Look for the troubled ones early.
The syndrome of problems leading to this lifestyle is well known and therefore not difficult to identify, if you are trying.
Early pregnancy, absent fathers, school failure and drop-out, lack of family economic success, and a propensity to violence and drugs.
It is not any one of these that matters so much as the group of them taken together. The syndrome is virtually a guarantee of life going in the direction of gangs, in search of prestige and some degree of economic success through drug-dealing.
Such kids must feel someone takes an interest in them, and they often need to be offered alternatives to satisfy their needs for recognition and some form of success.
These would include good sports programs, art, music, and useful trades-training for kids who often do not have high academic potential.
