Street gangs do not have the best of reputations, and that's what makes them such heroes among boys. Although there are some obvious problems with gangs and belonging to one, there are some advantages as well. This is not to say that gangs should be anyone's first choice, but they do provide enough advantages to a growing boy to make them a valid second choice.
[Obviously not all street gangs are involved in serious crime. Also, pretty much all that is said here applies to pretty much to any tight group of boys, be they in the urban jungle, in the rain forest, or even in the suburbs. All things considered, there are are few real differences between backwoods rednecks and street punks except the setting and the music.]
Boys need to be able to talk among their peers about a lot of topics. When people are trying to process something it can help to discuss it with someone else, preferably with as much of the same background as possible. The changes wrought by puberty are a pretty massive set of changes, as they change the boy's paradigms on a number of different levels, as they have different takes on just about everything from girls to what's important. It can help to talk about it with someone going through the same mess, and the gang provides that discussion group.
They also provide support for the boy. This is not just having something to believe in, but knowing that someone has your back just as you have theirs. It is sometimes surprising how important that can be to a kid, but it's true of anyone; you can go so much farther when you know someone has your back. That support can take a lot of different forms, and sometimes it can be someone actually saying "no", but having it is always better than not having it. A gang gives that support in spades, especially for someone that really needs it.
Contrary to how it may look sometimes, a gang can act as a bigger brain than its constituent parts. As each boy brings in his skills and experiences with him, this makes the gang a great sounding board, especially if one is sure that there is a solution to the problem; he can ask his friends if there is a solution the group of boys can figure it out, or who needs to be consulted in order to solve the problem. That applies to any resources that the boys may have; the boys have a lot more resources together than apart, and by combining them they can use them a lot more effectively. A gang can be far more than the sum of its parts.
Obviously there are some potential problems with this. Boys in a group tend to ignore rules as possible, as they are more worried about what is fun and what they consider right than what is legal. There can be a sort of pressure inside the gang to just go with things that one of its members suggests regardless of the repercussions. The support and need to see what they can do makes a a gang of boy much more reckless than they would be alone, especially if they figure that they are in the right. However, that is the one major disadvantage to being in a gang; otherwise it is something that most boys will probably be in and it is something they should be.
[Obviously not all street gangs are involved in serious crime. Also, pretty much all that is said here applies to pretty much to any tight group of boys, be they in the urban jungle, in the rain forest, or even in the suburbs. All things considered, there are are few real differences between backwoods rednecks and street punks except the setting and the music.]
Boys need to be able to talk among their peers about a lot of topics. When people are trying to process something it can help to discuss it with someone else, preferably with as much of the same background as possible. The changes wrought by puberty are a pretty massive set of changes, as they change the boy's paradigms on a number of different levels, as they have different takes on just about everything from girls to what's important. It can help to talk about it with someone going through the same mess, and the gang provides that discussion group.
They also provide support for the boy. This is not just having something to believe in, but knowing that someone has your back just as you have theirs. It is sometimes surprising how important that can be to a kid, but it's true of anyone; you can go so much farther when you know someone has your back. That support can take a lot of different forms, and sometimes it can be someone actually saying "no", but having it is always better than not having it. A gang gives that support in spades, especially for someone that really needs it.
Contrary to how it may look sometimes, a gang can act as a bigger brain than its constituent parts. As each boy brings in his skills and experiences with him, this makes the gang a great sounding board, especially if one is sure that there is a solution to the problem; he can ask his friends if there is a solution the group of boys can figure it out, or who needs to be consulted in order to solve the problem. That applies to any resources that the boys may have; the boys have a lot more resources together than apart, and by combining them they can use them a lot more effectively. A gang can be far more than the sum of its parts.
Obviously there are some potential problems with this. Boys in a group tend to ignore rules as possible, as they are more worried about what is fun and what they consider right than what is legal. There can be a sort of pressure inside the gang to just go with things that one of its members suggests regardless of the repercussions. The support and need to see what they can do makes a a gang of boy much more reckless than they would be alone, especially if they figure that they are in the right. However, that is the one major disadvantage to being in a gang; otherwise it is something that most boys will probably be in and it is something they should be.
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