have a choice
Beverley St Nicholas Primary School 25 Jan 2019 in reply to rational_butterfly's comment
I agree rational_butterfly
Beverley St Nicholas Primary School 25 Jan 2019
They have a choice
Millbank Academy 25 Jan 2019 in reply to generous_banana's comment
I agree because someone in my class said a person joined a gang without knowing it was one and a person in the gang told him to stab a person, and when he did, the police were there, and the police arrested him.
Ravenscroft Primary School 25 Jan 2019
You are only talking about Sephton's experience and I doubt that it's usually that situation. Nowadays, parents are much more aware of the safety of their community. They will not allow their children to roam the streets then talk to strangers. I agree with you but I would not use the word 'usually'.
Arnhem Wharf Primary School 25 Jan 2019
I think that not all of the people who join the gangs are actually committing the crimes ,because sometimes they get dragged along and sometimes they feel like they are apart of a family so they stay in the gang.
Hillcrest Academy 25 Jan 2019
I think this is a very serious discussion because violent crime has increased during the last year
Streatham Wells Primary School 26 Jan 2019
Hi Unconventional Brain,
I don't think that they mean to because they are groomed into it from an early age and the gang can see their weakness and they act really nice or as a better family to their victim so that the victim feels that they have to give something back. Then the child might feel that they would be in danger if they leave the gang witch makes the child stay longer because of fear.
Millbank Academy 26 Jan 2019
It's true, whenever someone is in a gang it feels like they belong there, like a big family . They also come in a variation of groups such as; financial crisis; violent crime; knife crime; terrorist attack; and murder.
Millbank Academy 26 Jan 2019
Yes, children sometimes think it's okay to go with strangers and think more about there future, not present.
Millbank Academy 26 Jan 2019
I agree because it's actually really hard to get out of a gang or else there might be consequences. And once you've grown up you start to realize gangs are bad.
Millbank Academy 26 Jan 2019
In my opinion, I agree to your explanation because it has the key functions of how to get into a gang.
Millbank Academy 26 Jan 2019
Sometimes people could join real gangs on games especially on online games.
Millbank Academy 26 Jan 2019
I agree and disagree with you but let me start of with why I agree with you. I agree because it is sadly true that people join a gang and are forced to commit crime and aren't allowed to leave or else they will get hurt. I also disagree with you because people don't only join gangs because of that reason peaple also join a gang because they think that because people are committing crimes and not getting cought that they can do it to and not get cought.
Highdown School 27 Jan 2019
i think a lot of people who were in gangs and have looked back on it could relate to this post
Boutcher C of E Primary School 28 Jan 2019 in reply to rational_butterfly's comment
Agreed
Boutcher C of E Primary School 28 Jan 2019 in reply to glad_editor's comment
Why do you think they have a choice, could they be forced?
Highdown School 28 Jan 2019
but why ask a child to deliver a package for you?
New Horizons Children's Academy 28 Jan 2019 in reply to sensible_football's comment
They may not commit it for no reason,imagine someone blackmails you and says if you don’t kill someone they will kill or badly injure your friends and family. Personally I don’t think that is for no reason,they may only do the crime because they have been blackmailed or to help their family(pay rent,feed them,buy medicine to keep them alive .etc)next time use evidence for your comment to justify your answer-you never know if what you think is right or wrong.
New Horizons Children's Academy 28 Jan 2019
I think that children commit crime to show that they are not a coward, so they copy bad influences.
Phoenix Primary School 28 Jan 2019
what perticular crimes are there killing anything
Boutcher C of E Primary School 28 Jan 2019 in reply to openminded_glockenspiel's comment
Maybe to see if you can trust them and if they are willing to do what you say. It is like a test.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 28 Jan 2019 in reply to good_moth's comment
I agree, you don't just walk out your house and say I'm going to kill someone, you would do it for a reason, therefore I agree.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 28 Jan 2019 in reply to magical_fox's comment
That could be a reason but just because you don't kill someone doesn't mean your a coward, unless they blackmail really young children.
Bruche Primary School 29 Jan 2019
they might not mean it because they might have been forced to do the crime by (older) people from a gang that they have also been forced into by (older) people who are taking advantage of (younger) people who won’t say no because maybe they have been threatened by an (older) gang member
Boutcher C of E Primary School 29 Jan 2019 in reply to grounded_duck's comment
If they were forced or threatened that could be a reason why
John Ruskin 29 Jan 2019
I think Gangs mean to commit a crime. They might have everything planned out on a sheet of paper ready for action. Gangs might want ti commit crime to use their anger on other people by hurting or threatening the innocent person.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 30 Jan 2019 in reply to outgoing_idea's comment
They may not mean it because they may force someone to.
Ravenscroft Primary School 31 Jan 2019
Gang members do not mean commit crime because when they are little there parents might be a criminal so they teach there child, also if the child is being treated badly they might be thrown out then a gang come up to them and says "do you want to join" you would obviously say yes cause you are young because you are young and you don't know anything yet.
Upton Cross Primary School 31 Jan 2019 in reply to noble_flower's comment
However, what if it was an act of revenge or you wanted your friends to make out that you're a strong and powerful person who has a strong and dominant personality. (Not peer pressure.)
I admire your opinion as I once thought of it like that but I decided to look at it with another angle . I wanted to share my opinion with someone who thought like the same I did. For example, to use different type of BNC skills. Storytelling and scepticism.
Hanson Academy 01 Feb 2019
I think that the people who are forced to believe that committing crimes with gang members is a good thing may not believe that they are doing a bad thing.
Hanson Academy 01 Feb 2019
Gangs mean to commit a crime because they want to show there members that there not scared of any one or the police and all they want to do is to attack people and hurt them and even put them in hospital and sometimes kill people
Hanson Academy 01 Feb 2019
i admire ur coment
Bruntcliffe Academy 01 Feb 2019
Gangs mean to commit these horrible crimes as most gang members are brought up in areas that are run down, and see violence as a way to represent superiority.
Noel Park Primary School 01 Feb 2019
Unconventional_brain states that ‘sometimes people don’t mean to commit crimes and that gangs often ‘trick children into helping them out’.
This sparked a bit of interest in me and really made me think. I partly agree that this might sometimes be the case. But to say that gang members in general don’t mean to commit crime made me feel outraged!
In many cases, gang members purposefully recruit children and younger teenagers to be members of their gangs so that they can have help committing crimes. They know exactly what they are doing when they do this. It is my opinion that they recruit others so that they are less likely to get caught, and this is a crime in itself.
However, I do empathise with those who are caught up in gang culture from an early age. It may be that some members of gangs are not thinking clearly and don’t actually understand that what they are doing is wrong for example in the case of mental health problems or even if they were groomed by the gang from an early age. If a child’s parents or siblings are members of gangs, it would be easy for the child to be caught up in it without a real understanding of what they are doing and the crimes they are committing.
I think my answer to unconventional_brain’s question would be as follows:
Although some gang members may be forced into committing crimes or may be acting without full knowledge of what they are doing, there is always someone behind it to organise it and push others to act. Therefore I could never truly say that gang members don’t mean to commit a crime.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 01 Feb 2019 in reply to noble_flower's comment
I agree but they wouldn't want people younger than 8 because they wouldn't be aloud out with out an adult, do you think children would still join if they are paid even if they know what a gang is?
Boutcher C of E Primary School 01 Feb 2019 in reply to clever_starfish's comment
Why do you think that they would want to show power?
Boutcher C of E Primary School 01 Feb 2019 in reply to perceptive_location's comment
I agree. They probably do not realise what they are doing as the gang members may be tricking them, do you think there are good gangs?
Boutcher C of E Primary School 01 Feb 2019 in reply to fantastic_bell's comment
Thanks for your comment fantastic_bell. I agree with you because now, children are brought up in violent places which inspires them.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 01 Feb 2019 in reply to fantastic_bell's comment
Why do you think crime happens?
New Horizons Children's Academy 04 Feb 2019
A crime by accident is taking an item out of a shop without buying it because maybe the cashier mistakenly didn’t scan it.You may walk out with the shop without even realising but then the cameras in the shop might spot you and maybe make the security think that you intentionally committed the crime
Upton Cross Primary School 04 Feb 2019 in reply to unconventional_brain's comment
To make out they're tough to gain respect.
Upton Cross Primary School 04 Feb 2019
Example, Sephon. The ex criminal
Highdown School 07 Feb 2019 in reply to openminded_glockenspiel's comment
Because they want to lure children in to the world of drugs and once the children are addicted they too might take drugs for money. As I said in my post, if a child does one small job, then they enjoy the money-it's probably just enough to go to the shop with their friends. But then they do it more and more. Eventually the get addicted and probably take drugs themselves for money. This is why they use children for dealing drugs.
Boutcher C of E Primary School 11 Feb 2019 in reply to fearless_tree's comment
Maybe but that wouldn't be your so you didn't commit a crime, the shop keeper did.
but a good idea
Boutcher C of E Primary School 11 Feb 2019 in reply to clever_starfish's comment
I agree that is probably one of the reasons clever_ starfish
John Ruskin 14 May 2019 in reply to unconventional_brain's comment
i agree
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