Gang activity in Cobb County high schools

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

SaintMarks, you are one of the wisest posters on CD and I'm glad to call you my friend.

The feeling is mutual And this thread is relevant, not so much in that this is 'new' news, but that the MDJ still cares enough to highlight it. That shows that the attitude isn't "it is what it is" but that the community is still standing against it.

I still don't know how much the problem comes from "real" gang activity or simply wannabes. But the petty theft and vandalism is still a problem, whether it is classified as gang activity or youthful indescretion.

Anything of value is worth fighting for and Cobb is still worth fighting for....

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

I drove a school bus back in the day for Cobb County (when I was a part time youth pastor and needed the extra income... and even more the excellent health benefits that school employess received... but no longer.... but that is another story...). Drove for Lassiter and Pope from 89-94. I remember Cobb County police coming to our safety meetings back then, 20 something years ago and speaking on the increasing influence of LA based gangs in Cobb County Schools and the awareness that us drivers needed to have.

There is nothing new under the sun. East Cobb is not in decline. The evil that lurks in men's hearts (and their children) and the vigilant fight against it has always been and ain't going away.

Brother Marks bus-subbed my route back in the day. We didn't know each other--but, he knew my route...and I was definitely on the bus.

Pope High School: 1990-94. Go Hounds!

[viningsgt]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

The feeling is mutual And this thread is relevant, not so much in that this is 'new' news, but that the MDJ still cares enough to highlight it. That shows that the attitude isn't "it is what it is" but that the community is still standing against it.

I still don't know how much the problem comes from "real" gang activity or simply wannabes. But the petty theft and vandalism is still a problem, whether it is classified as gang activity or youthful indescretion.

Anything of value is worth fighting for and Cobb is still worth fighting for....

That was my takeaway as well. I figured that there is some sort of gang and drug activity in nearly every public school in GA. I'm glad the paper recognizes it, and that the administration isn't going to tolerate it.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

There is nothing new under the sun. East Cobb is not in decline. The evil that lurks in men's hearts (and their children) and the vigilant fight against it has always been and ain't going away.

Cobb is certainly not the south side of Chicago, but the problem doesn't seem negligible either. 244 incidents last year spread over Cobb's 17 high schools is an average of 15 gang related incidents per school.

The article says they tend to be concentrated in the south portion of the county. So while some schools may have little gang activity, it is apparently not insignificant in others.

[leahbecker]

Just wondering why McEachern High School and all of the middle schools in Cobb County aren't mentioned.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by leahbecker

Just wondering why McEachern High School and all of the middle schools in Cobb County aren't mentioned.

I assumed McEachern was lumped in with the reference to South Cobb being where most of the gang activity was taking place (though the story mentioned that East Cobb's Wheeler actually had the most students under discipline or probation for gang activity!)

Speaking of McEachern, the decline in its student body has been very pronounced over the past decade and it's quite sad considering the fact it has arguably the finest campus of any public high school in Georgia, the Southeast and perhaps the nation.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

I assumed McEachern was lumped in with the reference to South Cobb being where most of the gang activity was taking place (though the story mentioned that East Cobb's Wheeler actually had the most students under discipline or probation for gang activity!)

Speaking of McEachern, the decline in its student body has been very pronounced over the past decade and it's quite sad considering the fact it has arguably the finest campus of any public high school in Georgia, the Southeast and perhaps the nation.

One of the things that may have pushed along the changes in the student body at McEachern might have been in 2006 when the more-affluent north end of McEachern's attendance zone was taken for the formation of Hillgrove High School.

Make no mistake, McEachern is a still a great school, but it just does not have seem to have the same concentration of power and influence that it had before the attendance zone was split for the formation of Hillgrove.

[smb90]

I graduated from North Cobb back in 2009, they've had "gangs" at that school since before I even started there back in 2005. First off, I put gangs in quotations because honestly, those who were in gangs in my school, to me were just cliques that hung out together, fought occasionally, maybe sold some weed, and MAYBE broke into a couple houses here and there. Thats it and nothing more. I know in southern Cobb they did a little bit more but NOTHING in Cobb compares to the real gangs out in LA or Chicago, or even some of the ones in Atlanta around back when I was in high school. These gangs honestly, especially at North Cobb are nothing to even worry about, many of them joined just so they could be considered cool and to fit in. Many of them didn't even get involved in any type of criminal activity. So to me, alot of the pple in Cobb are wannabes in my opinion and I've never understood the reason why many in Cobb, especially North Cobb, try to emulate that lifestyle. Even though I was friends with some of these people, the fact that some of them were in a "gang" was my biggest pet peeve. Especially when alot of these kids came from good families. Now with that said, I know there are some issues currently in pockets of southern Cobb, but at North Cobb, I wouldn't even sweat it.