Gang activity in Cobb County high schools (Atlanta, Columbus: crime, best schools)

[Newsboy]

A rather startling story on the front page of today's Marietta Daily Journal asserts that there are documented gangs present in "every Cobb County high school" -- a statement that includes highly regarded schools like Lassiter, Walton, Pope, Kell, Wheeler, Harrison, Hilllgrove, Kennesaw Mountain and others.

While I don't doubt this possibliity, it still begs two questions:

1. How does the community define gang activity in Cobb County? Is it simply being hyper-sensitive?

OR ...

2. Is Cobb County not the utopian suburb many make it out to be, and is decline an unavoidable inevitability?

Read the article and discuss:

The Marietta Daily Journal - Authorities Gang activity present in all county high schools

[Columbuskidd92]

I hate to say it,but there's probably gang activity in every public school in America.

[TriV E uhM]

Expanding on Columbuskidd92, this article does not come to me as a shock.

[LovelySummer]

I guess I wonder why this is news. Everyone knows that Cobb County schools, especially those in the wealthier areas have drug issues. Rich kids with nothing to do but take drugs. So I guess you pick ur poison: send your kid to school with kids that do drugs or send them to school with gang members. Seems like both going on in CobbCounty. Maybe ppl will stop acting like money and running from ppl with less of it is a cure-all.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

2. Is Cobb County not the utopian suburb many make it out to be, and is decline an unavoidable inevitability?

Sorry to differ from the majority but I think it's tragic.

Not long ago Cobb County was known for having some of the best schools in the state. How can they go so quickly from that to what's described in this article?

I am still stunned about those Cobb teens who viciously beat an innocent man in Mableton and threw him into the road to be run over and killed.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Sorry to differ from the majority but I think it's tragic.

Not long ago Cobb County was known for having some of the best schools in the state. How can they go so quickly from that to what's described in this article?

I am still stunned about those Cobb teens who viciously beat an innocent man in Mableton and threw him into the road to be run over and killed.

Cobb County still has some of the best schools, not only in the state of Georgia but also in the entire Southeastern U.S.

It's just that with a population of more than 700,000 people (a population that is higher than many major American cities), Cobb County has a much-higher (and much more diverse) population now than it did in its suburban heyday of the 1960's through the early 1990's when Cobb's population was dominated primarily by upper-middle and upper class higher-income earners.

With a population that is much more racially and socioeconomically diverse than in years' past when Cobb had a much-smaller and much less-diverse population, particularly with so much relatively cheap housing available during the overdevelopment and overbuilding booms of the 1980's-2000's, crime is going to be an issue, there's just no way around it in a highly-transient community of over 700,000 people with an abundance of relatively cheap housing.

Though while Cobb may be experiencing a notable uptick in gang and crime activity because of its growing population and overabundance of relatively cheap housing, Cobb County's gang and crime problems still pale in comparison to the gang and crime problems that the even larger suburb of Gwinnett County has faced in becoming the main drug distribution hub for Latin American drug cartels on the East Coast.

[Newsboy]

I'm with you Arjay. I think that stating "it is what it is" and just accepting it as unfortunate fact is just as dangerous as denying it at all.

I read this article and had a very hard time putting my head around the very idea that there are GANGS in schools like Walton and Lassiter -- two of the whitest, wealthiest, most success-driven high schools in Metro Atlanta. I know that every high school has kids on the fringe that fall through the cracks ... but East Cobb is clearly NOT "West Side Story." South Cobb is another situation entirely, unfortunately.

I'd really like to hear the opinion of some Cobb residents on this.

[deacongirl]

I talk to Walton High School kids all the time, and have never heard anything but that they feel safe and happy at school.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

I'm with you Arjay. I think that stating "it is what it is" and just accepting it as unfortunate fact is just as dangerous as denying it at all.

I read this article and had a very hard time putting my head around the very idea that there are GANGS in schools like Walton and Lassiter -- two of the whitest, wealthiest, most success-driven high schools in Metro Atlanta. I know that every high school has kids on the fringe that fall through the cracks ... but East Cobb is clearly NOT "West Side Story." South Cobb is another situation entirely, unfortunately.

I'd really like to hear the opinion of some Cobb residents on this.

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.

[Newsboy]

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.

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