With 36 young people killed this year alone in drug and gang-related violence, the reality is that gangs have been growing in B.C. communities.
Sgt. Mark Steinkampf of the Vancouver Police sees the ravages of drugs and gangs on the street every day and says youth can be sucked into the lifestyle in a split second.
"All it takes is a handful of choices or a wrong peer group and they can easily go off the rails. They could be an 'A' student one moment and have their life fall off the rails the next," Steinkampf said.
But there are several ways that parents, police and educators can help stop any more children from becoming the next gang recruit.
One is a new program called On-Track that takes high school students to Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside to show where bad choices involving drugs or gangs can lead.
Students from nine school districts also had a chance to learn about the positive aspects of police work, from bomb disposal to marine patrols to martial arts.
Rob Rai of the Surrey Safe Schools Program said it had a positive impact.
"The kids ate it up," Rai said. "They loved it, especially some of the kids who were seen as leaders... for them to be exposed to police in such a proactive, prosocial way -- it was huge."
Students were nominated to attend because they show leadership skills, and are making positive choices. Robbie, 17, is one of those students -- but only a year ago he was heading for a gang lifestyle.
"Basically I went through depression and started hanging out with the wrong crowd," Robbie said. "My mom always warned me not to go out with them."
It was Surrey Safe School's Wrap program that helped Robbie.
The project literally wraps support services around youth and children at risk, according to Sgt. Shinder Kirk of the Integrated Gang Task Force.
"It's very dynamic. What you examine is the full spectrum of a child's life," Kirk said. "I'm very excited about what we're doing."
Surrey has also joined forces with Odd Squad, a documentary team made up of Vancouver police officers, on a new educational project called Gangs and Guns.
Theresa Campbell of Surrey Safe Schools says it will have three modules.
"One for students, one for parents and one for front line personnel," she said.
"[To show kids] the reality of gang associated life is jail, addiction or life. Were trying to take the bling bling out of the whole lifestyle and replace it with a cold, bare jail cell," Sgt. Tony Hinton of the Vancouver Police said.
Because of anti-gang programs like Wrap and On-Track, Robbie has now turned his life around. He's won a college scholarship and plans to pursue a career in policing.
"So I believe I can become not only a police officer, but inspire others to get on track," Robbie said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Julia Foy
The training symposium 'Youth, Gangs and Guns' takes place on May 22.
A free public event for parents, Youth Gangs 101, will take place at Frank Hurt Secondary School in Surrey on May 26, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. To register call: 604-507-5778.
There is also a gala fundraiser for On-Track and Odd Squad Productions on Monday, June 8, at the Westin Bayshore. Follow this link for tickets and more information.
There is also a gala fundraiser for On-Track and Odd Squad Productions on Monday, June 8, at the Westin Bayshore. Follow this link for tickets and more information.
