Why do people join gangs? I think young children join gangs because rap music influences them. Some children probably grew up in a bad neighborhood where they saw people selling drugs and killing. They said, “When I get older I want to be just like that.” But when you’re young you don’t really know the consequences of being in a gang. The consequences are you either go to jail our end up dead.

“East Atlanta Zone 6 that’s my hood.” Gucci Mane raps about his hood in the “That’s My Hood” song. He has some kids wanting to be from hoods because of the things he says, “First you get the money then you get the power,” this is Gucci Mane influencing young people to sell drugs to get money. According to the Violence Institute Website, “Children may join gangs as a means of protection from rival gangs. Children may view their neighborhood as a solution to the torment and threats from other gangs.” In the book, “Freedom Writers,” real teens tell their stories. The Freedom Writers are fighting over race they aren’t even fighting over colors. They are all in the same class and there are a lot of problems. There were a lot of people killed in the Freedom Writer’s book. It’s so sad because of how many people died and because half of them were innocent.
Well, my brother died from being in a gang because of someone else’s beef and I don’t want to be like that. It was hard losing my grandmother and my brother. But losing a loved one is hard because they’ll never be coming back. As the years go by you start to heal. But you will never forget about them. They’re gone but never forgotten.

Kids join gangs for many reasons. Some of the reasons are the dumb rap music that influences them. You really don’t want to be in a gang because every time the ending is the same you either die or go to jail. Who wants to risk that just over a gang? To me gangs are really stupid and not reasonable. The only time people join gangs are when they want to lose their life.