Most MHS students will never be faced with the choice to become a gang member. We don't have a "gang problem" here in McMinnville, right?
Many MHS students complain about the anti-gang school rules that prohibit wearing bandanas or making certain hand gestures.
What is the big deal, anyway?
Joining and quitting a gang is nothing like taking part in a school club. The consequences may be life or death.
One MHS student, who for obvious reasons must remain anonymous, is very aware of the dangers of being involved in gang life. For the purposes of this article, he will be called "Joe."
Getting into a gang is easy, but getting out and staying out is harder than it seems. Joe came to MHS in hopes of getting away from gang life and making a better future for himself. For Joe, his way out of the gang was moving to a community outside the reach of his former gang, so he would not be tempted to return.
Why join a gang? Joe said, "I thought it was cool." Joe grew up "somewhere else," and when he moved to Oregon at the age of 10, he started hanging out with a crowd of people who accepted him and provided him with protection and friendship. These new friends were a part of a gang and offered him membership. Joe was initiated into his gang at the young and impressionable age of 11.
In order to become an official member of his gang, Joe had to withstand "brico," an initiation ritual in which the new member stands still for 15 seconds while all the other members of the gang hit him repeatedly.
This is not, however, the only way to be initiated into a gang.
"You can get into a fight with someone in your family," said Joe, "or you can injure someone from a [different] gang." Joe's gang initiated children as young as eight years old.
For some, joining a gang is a matter of personal safety because they live in a gang-affiliated neighborhood, while others may come from a family where gang membership is a way of life. Both are true in Joe's case. Joe said, "My uncle, he is dead already. He used to be a gang member." His father was also heavily involved in gang life.
Joe left the gang due to the many males in his family who were involved in gang activity, but that is not the reason he joined.
"It was a difficult childhood... they used drugs in front of me," said Joe.
Joe experienced firsthand what happens to a person who continues being a member of a gang into adulthood. His uncle was murdered in a gang fight and to this day Joe and his father don't have a close relationship, only speaking a few times a month.
Gang life is often glamorized in movies and rap videos, but the reality is less Hollywood and more war zone.
"Generally, gang activity is [associated] with [dealing] drugs," said Officer Robert Harmon of the McMinnville Police Department. Joe admits that drugs are a huge part of gang life.
"When you are in a gang, the first thing you are going to do is you are going to use drugs for sure. There is a lot of marijuana, cocaine and you are going to use them. I used drugs."
In addition to drug use, even in the smallest of gangs there is always a threat of violence. Not long after leaving the gang, one of Joe's friends who had stayed in the gang was shot, exactly the sort of thing Joe wanted to avoid.
Joe left his former life behind after two and a half years in a gang, so he could have a better future.
"...I knew the way I was going, I would end up a criminal, I would be in jail. I didn't want that. I wanted a better life for me. I wanted a better life for my sisters. I want to show my [family] that I can be a better person, that I could go to college and get a better education, and I just don't want to screw up my life."
"The gang I used to be in, they were more my friends than a gang," Joe said. That made it easier for Joe to leave. Luckily for Joe, his gang did not threaten or hurt him, they just let him go.
He still keeps in contact with some of the members, but Joe needed to move away so he would not be tempted to return to his old ways. He is fortunate that some of his family members supported his decision, and agreed to help him with this transition in his life.
"I'm still a troublemaker," Joe said with a smile. After three years of being away from gang life, Joe doesn't have to worry so much about violence, drugs and the other bad or illegal activities that are part of gang culture. His former life, however, is never far away. Joe's trained eye knows that there are gangs in McMinnville, too.
"They have gangs here in Mac. They're like wannabes. They're not really gangs," said Joe. According to him, gangs in McMinnville and the surrounding areas aren't as serious as the gangs in California, New York and other populous urban areas.
This does not mean that the gangs in Oregon should be taken lightly, because there are still problems with drug sales and use, violence and other crimes, which is why Joe believes that affiliation with gangs should be avoided.
At present, MHS does not have gang violence or much obvious gang activity on school grounds.
"If you are in school, you aren't going to see none of that stuff," said Joe.
According to Joe, the most one would see around the MHS school halls, which was also true of his former school, is gang members wearing all one color such as red, black or blue, wearing certain brands of clothing, using gang symbols or possibly some tagging.
"When gang members show their colors it can be intimidating [to other students]," said Harmon.
"[Gangs are] not a huge problem, but there is an issue," said Harmon when asked about gang activity at MHS.
Harmon said that the biggest issue MHS tends to have is tagging, having already caught two kids in the act his year.
"[Tagging] comes in spurts," said MHS custodian Jerome Verduyn. Gang-related tagging shows up in the school (mostly in bathrooms) about one to two times a week at most, according to both Harmon and Verduyn.
"Building a relationship [with the gang members at school] is a huge thing in combating this issue," said Harmon. According to Harmon, gang activity used to be a daily occurrence on campus but has dropped drastically in the past few years.
"The only thing I can say is not to get involved in gangs; they will screw your life [up]," said Joe, who is a good example for others. His example is a brave one, but it must remain a silent one.