Dear Future president,

First I would like to congratulate you on winning the election. There are many problems that go on in the United States. I understand that you have many things to worry about and only 4 years to try and do your best to fix them. The biggest problem for me would be the violence that happens in America, specifically gang violence involving teenage boys and girls.

The first reason gang violence should be your biggest concern is because innocent children are being shot, beaten, and killed. A gang is a group of people who have a common characteristic such as a distinctive name, slogan, tattoo or other markings. The statistic that has increased the most in recent years has been the number of homicides associated with gangs, an increase of 25% between 2007 and 2012.

Secondly, the reason why you should get rid of gang violence is because it gets kids to start their lives off with a bad representation of themselves. The growth of gangs has been mostly in urban areas where lots of high paying jobs are located. It is already hard enough to get a job you like and, it is even harder to get a job when you have a jail record. You need money to buy your wants and needs. People with a history will have a hard time to make any type of income when they start their life on the wrong path.

Finally, the last reason is that once you are in a gang it is hard to get out. One day watching a documentary about real life people a boy admitted to being in a gang and trying to get out. He stated that the only way out was to kill his own mother. It was upsetting that he had to hurt someone he loved to better his life.

I think gang violence is like a disease killing many young people day by day. The number of gangs in urban areas is very bad for young children in these areas. It is even more alarming that there are about 30,700 gangs in the United States. Please don’t let children start walking on a bad path early in life. Fix gang violence involving young children and put them on the right track.

                                                        Sincerely, 

                                                                           Amaya