Parents come for Gang Awareness Night

Presentation informs parents on gang issues in community

MOSES LAKE — The words "purposefulness," "understanding" and "love" hang on the wall of the cafeteria inside Frontier Middle School where parents came Monday evening for Gang Awareness Night.

Those words symbolize what most parents and staff hope public schools are: a place where students feel accepted and safe.

But for students who don't find a sense of belonging at school or at home, Moses Lake High School vice principal Chris Chelin warns parents gangs are where they will look for belonging.

"If kids don't have a positive, they will replace it with a negative," Chelin said. "Gangs give you unquestioned acceptance."

The purpose of Monday's gathering among school district administration, police and parents was to inform parents about gang issues in Moses Lake.

In Moses Lake alone, police report there are at least 20 identified gangs.

Chelin said after dealing with gang-related problems this school year in the Moses Lake School District, it has become obvious parents are not aware of how to talk to their kids about gangs or assess if they are involved in a gang.

So what exactly constitutes a gang?

A gang is three or more people coming together to commit illegal activities in which there is an identified leader, Chelin said.

Throughout the evening, Chelin repeatedly emphasized that parents should not look to one single indicator such as baggy pants or gang affiliated colors worn by their student as a way to tell for sure if they are involved with a gang, but to look for a combination of factors.

Those factors can include changes in style of dress, such as a student who is obsessed with wearing one particular color, letter, or number; tattoo markings; drug use; physical injuries due to gang initiation; and symbols or pictures drawn in notebooks and on bedroom walls.

School district officials recommend parents refrain from allowing their students to wear clothes that may associate them with a gang.

Examples include clothes with the numbers 13, 14, or 18, which are affiliated with specific gangs, athletic caps and bandanas.

"Just because it's sold does not mean it's appropriate for school," Chelin said.

FMS principal Chris Lupo came to the Moses Lake School District this school year from the Royal School District, where one of the hardest obstacles there was finding acceptable activities those students susceptible to gang activities wanted to participate in.

After the presentation, Lupo talked about efforts in the MLSD to offer soccer and other extracurricular activities that will provide more activities for more students, especially minority populations.

Being proactive in talking to students on a daily basis and knowing who they hang out with, when and where as well as going through their school bags and notebook binders is important if parents are to keep track of what activities students are involved in, Chelin said.

While snooping in school bags and bedrooms might seem too invasive, parents like Sandy, who asked her last name not be printed, agree it is necessary.

"You have to do that to protect them," she said.

Another parent, Greg Pesta, said he hopes his two sons, now 6 and 8, will understand that there is no choice when it comes to him being an inquisitive parent.

One of Pesta's biggest concerns is that his sons trust him enough to come to him when they have problems.

"Will they have enough respect of me to ask me,?" Pesta said.

For information on future presentations being made in the MLSD call Chris Chelin at (509) 766-2666.