Gilroy
– As far as gang symbols go, roses were not on one mother’s
list.
Annette Aguirre, the mother of a 12-year-old middle school
student, said she was surprised and confused when her daughter and
three other girls were suspended last week for having roses at
school.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – As far as gang symbols go, roses were not on one mother’s list.
Annette Aguirre, the mother of a 12-year-old middle school student, said she was surprised and confused when her daughter and three other girls were suspended last week for having roses at school.
But it wasn’t just the roses, a school official said. It was that the roses were pink – a color that is more frequently being associated with gangs among girls – and an intimidating behavior that went along with them.
Just before the start of school at Brownell Academy Middle School, the girls were all carrying pink roses that one girl had brought to campus. The girls approached another group of students who were sitting and talking to each other. Then, one of the girls with the roses stepped forward and began plucking petals and throwing them at the feet of the other group, according to Assistant Principal Jim Gama who, along with Gilroy police Officer Mike Terasaki, saw the action as a threat.
“Those are the kinds of things that we want to avoid, when we have students that are expressing intimidation,” Gama said.
All four were suspended for the day and placed under a contract prohibiting them from breaking school rules, wearing gang colors or exhibiting other gang-related behaviors. Under the contract, the girls cannot wear red or variations of red, such as burgundy, one of the school’s colors, or pink.
“My daughter has no ties to gangs” and has not had behavioral problems, Aguirre said. “Can we use a little common sense here and continue to keep our children in a safe environment without going to an extreme? When did a flower become offensive?”
The problem was not the flowers, but the behavior, Gama said. The first reaction from students is often to say they are not in a gang.
“I tell them, ‘Maybe you’re not, but that’s not what your behavior was indicating at that time,'” he said.
Schools are trying to be proactive in stopping gang threats before they start, he said, so a student who is not exhibiting the behavior still may be placed under a contract if he or she is associating with students who are.
“I just think that they’re labeling my daughter. I think they’re jumping the gun,” Aguirre said.
Gama said the school is quick to identify problems and is protecting most students’ right to wear what they want.
“The balance, of course, is students can wear whatever color they want – it’s the behavior that puts them on that contract,” Gama said. “We have not banned any colors from our school. Why would we punish the 95 percent of our students who don’t ever have any kinds of problems at all?”
Pink has come to the attention of school officials in Gilroy and many other communities as being a gang color, associated with the red used to identify Norteño gangs. During a meeting with police and Santa Clara County Juvenile Probation before the start of school last fall, school officials first heard of the emergence of pink as a gang-related color, Gama said. Earlier this year, the school district’s safety officer said he noticed more girls throughout the district, but particularly at the high school, wearing the color.
A group calling themselves the “Pink Ladies” also has emerged. Police distributed to school officials a message from someone identifying herself as a member, to reveal that the group is established and making written threats replete with obscenities and references to the color pink.
“The general public is just starting to realize that this is something they need to pay attention to,” Gama said, referring to subtle intimidation such as using the rose. Other juveniles may simply wear a red or blue belt and do something as subtle as lift their shirt to send a signal to someone they perceive to be a rival.
“They won’t say a word, but by lifting their shirt and showing their belt, they’re saying ‘You better watch yourself,'” Gama said.
Be on the lookout for these behaviors
Gilroy – Gilroy schools struggle constantly with trying to keep the influence of gangs away from students and off of campus.
Aside from an out-right ban on gang colors, traditionally blue and red, schools allow students to wear what they choose – provided they abide by the dress code – until their behavior indicates their clothing may be sending a message.
Some of that behavior includes threatening other students, flashing gang signs, writing gang-related terms or symbols, or saying gang-related terms.
Students exhibiting such behavior sign a “behavior contract,” as per district policy, that prohibits them from wearing gang colors, including shades more popular with girls, such as pink or light blue.
In the contract for Ascencion Solorsano Middle School, students sign below eight rules regarding attendance, dress, and behavior. Students who are on the contract – five currently – cannot be involved in any gang activity at school, have any gang writing, pictures, red or blue clothing, or red or blue items.
For four girls suspended from Brownell Academy Middle School last week, those items would include the pink roses that caused their suspension. The girls carried pink roses on campus and pulled off the petals in a way that intimidated another group of students, according to a school official.
If they break the contract, they are immediately suspended and may be expelled or placed in Gilroy Community Day School.
If students respond by changing their behavior, they may be removed from the contract.
Many parents are unaware that their children may be associating with gangs, even though there could be physical or behavioral signs, school officials say.
Schools offer parents some tips on what symbols or behaviors to look for. In relation to the Norteño gangs, watch for the color red, including shoe laces, a single glove, bandanas, hair scrunchies, wrist bands, headbands, and belts or underwear hanging from the pants. The same items in the color blue are associated with Sureño gangs.
Also watch for numbers: 14, XIV, four dots on the knuckles or cuts in eyebrows, and flashing four fingers are all associated with Norteños, while 13, XIII, three dots or cuts, and three fingers are associated with Sureños. Some terms and symbols to note include Nor Cal or an 8 ball, indicating Eighth Street in Gilroy.
Any parent should contact their school if they are aware of these behaviors, or if their children often use a blocked or balloon style of writing, which are similar to graffiti.
