Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Editor's Note: This is the third in a five-part series on juvenile activity in Kosciusko County. Police, educators, members of the judicial system, residents and the kids themselves will give their impressions of local "Kids In Crisis."
Controlling gang activity is a daily concern to school principals. They're in charge of hundreds of potential gang members.
"It's certainly something we have to be aware of," said Warsaw Community High School principal Paul Crousore.
"We would all have our heads in the sand if we didn't understand that there's gang activity in all of our schools," said Wawasee High School principal Alan Frank.
Very little activity is reported at the elementary level. "Really, what you have is wannabes," said Akron principal Brett Boggs.
There is "nothing blatant" at Triton Elementary, said principal Tom Bowers. "It's awful difficult to separate what you would define as gang activity as compared to kids getting in trouble."
But the difference between wannabes and full-fledged gang members may not matter as kids grow older. "If you look like one and you act like one, you have to assume you are one," Crousore said.
Principals believe gang activity is limited to "a very small minority and the wannabes - just a handful - but this handful is very powerful," said Tippecanoe Valley Middle School principal Ted Straiger.
The power comes because teens are so peer-oriented. To students who are searching, gangs offer something very important. "The kids I see that are involved in gang situations, there doesn't seem to be much at home for them. They're looking for something to belong to," Boggs said.
