14 DAY TRIAL // Between 2002 and 2006, about 1 in 5 murders that occurred in 88 of the largest cities in the United States were accounted for by gang violence and rivalry. Therefore, it's understandable that many parents are concerned about their children becoming members of such a group.
A paper published in the latest issue of the journal Injury Prevention highlights how good coping skills can be combined with moderate levels of parental monitoring, in order to help high-risk teens exit gangs, or avoid getting into one in the first place.
Students included in the survey said that support from their schools, as well as feeling a connection to their schools, were also aspects that helped them cope better with the prospect of joining a gang. The team that conducted the work says that only 7 percent of all children in the study were part, or were considering becoming part, of a gang, PsychCentral reports.
The team also determined that teens under the influence of more risk factors were more likely to join gangs. However, even for this subgroup, parental monitoring and training on resiliency proved to curb their “appetite” for joining a gang.