Pubdate: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN) Copyright: 2007 The StarPhoenix Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400 Author: Doug Cuthand VITAL TO DIVERT YOUTHS FROM GANGS, DRUGS, STREETS The Canada West Foundation released a report this week that paints a disturbing picture of life in the core area of western cities. Hard Times, a portrait of street level problems in Western Canada, should capture everyone's attention because it points to a future that either can be devastating or positive. The aboriginal population has doubled and tripled over the last three decades, with a resulting migration to urban centres. The older areas of many western cities thus have become aboriginal ghettos, with the social problems endemic to a marginalized people. Gang membership is common among marginalized groups. In the United States, black and Hispanic youth form gangs; in Australia it's Aborigine youth, In Hawaii it's the native Hawaiians. Western Canada, too, is experiencing an international phenomenon that sees disaffected and marginalized youth banding together for protection, material goods and a perceived shortcut to the good life. This past year has seen an economic boom across Western Canada. As a friend pointed out: "If you can't get a job, there is something wrong with you." The level of aboriginal employment is at an all-time high and many of our people are accumulating property and achieving a good lifestyle. But what about those who have been left out? What about those with little or no education, and who lack job skills and experience? How do they achieve the good life? Too many of our young people are dropping out of school and seeking the Canadian dream through a dangerous shortcut. Can't afford a new car? Steal one. Want an iPod or Xbox? Rip them off. Need cash? Run drugs or get into prostitution. It's a dangerous shortcut, but in a society that constantly shoves this stuff in your face, young people think it buys happiness. Hence the high level of gang recruitment, sometimes of children as young as age nine. Gang activity is on the rise in both Regina and Saskatoon, according to the Canada West report. But membership in a gang hardly leads to the good life. Older gang members exploit the younger ones and use them as mules and slaves. I've interviewed a number of young people over the years who've told me that gang membership and prostitution led them only deeper into trouble and despair. One young woman, who was a street prostitute, said the gang took everything she made and she was always cold and hungry. It was her drug addiction and the ready supply of drugs that kept her in the group. Young people end up doing the grunt work and running drugs, for if they are caught, they will be treated as young offenders and receive minor sentences. The young are considered throw-away people. The gangs' promises to them of cash and safety are hollow. But gang influence is growing in western cities today, with gang activity, drug abuse and teen violence ripping apart our communities. Many of our people in the core area live under a reign of terror. Crimes go unreported because of fear of reprisal. If someone is arrested, witnesses go missing before the trial. They either move to another city or turn up dead. Gangs and individuals break the law with impunity. Life also is very difficult for young people who don't belong to a gang. They are on their own with no protection. In fact, gangs proliferate as young people group together for their own protection. The result is a high rate of school dropouts, with the lack of education dooming a person to a poor lifestyle of unemployment or underemployment. Drug addiction is ruining the lives and potential of many of our people. This lack of self-control results in violence, injury or death. Many a young gang member now sits in prison, serving a life sentence for murder. Others exist with a revolving door of prison and life on the street. Still others fall victim to violence, with their lives cut short too early and unfulfilled. Gangs quite literally are a dead end and we must provide alternatives for our young people. The Canada West report provides a grim conclusion to the rising costs of this social dysfunction: "Street level problems cost us an enormous amount of public dollars to address -- from emergency shelters to policing and jails to emergency room visits." The report continues to point out the rising health-care costs associated with drug addiction and how social needs lose out as a result. In the end, we must realize that answers will not come from the outside. We need to take ownership of these problems and work to alleviate them. We must rebuild people and communities. Locking up people is only a temporary answer. Gangs continue to grow and recruit behind bars. Young warriors of bygone days were known as the "dog soldiers," because their role was to guard the camp and protect the women and children. They were peacekeepers in training and it was a noble and valuable role -- one we need to look at in today's terms. We must encourage our young people to stay in school and fulfil their dreams in a long-term and more rewarding way. They must be made an important part of the family and the community. Drug addictions should be attacked, because drugs are part of a much larger problem that needs to be addressed. Our young people need to see a future that contains a variety of choices and possibilities that do not include the abuse of drugs. Our leaders, the FSIN, tribal councils and First Nations have to address the serious problems of drug addiction, prostitution and gang violence. A large segment of the next generation is growing up divorced from its culture and its roots. These youths need our help to avoid a social catastrophe. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart