For Parents and Trusted Adults

• Be actively involved in your children’s school life — attend school functions, keep in contact with teachers, find out about and use school support services (such as guidance counselors, social workers, school resource officers). 
• Know where your children are at all times and schedule activities to occupy their free time. 
• Do everything possible to involve children in supervised, positive activities, particularly while you are at work — school clubs, extracurricular activities, after-school academic or cultural enrichment programs. 
• Make sure you have a plan to communicate and touch base with your child when you are at work and a backup contact if you are unavailable. 
• Plan family activities — as simple as a meal together, a walk in the neighborhood, a trip to the community center — and insist that your child participate. 
• Praise your children for doing well and encourage them to do their best. 
• Teach children to set positive goals, to hold high standards and to prepare for a positive future. 
• Get to know your children’s friends and their parents. 
• Set limits for your children and enforce them. 
• Do not allow your children to dress in gang-style clothing, to practice gang hand signs or write gang graffiti on any surface, including their bodies. 
• Explain to your child that a very small percentage of youth join gangs. 
• Make sure your children understand that you are against gangs. Communicate openly with them about gangs. Read articles to them and discuss the consequences of being part of a gang. 
• Be a positive role model. 

For Schools

• Ensure that gang awareness and drug prevention are part of the curricula and present these programs to parents. 
• Identify at-risk students and students who are already gang members. 
• Work with Student Safety and Wellness Office, Hearings Office, parents, counselors and other school personnel to determine when intervention is necessary. 
• Encourage students to participate in sports, drama, music, art and other positive activities that will increase their confidence and sense of belonging. 
• Photograph and remove all graffiti from school grounds and property. 
• Promote after-school programs that address prevention of violence.