Chapter 8- Hannah Schreiber

"I don't get it... All that screaming at each other and throwing signs, what do they get out of that?"
Honestly, when I started reading the chapter, I completely agreed with Ahmed's wonderings. What could possibly make them feel good about putting someone down that did nothing to them personally. Then as I continued to read the chapter, it dawned on me that the point of a gang isn't to fight and curse at another group of people, its to form a family-- a brotherhood, in the absence of a biological one. Kids join gangs not because they want to hurt other people, but because they need the support and acceptance of a group of people. If the only way that they can get that support is through joining a gang (and therefore doing all the other stupid bull that the gang requires you to do), then that's what they're going to do.

"I've got things to do Mr. Mitchell", he said. "I'm sure you do. So does the custodian who cleans this room."
Nothing bothers me more than the disrespect of another person. In my student teaching placement, I would look around and see all the other teachers leaving this huge mess for the custodian to clean up in their room, and though it is the custodians job to sanitize the room after school, they are not your personal maid. My cooperating teacher held her students accountable for the messes that they made. We had a sensory table that was filled with sand. If the children spilled sand on the floor, they were expected to get a dust pan and broom and clean it up. We also at one point borrowed the pre-k's science table (which had all sorts of tree nuts, seeds, beans, and dried corn in it). If there was any corn or seeds on the floor, my cooperating teacher expected the children to get on their hands and knees and pick every last piece up and put it back into the science table. Whenever our class saw the school's custodian, Bill, in the hallway, they said hi to him and asked how his latest fishing escapade went. Not only did this teach them to be more clean for Mr. Bill, it taught them to be accountable for their actions and respect the people who keep the school running smoothly.

"Me against them. That was my attitudes towards gangs when I started out"
This chapter in general made me realize that although I am completely against gangs and gang violence, I would have no clue how to stop it from happening, or even how to recognize that it is happening. I honestly couldn't even tell you any major gang names in this area (and I've lived here all my life.) One example to show you just how naive I am about gangs would be from over this past summer. I had been out to dinner with my boyfriend and his buddies at charlotte beach. After dinner, Drazen, my boyfriend, suggested that we take a stroll down the pier before we headed home. When we got closer to the beach, there was a huge mass of people surrounding the gazebo. Me, being the curious person that I am, asked if we could go see what was going on. I assumed that it was some sort of dance performance, since I had seen people practicing on the gazebo a week earlier. When we were amidst the mass of people, Drazen told me that we needed to leave immediately. Apparently he recognized some gang symbols that were being shown as well as the fact that everyone (save a few from the opposing gang) there was wearing some piece of red on their clothes, be it a bandana, a hat, or something.  When we got to the car tons of police had shown up and were herding the mass of people off of the park property. Until I was told that it was gang activity and that they were probably meeting to have some massive fight, I had no clue. I didn't even necessarily believe Drazen until I saw the cops show up. Hopefully I never have to deal with that sort of thing in school bc I don't even know where I would look to find that information.

Vocabulary Terms
moniker-

–noun Slang .

a person's name, esp. a nickname or alias.

nortena-

–noun

a lively, polkalike folk music chiefly of southern Texas and northern mexico, usually with spanish lyrics and played on accordion and 12-string guitar, sometimes with fiddle and saxophone.

mestizo-

–noun, plural -zos, -zoes.

a person of racially mixed ancestry, esp., in Latin America, of mixed American Indian and European, usually spanish or Portuguese, ancestry, or, in the Philippines, of mixed native and foreign ancestry.

equivocally-

-adjective

of uncertain significance; not determined: an equivocal attitude.

 

 rehabbed-

of or pertaining to rehabilitation:

Essence Extractor
You have to be knowledgeable and strong to fight against a major power in schools, mainly gang activity.