Kerre Woodham: Gang survivors the best teachers of teen gangsters

Youth gangs are not just a South Auckland problem. Listening to the experiences of teenagers on the radio this week, it's clear that youth gangs are an unlovely part of life right around the country. These wannabe gangsters can be found from Northland to Otago, but it's the South Auckland gangs that are in the spotlight this week, and it's the South Auckland community leaders who are trying to clamp down on the escalating violence. And more power to them for doing so.

The police came out last week and as much as admitted they were powerless and called for the community to take some action in stopping the spread of the gangs.

Which is all very well and good, but how exactly do they expect the community to operate? Take direct action, as the young man from Onehunga did, and you find yourself in court on an assault charge. Ring the overworked police stations and you take your chances on whether anyone can respond. Try to get the authorities to make your runaway kid come home and the agencies will tell you that they're unable to do a thing until your child offends - or is offended against.

If we cop out and leave it to the schools, when exactly are the educators supposed to fit in the teaching of maths and English? And how will they be able to offset the negative effect of a child growing up in a toxic household with family members actively recruiting the younger members into gang culture? Reintroducing corporal punishment - that tired old chestnut - won't work. Most of these kids know all about beatings, and for them, violence begets violence.

The young people who contacted me told me they'd only been able to get out of the gang culture by leaving their community completely. One boy moved to Matamata; another had parents willing to take on extra work so they could move him from the local school to a private school, where he's now thriving. So maybe that's an option.

I know borstals are old fashioned, but what's wrong with state-run boarding schools for kids whose home life is less than adequate. They have them for primary-aged kids; why not teenagers?

Other youngsters had a brush with the law which scared them straight and forced them to leave the gang and make a new way in life.

Poverty doesn't make bad kids. Nor do American rappers, despite the fact that their music glamorises the gangster way of life.

A lot of these kids are going into gangs to get status and a feeling of brotherhood. If you're lazy, you're weak, you're uncertain of yourself and unsure of your place in the world; if working, either at school or a job, seems like too much effort, then joining a group of like-minded people would be undeniably appealing. Gangs are for losers.

But there's no point in a nice white, middle-class, middle-aged lady like me going into schools and telling the kids that.

This is where the ex-gang members - those men and women with street credibility and with the scars to prove it - need to stand up and be accountable. Their stories might get through the thick heads of some of these kids. I certainly hope so. Because as thick as those heads are, they break open easily enough when a softball bat is applied with enough force. And we've seen enough of that already.