GANSTERISM AMONG TEENAGERS The gangsterism issue in Malaysia is a hot topic as gangsterism has been reported frequently by the

media in Malaysia. Before we delve into the issue gangsterism, let us define the meanings of this topic. According to the Oxford dictionary, the term Gangsters can be described as A member of a group of violent criminals and Gangsterism can be described as the use of tactics associated with gangsters, as intimidation or violence, in order to achieve something. Gangsterism contaminates the school environment and interrupts the educational process. There can be serious long-standing effect such as physical, emotional and physiological implications for both teachers and pupils including distress, reduced self-esteem, risk of depression and suicide, reduce school attendance, impaired concentration, fear and a diminished ability to learn. Not only do gangsters activities pose a threat to the core business of the ministry of education, but also the teaching and learning process is also hindered by such practices. There are several factors that lead teenagers to gangsterism such as stress or facing problem, poor family relationship, and mass media. Teenagers joined gangsterism when they were facing problems. Human are susceptible to social influence especially peer pressure. This is especially true when humans are facing problem, we tend to be easily influenced or even manipulated, we tend to look at the smaller picture of things and lose ground on what we should concentrate on. It is evident that teenagers joined gangsterism because of situational factors. According to Alagappar, P., Len, C.W., George, M., Lee, A.S.H., and Wong, M.S.H. in Gangsterism among teenagers in Malaysia, teenagers joined gangsterism when they are in need of something, it could be money, confidence, recognition and even a girlfriend. Therefore, they joined gangsterism as a pathway to seek recognition and acknowledgement from others. They want to be somebody. They want to be recognized among their peers.

They may not have a good relationship with the family during their teenage life. If they maintain a healthy relationship with the parents, they might not have ended up as gangsters. Mention by Alagappar, P., Len, C. W., George, M., Lee, A.S.H. and Wong, M.S.H. in Gangsterism among teenagers in Malaysia. Although, the government try hard to restore a culture of learning and teaching, incidents of gangterism, theft, vandalism, burglary, rape and even murder are still reported on school ground. The study also showed that students participate in gangsterism because of three main factors which is family, living environment and academic achievement. Parents play the most vital role in a childs progress in life and if a child encounters a problem, parents should be the person who helps to stop or control the problems. In addition, family should not only understand the material needs and wants of the children but also the psychological needs and wants of them. Therefore, a healthy and close-bond relationship can prevent teenagers into joining gangsterism. It is no doubt that the mass media plays a complex and uncertain role in the characterization and propagation of gangs. According to Fatimah (1995), mass media has a strong influence in influential the teenagers way of thinking. There may be no proven, recognized link between violence in media and real acts of violent killer by disaffected youth, but many people believe that there is. Hence, there is a need for teenagers to understand that there is a clear distinction between the written description of gangsterism by the media and the gangsterism in the real world and the media should also educate the viewers that being a gangster does not gives you the privilege to do whatever you want.

As the conclusion, there are several approaches and ways to curb this issue. Firstly, schools should enforce a rule whereby every student is compulsory to join a minimum of one cocurriculum activity. This can served as a prevention to stop children from becoming gangsters. Having more active participation in co-curriculum activities will obviously decrease the gangsterism rate among the teenagers. Co-curriculum activities will not only equip the teenagers with practical skills but also communication skills. Teenagers will learn how to communicate with their members in meetings, projects and competition. Most importantly, students will be spending their time productively instead of straying around and engage in unhealthy activities. In addintion, parenting skills must be done. Community empowerment projects such as parent workshop should be organized to educate the parents how to communicate effectively to their children in all circumstances. Parents must be trained as counselors and also people in the community must be trained as counselors to the teenagers.

References: Online Journals: i. Alagappar, P., Len, C.W., George, M., Lee, A.S.H., and Wong, M.S.H. (2005). Gangsterism among Teenagers in Malaysia.
ii.

Osman and The Gangzat. (2008). bel422 bas3a.

Internet: i. ii. Book: i. Sulaiman Zakaria & Fatimah Azzahra (1995). Jenayah Remaja. Selangor: Terbitan Pinang http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangster