Growing Up In A Gang Essay

My project was creating a music video based on the research question, how does growing up in a gang affect someone as an adult? We chose this question because a big part of our book was about gangs. In our book, Eddie grew up in a bad neighborhood with a lot of gangs, drugs, and violence. So, that is why we chose a question that focuses on gangs and the effects they have on someone. Our project relates to this question because the in the rap we created, it talks about all the different ways being in a gang affects someone as an adult. The first verse is from a gang member’s point of view and about what they do. The second verse is someone talking to the gang member and telling them all the effects a gang has on someone through their entire life. Then the third verse switches back to the gang member’s point of view and

Being in a gang can severely hurt someone’s education because “former gang members…[are] half as likely to graduate from high school” (Armstrong). This will affect someone their entire life because without a high school diploma it is difficult to find a minimum wage paying job. This will affect someone economically because it is hard to live and support a family with the minimum wage. That might be why former gang members are “twice as likely to be receiving public assistance” and why they have “an increased likelihood of economic hardship” (Armstrong; Howell). These statistics show much former gang members rely on other people for economic help. Also, gang members are “three times more likely between ages 27 and 33 to report committing a crime” (Armstrong). This shows that former gang members are not more just likely to have economic and educational problems, but also have problems with the law too. These three problems combined represent a very rough and difficult life. All of these problems stem from one decision as an adolescent, joining a