A 2004 survey conducted by the National Youth Gang Center estimates the number of youth gangs in the United States to be 21,500, with 731,500 gang members(1).

The proliferation of youth gangs into the tens of thousands has become an increasingly dangerous threat to the safety and security of our nation’s students. In 2004, 47% of law enforcement agencies said the gang problem was “getting worse”; an increase of five percent from the previous year (2). Furthermore, according to the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Alliance of Gang Investigators’ Associations, “many citizens often expressed fear of the continual violence in their neighborhoods, and also expressed fear for their children. Gang members are recruiting in elementary, middle, and high schools, and children are often forced to join one gang for protection from another three”. Based on this data, it is no surprise that youth gangs have been linked to serious crime problems in our nation’s schools.

The presence and influence of gangs in our society and in our schools is undeniable. Regardless of the threat that they actually pose to our students, teachers, and families, gang prevention initiatives in schools have been major foci among all members of school communities. Currently, the daunting prospect of creating more robust security and prevention programs designed to prevent everything from gang activity to reductions in lost teaching hours and truancy requires our nation’s schools to build programs that are comprehensive in scope, proactive in practice, and effective in execution. However, when the task is mature, the effective school security and prevention program will help create an environment where students do not have to resort to violence to express their emotions and will help foster and maintain a safe school climate, without the threat of gang activity.

The LearnSafe™ Initiative can foster that safe school climate and help schools prevent gang influence on our children. LearnSafe™ is the only national school security initiative that targets every layer of safety and security on school campuses: assessment, prevention, detection, response, training, and coordination. LearnSafe™ enhances state and federal gang prevention programs by incorporating core elements of its people, process, and technology to become part of a focused, statewide gang prevention solution.

2. Egley, A., Jr., Howell, J.C., and Major, A. K. 2006. National Youth Gang Survey: 1999-2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.