Pseudo-Gangs VS. The Real Deal, how many years?

The Northwest graffiti incident has brought forth the talk of "gangs" in Roanoke. Even though most who were affected, including the police, have said there is no way this was gang related; people still talk about gangs being here.

I myself have said on many an occasion that what we have here is bored youth, bent on imitating what they think is cool, and creating nothing but damage and irritation where ever they go.

It is not uncommon to hear stories of girls who started smoking weed at 11, guys who started at 9. They are your "gang members" here. But what separates them from real gangs?

This.

A series of gang assaults in a one-block area of the Kingsbridge Heights section of the Bronx claimed one life, and police are trying to determine if they are part of a pattern.
The beatings apparently intensified over the weekend, when police say four young men were attacked by a large group of suspects on Friday and Saturday nights.

Police say on Friday night, two young men in their 20s were surrounded and assaulted by a group of males, as many as 10, in separate but similar incidents.

The first victim was attacked at the intersection of East Kingsbridge Road and Morris Avenue at around 10:15 p.m. Friday night, according to reports. The next victim was reportedly attacked nearby, just a few minutes later.

Both men were treated at a hospital for their injuries and released.

Then on Saturday, within a block of those attacks, two more men were surrounded by a group of 10 men and beaten, investigators say. One of the victims sustained cuts on his hand and head from an unknown object. The other remains hospitalized with a serious eye injury.

Most recently on Sunday, detectives learned that a victim of a previous attack had died.
(WABC7-NY)

And where did these youths start? Smoking weed at 11? Some. Tagging graffiti at 13? A few.

But much like up there, most of the real gang members started at birth. The home life was no life, and they found their way on the streets.

And if you think that 11 year old girl smoking weed is not going to spawn a 9 year old boy smoking weed - your kidding yourself.

While we might not have real gangs now, in another generation or two - we will. Because of the home life.

The little things don't matter - church, school, work. It's all about the home. And if there's little to no control at home - then there will be none in the next generations home.

Sometimes the problem can be controlled outside the home. Neighbors showing kids the proper way to be adults, but in all reality - if they are not getting it inside the home - then they will most likely not get it at all.

I know this post is out of the blue - but when you hear talk of gangs around here, and people cannot seem to figure out why - well, sometimes you have to write the answer on a shovel and smack them with it before they understand.