Araceli Martínez-Ortega
La Opinión
May 1, 2007

SACRAMENTO.-  Starting next year in California, parents of some gang members would be forced to take violence prevention classes.  They would have to pay for the classes themselves, similar to the classes that drivers have to register for when they violate traffic laws.

The school for gang member’s parents could become a reality if the proposal that so far has received overwhelming bipartisan support is signed into law.

AB 1291 from Assemblyman, Tony Mendoza (D), Artesia, would allow juvenile courts to send a court official to the house of the gang member who is a first time offender.  This official would determine if the gag member’s parents have to register for violence prevention classes.  The judge would have the final say on this matter.

The classes for parents would focus on: how to recognize that their children have joined a gang and are involved in drugs, how to communicate with their teens, where to get educational support, where to find recreational activities and job training  for their children, where to find agencies that can help alcoholism and drug related problems.

The classes would also educate the parents about the legal system.  The fines and sentences that their children face if they are found guilty.  They would also learn the fines and sentences that they themselves could face for aiding and abetting their children’s criminal activities.

Although the classes would have to be paid by the parents, AB 1291 would set the parameters for an alternative payment plan.

The costs would be similar to those applied by the Department of Motor Vehicles, DMV, for traffic school.

“ We have to help parents take control of their children, there are many parents that want to do it, they just don’t know how” said Assemblyman Mendoza, a former elementary school teacher in East Los Angeles.

“There are good parents whose children, for one reason or another commit violent crimes; and yet there are others whose alcohol or drug dependencies are so severe that force them to get involve with gangs”, added Mendoza.
“We need to end the cycle of gang related activities in the families end stop the endless cycle that sends young gang members in and out of jail”, sentenced Mendoza while emphasizing that his proposal is a great first step and is flexible to address different family realities.

AB 1291 is supported by the cities of Cerritos, Norwalk, Whittier and Santa Fe Springs as well as council members from the cities of Artesia and Hawaiian Gardens.

Antelope Valley’s Republican Senator, George Runner, says Mendoza’s proposal is reasonable because it proposes that the state demand parents of young gang members that have been arrested for their first offense, to take violence prevention classes.

“This will help parents understand what their kids are going through, and in the end it is their responsibility to take care of them”, said Runner.

Despite that, Runner lamented that other tougher sentencing bills for gang members are not passing out of committee hearings.

Meanwhile, Victor Ríos, a University of California Santa Barbara professor that has researched the gang phenomenon, and was a gang member himself in his teen years criticizes an aspect of Mendoza’s bill.

“I honestly like Assemblyman Mendoza’s bill, although I would like the classes to be free”, said Ríos while adding that the bill would greatly help parents because they would learn how to help their children when they commit a gang related crime.

When questioned if the classes should be given to all parents, Ríos said that it would not work that way. Unless they are imposed by the courts to the parents of the affected youth, all parents would not either have the time  or desire to attend.

Assemblyman Mendoza’s bill was approved unanimously on its first hearing in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.  It will now be heard on the Assembly floor where it is expected to be approved and then head to the Governor’s desk.

In Los Angeles alone, between December 2004 and November 2006, the number of  Hispanic based gangs doubled from 246 to 417.