National Youth Gang Center: 169 Gang-Related News Articles from Oct. 1 thru Nov. 7

The list of articles about criminal gang activity dating from October 1, 2006 until today was far too long to post in one thread. That is why I only posted the listed news articles beginning November 1, 2006.

If you click on the NYGC link, you can see the rest of the long list. It appears that nearly every single State has news articles about serious criminal gang activity.

The United Kingdom is not immune to gang problems, particularly in the schools. A British teenager, daughter of an American citizen has moved to Oregon to escape from the violent gang members in her school.

Sunday Mirror UK

5 November 2006

BULLIED OUT OF BRITAIN

EXCLUSIVE I was stabbed, spat at, pushed down stairs, had my clothes slashed, knocked unconscious & battered by pack of 13 girls .. gangs rule in our classrooms so I'm going to live in the USA

Graeme Culliford In Bend, Oregon

IT was one of the most vicious attacks ever carried out at a school... one girl stabbing the other in the eye with a pair of scissors.

Today we can for the first time reveal the full, shocking details of the crime which shocked Britain - and left its schoolgirl victim permanently scarred and so terrified she has fled the country.

As two of the three teenage girls involved in the attack were sentenced on Friday, the Sunday Mirror won a court order allowing us to name the school and the girl who was hurt.

Brave Natashia Jackman - who spoke out in court via a video link against the gang culture that led to her ordeal - backed our application so she could tell the full story of her years of torment at Collingwood College, Camberley, Surrey.

Natashia, 16, who has now found a safe haven at a school in Oregon, USA, says her British classrooms were gripped by chaos, with teachers powerless to act against bullies and rampant "tribal" violence. In an exclusive interview she claims:

Pupils are free to run riot while understaffed, overwhelmed and frightened teachers stand by.

Gangs rule the corridors and pupils bring weapons into school for fights during breaks.

Bullying takes place on a daily basis.

She says: "If any good is going to come out of what has happened, I would like it to be that people finally realise the situation in our schools is out of hand. Teachers have given up because they are afraid of their pupils. At Collingwood, violence and bullying were a daily occurrence. Kids feel they have to fight if they are going to be noticed. There is a strong gang culture in our schools and it's only getting worse."

Natashia - who was able to move to America because her mother was born there - says she begged authorities for help but was ignored. Her troubles at Collingwood, a school that had a good reputation and performed well in league tables, had gone on for years. She would be spat at, tripped over or pushed down the stairs.

And she faced constant abuse and intimidation, including having her jacket slashed by passing pupils. She was even knocked unconscious in class when a girl hit her over the head with a studded handbag.

Another time it took six security guards to wrench two girls off Natashia after she was chased through the town by 13 pupils. Matters came to a head in her lunch break on November 10 last year. Queuing for a school meal, she was set upon by three girls, who made jokes about cutting or, burning her hair. Natashia went to the playground - but the girls followed her. According to Natashia, the only teacher keeping watch on 300 pupils was distracted by a scuffle between two boys.

She says: "The three girls walked towards me. The one who later attacked me said, 'Have you got something to say to me?' I was so scared I was shaking. I said 'No, can you please leave me alone'. One of the others had been bullying me for three years and I wanted to stand up for myself for once. I said something like 'Go away, you three pathetic whores'. It was the worst insult you could throw. But I was so tired of the bullying I just wanted it to end. One had the scissors behind her back.

"She came behind me. I still have nightmares about it. She held the scissors up by her head just like in the movie Psycho." Fighting back tears, Natashia went on: "I tried to run and as I was turning, she stabbed me in my eye. Then she stabbed my head and back and head again - and then my back another three times.

"Next thing I was on my hands and knees begging for her to stop. I was screaming and covered in blood. The teacher ran over and was telling her, 'Stop it,' But she kept stabbing me. I was convinced I was dying."

Chillingly, Natashia's attackers gave each other "high fives" - high hand claps - after the attack. The blade had gone through her eyelid, almost leaving her blind, and she had wounds on her back.

Natashia believes she was bullied because she did not like chart music and refused to follow mainstream clothing trends. She says: "On my first day I was asked what music I liked and said 'AC/DC'. The room went quiet and one of the kids said I was a 'Metaller'. It all started from there."

Natashia's long hair and the fact she often wore a large black coat also helped to trap her in the pupils' rigid tribal system.

"From that moment I was put in with the Metallers group and no one else wanted to talk to me. But it was just a coat I had, and black is just a colour. The school was divided into groups including the Townies, the Rude Boys, the Chavs and the Gangsters.

"Every time we would have a non-uniform day there would be a fight. Pupils would bring in chains and stuff. People would go to war." The situation was not helped by the chaos in lessons. "Some teachers were not good at controlling the classroom," she says. "The students would be throwing chairs, blowing up condoms, tearing books and ignoring the teacher. A few of us would try to teach ourselves or beg her to carry on."

Natashia is now living with an aunt and uncle in Oregon and attending Bend High, a non fee-paying state school. She has joined the school band and a crosscountry ski club. Two policemen are always there to protect pupils and unruly students face immediate suspension after two warnings.

But fleeing the UK has been a tough decision - she has left behind her parents, computer sales director Humperdinck, 44, and Candace, 43, who are now suing the education authority. After the attacks, Collingwood School said what happened was "an isolated incident".

The girl who stabbed her with the scissors was found guilty of wounding at Guildford Crown Court and will be sentenced later. The two other girls were given 12-month community orders for perverting the course of justice by hiding the scissors after the attack.

Outside the court her father said he was satisfied with the court decision and glad all three defendants had been found guilty.

BULLIED OUT OF BRITAIN

Related threads:

Boys, 14 and 15, held in drive-by Police: Teens shot at rival taggers

Death linked to gangs in San Fernando Valley

No more cops for the Valley (Secession was a good thing)

Why the hang can't these gangs turn their aggressions into somethign positive? Like why can't they become bad a** (Excuse my bad language) Street cleaners, or garbage collectors, or house painters? They could war over who has the right to clean the streets, collect garbage, or paint houses or help old ladies across the streets- they could still have their gang wars & bad dudes, but they'd be fighting for something productive instead.

Christian news and commentary at: sacredscoop.com ...

CottShop wrote: "Why the hang can't these gangs turn their aggressions into somethign positive? Like why can't they become bad a** (Excuse my bad language) Street cleaners, or garbage collectors, or house painters? They could war over who has the right to clean the streets, collect garbage, or paint houses or help old ladies across the streets- they could still have their gang wars & bad dudes, but they'd be fighting for something productive instead."

Wonderful ideas. :-)

I'm full of good ideas & my psychiatrist thinks they're good too lol- she thinks I can be let out in public soon too- oops gotta go- electric shock therapy time- I'll be back when my hair stops smoldering.

Christian news and commentary at: sacredscoop.com ...

Why the hang can't these gangs turn their aggressions into something positive?

That involves work. These kids follow the path of least resistance. Children from these weak family structures know little about success or to come by it. They are most impressed by what entertains them and is done by the glamorized hip-hop scene. A "Bad Boy" get all he needs and doesn't have to work and a "Bad Girl" gets what she needs from the "Bad Boy". Successful people are squares. Why work?

lol yeah I know- I used to be part of a pseudo gang (petty crimes- nothin major thank the Lord- just bullied the town for a few years) that never wanted to lift a finger to work & yep- being succesful was seen by us as being square- you hit it right on the nose.

NYGC Gang-Related News Articles