lololol   I love it ...  I'm going to send a copy to friends.   I'm starting to see you in a different light Jim.   I look forward to reading more of your posts.   There are very few selfless men who can actually look outside themselves and see the entire world as you do. Your insights and humor are refreshing.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. A pat on the a--(er, back) is always appreciated.

Jim

Nice post ---- I love my little place on this planet.

I was at Blockbuster the other day - that's the Tehachapi branch on Tucker and Valley:  the kid in front of me in the check out line was droopy drawer ed, tattooed to kingdom come and swearing (made my swearing look real amateur - and really, I'm pretty good at it) and  in casual conversation with his "girlfriend" who had flab dripping over her low riders, boobs hiked up just under her double chin ---,my, my, my.  I sound like my mother complaining about my teased up hair.  But really - these kids were from ....... where? 

I'm real liberal - not accepted in many of these posts - but I found it hard on my soul to see these lost kids.  I had to wonder about their proud Tehachapi parents.  I find the new attitude of not caring about anyone else's attitude very unsettling.  Maybe I'm just crappy tonight.

I am a retired Criminologist and worked for 5 years at the Lancaster Sheriff's Department where I helped maintain a computerized database of the local Gangs before I moved up here. I am considered a Gangs Specialist. Lancaster and Palmdale are currently in a fighting mode against gangs and the local citizens there have joined forces with law enforcement to sweep the streets clean and drive them out of town. Where do you suppose they will go? Hint...North.

Yes, we are seeing more gang activity up here and more are on the way. We even have local, home-grown gangs. Why do kids join gangs? One of the reasons, and perhaps the biggest one, is for a sense of belonging. Many kids are largely left on their own or completely ignored by their families. So, they join the gangs to have someone who will look out for their interests and someone to hang with. Unfortunately, they are ultimately up to no good deeds and they enable each other. We have to take a proactive approach and be on the lookout for gang activity in Tehachapi. Take pictures of any gang graffiti you see or anything that looks suspicious and turn them in to the authorities. Most people today carry cell phones with camera's. Gang graffiti always leave clues. Some will give the name of the gang and/or their location and the name of the "artist".  These taggings are not generally able to be read or deciphered by the average citizen but law enforcement knows how to do it.

We need to connect with todays youth and work with them BEFORE it gets to the point where they want to join a gang. I hear kids all over town complaining "there's nothing to do here". We have to find positive things for them to do, to get involved in, to volunteer to help those in need. A place for them to "hang." Parks and Recreation and sports activities are fine but not all kids are either sports minded or adept. They must all be included in civic minded activities. We must make them feel safe and needed and wanted and useful.

Jim Richards

You are right Jim - those baggy clothes are gang "take off" and were originally adopted by gangs to hide drugs and weapons.  And you are right about parentS input.  I see very young children, 4 or 5 years old, dressed up like a gang member.  I guess the parents think it is cute.  As the kids get older and strike out on their own, they consider deviant behavior the norm. 

I've mentioned that I run left of most people on this site, and I can swear and raise a little hell as good as any one I know.  BUT - I anayze my audiance, I would never behave badly in a public place and I was taught at an early age and, of course, in the business world, that diplomacy is the best way to get things done, i.e. get what you want.

Our future and upcoming generation is not scary because they wear unattractive clothes but because they don't know how to act in an acceptable manner.  How will they rule their/our world?  For all the reasons stated by GregL, canibeyou and jimr, these kids need help and unfortunately they don't even know it  - and neither do their parents. 

I did extensive volunteer work in LA, but my time is consumed with Stallion Springs "goings on" now.  I know the library and the Tehachapi Police Department, along with Parks & Rec have programs but parents have to encourage their kids to join these activities.  There's the rub. 

I think we may have an editorial for the newspaper working itself up here. 

Hey, Greg and Luv, never be afraid of expressing your convictions. Alas, the days of "The Walton's" are gone and will never come back again. It seems that today's "parents" (and I put that in parenthesis deliberately) are no more than Roommates to their kids. It's like they are saying, "you go ahead and live your own life and I'll live mine." It's exactly THAT kind of attitude that makes the GANGS all the more alluring. Somebody to belong to and somebody who gives a damn about you. Bottom line...it's the breakdown of the American Family. In my day it was, "you live under my roof and I pay the bills, you will live by my rules. If you don't accept that, then get the hell out". Again, "Parents" are the real whoosie's in their own kids worlds. Period. End of Report.

Jim Richards

I see good and bad in what you are talking about LuvMyKatz. On the one hand I would be glad my daughter doesn't feel the need to impress anyone, and is comfortable enough in her own skin to go out looking like that. On the other hand I see what you are saying about self respect.  When I was younger I wouldn't leave the house without makeup on and I was dressed accordingly. Several years and three kids later make up is a luxury I often do without. lol 

I honestly blame the parents. I mean who do you think buys these clothes for them in the first place. Even when I was working(which was at 16 as soon as I could) and using my own money I still wasn't allowed to buy clothes my parents didn't like. lol I still remember my father throwing a fit because my prom dress had straps and not a full sleeve! lol Ok, so my parents were a bit extreme, but I understood their points. (even if I didn't like it at the time :) )

What happened to respecting one's elders? To knowing what was acceptable in public and what wasn't .To taking your hat off  while inside the house or during the NATIONAL ANTHEM for that matter. Or just caring for someone other than yourself in general.

We live in a feel good society. Everything is acceptable. No one wants to ruffle feathers or hurt feelings. You are considered horrible parents and fear being turned in to authorities if you spank your kids. Parents seem to be investing less and less time into their children as they work more and more trying to keep up with the cost of living.  Teachers and after school programs are expected to raise their kids for them. If discipline is needed the parents are constantly looking to place blame somewhere else. It's never their kids fault. Accountability for ones actions seems to be non-existent. What do we expect in a world where criminals have the same if not more rights than their victim's do.

I should have slowed down and read most of the posts I was trying to hurry because I had to leave for work. I didn't realize we were talking about the baggy pants wearing gang bangers I was just thinking of how my kid will be lazy sometimes. But let me clarify what I mean by portray the correct image: To me just pulling your hair back and throwing on flip flops is acceptable if you at least take the time to put on jeans and get out of the baggy sweats for going to the store. My daughter will want to wear the sweats with the paint or stains on them out to run errands and that looks sloppy to me for anything other than doing housework. I don't expect my daughter be materialistic or dress in a manor which is uncomfortable to her but I also will not buy anything I feel is in appropriate for her if she wants anything like that she can use her own money and wear it when I am not with her fortunately I don't have to deal with that because she can be more conservative than I am sometimes.

My daughter is almost 20 and not into drugs, not pregnant, honestly the only thing I really have to complain about is she is giving up a good job working at Disney World to come back here and she refuses to go to school and get an education. I don't want her to be stuck here with a no-nothing job just because she is homesick so I guess everything she is doing right now is sensitive to me because I can't get it through her thick head she will regret this decision later. We have been fighting non-stop since she left and this time she won I can't live her life I can only offer my opinion.

***I spanked my kids when they did wrong and praised them when they did good

***I didn't give into their demands when they were little when I said NO

***I was accused by my own mother of being to strict

I feel I am reaping what I sew now since gangs have never even been an issue in our home. I am not a church goer so that had no influence on the upbringing of the kids either but I was their friend when they needed one but most of all I was a parent.

I know I made many mistakes along the way and I think I am still making them so sorry if I gave the impression that my daughter was anything other than a normal teenager I am; just.. like I said above; being negative and sensitive since the time of her return is near. So sorry if I posted about the wrong subject in the wrong blog ~please forgive.....

~Not the Walton's but Not the Osbourne's either...just somewhere in-between~

Oh my goodness, I am afraid I am both guilty of running into town a bit disheveled, because I'd rather get my kid to school on time than look like a fashion model. I have to wear suits most of the time, so frankly, I don't dress up to go shopping or in town just to be seen by someone on the weekends or days off.

AAAH! I have my son that recently  threw a tantrum in the market?  Am I doomed?  I did give him a good tongue lashing when we got to the car, but sometimes a 5 year old can make you want to  shrink back in embarrassment in a public place, and they know it too. Anyone who has kids has probably experienced this at one point or another.  I do spank him on the butt when it is well deserved, but I also find that taking away things he really likes work well too.

I despise the baggy gang banger look, and the teens seem to really want to look like something from Mars these days. It's up to their parents. I also think there has to be some leeway on how they dress, at that age, because if you are too strict it will come back to bite you. If a kid is doing well in school and staying out of trouble, I'd probably let them put a splash of purple or pink in their hair if they earned it. Teens at that age are just looking to express themselves. Think back to when you were a teen.  I used to wear army boots and fatigues, but I was a straight A student.

I have also found that if you look too good on the outside, your inside just might need a bit of housecleaning.