In the United States of America as well as
in many places throughout
the world, tens of thousands of our youth are joining gangs. Peer pressure and fear, or the hunger for
meaning
and purpose, or the desire to belong to something are
irresistable
forces that can, if misdirected, pull young persons in the wrong direction. They could venture into a lifestyle they will later regret.
I wish I could take these wannabes, gangbangers and
roleplayers
on a tour of my prison.
They would see men who've
been
sitting in steel and cinder block cells year after year, many never knowing if they're ever going to get out.
I would show them the before amd after effects of the criminal lifestyle.
They will find men who have come to prison facing lengthy sentences. They will observe how the
years have taken their toll upon each inmate. Youthful looks have eroded. Black hairs turned to gray. Strong bodies have bowed
to weakness and old age. And
the dreams and hopes these men had in their youth have long since
shriveled and faded.
Sadly, the guys in gangs, and adolescents who've joined
crime
crews, think the're so cool. But they don't realize the
danger
they are in. Getting busted or getting killed seems so remote, as if it could hapen to other individuals and
not to them.
How powerfully the devil traps naive and malleable minds with the falsehood;
"It can't happen to me!"
Prisons
and graveyards are
filled with young persons who believed this lie.
David
Berkowitz
June 14, 2005
(c) 2005 David Berkowitz
