“The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office just received almost $150 grand to combat gang activity in Akron. It doesn’t come as a surprise to us that there is gang activity in Akron. However, while it’s great to be receiving money to combat gang activity and reach out to youth, it won’t solve the bigger problems.”
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The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office just received almost $150 grand to combat gang activity in Akron.
It doesn’t come as a surprise to us that there is gang activity in Akron.
However, while it’s great to be receiving money to combat gang activity and reach out to youth, it won’t solve the bigger problems.
Overwhelmingly, one of the biggest reasons people – including youth – turn to gangs is the poverty in which they live.
While it’s great to spend money to keep kids out of gangs, there are overarching problems that must be solved, too.
For example, what do we do about the lure of money and status, especially for children with little hope of achieving either?
One thing we could do would be to help the poor in Akron get out of their poverty.
Take a trip out to the suburbs. Is there a lot of gang activity in Solon?
But when mom is at work 60 hours a week and dad isn’t around, it’s easy to see why kids turn to gangs.
However loving and caring a mother may be, nothing can make up for the fact that she can’t be around as much as she wants.
But the gang is there, and it always is.
So what can we do? Instead of just focusing on prevention efforts, the local, state and federal governments could increase their social services for the poor.
They could insure a minimum income, complementing the salaries of people who fall below the poverty line. They could change the tax system into a more progressive one where the rich pay more taxes and the poor pay less. Or, they could simply increase funding for public schools.
There are a lot of options the government has to help the poor get out of poverty. And when we see the poor in Akron making better lives for themselves, we’ll also see gang activity decline.
Prevention tactics are a quick fix. But in the long run, gang activity is going to be around as long as poverty is.
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