Compassion Or Anger

           Communities shouldn't have any compassion for a person that puts themselves into the gang life. Everyone follows their own path for what they want to become in their lives; no one should give support to a gang member when they could put positive contributes into society. I knew a person when I was in high school that had successful parents and made the choice to be in the gang life. His parents kept pushing him to become something that would give him a good life just like his parents had did for him. Instead, he stayed in that life and ignored his parents; he had passed away in 2012 from a drug deal gone bad. Choosing this type of life is just like choosing a job; you have to commit your whole being to this type of life. A person shouldn't get any compassion by not doing any good in a community because there's is nothing "better" to do or it's the "only way to survive". We need to have admirable citizens in our society for children to look up to and not have any people involved in gang to affect innocent children. People that put themselves into the gang life should not get any compassion from communities. 

          People should have compassion if a person is born into the gang lifestyle. As a child if you are only around this type of environment, it's the only way of life that you are familiar with. A person's morals are made from only knowing this nature and they could be good or bad in our eyes. In the book Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle he states," In Africa they say a person becomes a person through other people,"(xiv). Being around this type of nature and seeing examples of how it's ok, it will make a child grow up to think they could do the same and nothing is wrong with it. Other options won't seem like the right path to take since all of their lives they have seen something else. For people that aren't in relation with gangs, their path is to get an education and to get a successful career; as for people that only been around gangs their goals are different like stay alive and keep their territory. People should have compassion for gang members that have been born into the gang life since that is all they have known. 

           People should have empathy for a gang member that is trying to get out of the gang life. If a person is trying to better themselves people should support them; they should set aside their past and support them for their future. I had a friend that was involved in a gang in high school, and our Junior year he decided that he wanted to change. Even though it was extremely hard for him to get out, he pushed himself out of it and graduated from high school. He went through college and he now has his own practice as a chiropractor. This shows that people can change in any type of situation if they put their minds to it. In order to do this, they need support from others so that they know that what their doing is the right thing; especially when trying something completely new that will change their life. When a person is trying to get out of the gang life, people should give them empathy and support them for what they want to become.