I work with these kids and their families. You’re absolutely right - the pull of the streets is often stronger than the adolescent’s ability to do the right thing, even when they want to. To me, the biggest factor is not having a father in their life. In very few cases is the father around, which makes gang relationships so powerful. They’re the family the kid never had. When you have a single mother with other kids, stressed to the limit, who doesn’t have the energy or inclination to give the kid the love and encouragement they need, it’s really hard to undo the damage. But to me the key is the men - these kids need fathers. The mothers try t be both mother and father to their sons and daughters, but it’s impossible. They end up being bullied by their kids and the anger that should be directed to the absent father taken out on the mother. It’s a terrible cycle.
Until we face the fact that these unloved children are bred to provide a life of leisure for the mother (and in some cases the father), this problem will never be addressed. Black activists are now claiming others get a leg up by having their parents read to them at bedtime when they are children; those bred for cash are parked in front of the TV instead (or running the streets at 10).
While the absent fathers get a lot of attention, the fact is that these kids also have horrible mothers. In the past white children living in these situations would have (rightfully) been seized by the state; when threatening public assistance/housing is the only way the mothers force the kids to attend school, then obviously they are in unsuitable homes.
Talk to the people who teach in these districts; it is absolutely horrifying. When you realize some second graders don’t know what a “book” is (a true story from a teacher on one of NJ’s welfare reservations), then you realize most will never fit in a modern society.