Hampton Roads has a gang problem. From Suffolk to Virginia Beach, and everywhere in between, it's hard to avoid the signs, the signatures, the violence members cause.
Last weekend, it was impossible.
On Sept. 26, Rashawn "Peanut" Finney, an I.C. Norcom High School senior and football player, died after being shot weeks earlier at a Chesapeake party. Finney was also identified as a leader of a street gang.
A Wilson High student - who police say is a member of the Bloods gang - was arrested, charged with attempting to choke to death another student in a school locker room.
The house of a Granby High student was shot up in a drive-by.
And so the Granby football game at Booker T. Washington was moved to Norview and rescheduled from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, as was Norcom's game with Maury, and Churchland's game at Lake Taylor.
The football games were moved because school officials worried that gang violence would spread from the neighborhoods and into the bleachers, or onto the field.
It seems a small thing, rescheduling football games, especially when measured against a potential for violence. Whether we admit it or not, though, it also marks a moment when we blinked, when we allowed thugs to change the plans of so many law-abiding people.
The school division was in an absolutely impossible position.
If the games had gone on as scheduled and something - heaven forbid - had happened, school officials would have faced tragedy and blame. They would have felt responsible for things they can't control, as teachers and administrators so often do.
The abundance of caution was understandable. Admirable.
But the decision, designed to frustrate the thugs and criminals, also undeniably disrupted the lives of thousands of Norfolk residents: football players, families, fans.
The alternative would have been to let the games go on under greater police presence - a protection that could not possibly reach every fan and every corner of the stadium or the surrounding neighborhoods.
Given the circumstances, the schools made the right decision. The tragedy is that they had to make it at all.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
we cannot allow them to win
I feel so strongnly about this issue, and it's heartbreaking to see so many young people killed, gang member or not. Since so many of them are juveniles one has to wonder where the parent(s) are. I wonder why parents) can't be held accountable for their kids? It's not enough for me to see a 16 year old gang member face juvenile count, and the parent(s) face nothing. I look at this as child neglect. These parent(s) have neglected their children, and it appears obvious there is no parenting at all. One thing that never gets reported is where the gang member obtained the gun they used in the killing. IF that gun is a legal weapon and can be traced to it's owner then why can't that owner be charged? Our entire legal system needs to be reviewed, regarding gangs, and the punishment to be much more sever than it is, and that goes for the parent(s) as well.