High schoolers in Chesapeake are referred to guidance counselors. Middle schoolers get the lesson in health class: how to spot gangs, what gangs do, and how to stay away. Now Chesapeake wants to extend these lessons to elementary school students, and eventually even kindergartners. Starting this fall, students in grades three to five will have gang prevention and awareness classes. Eventually, the division hopes to put these lessons in place at all the elementary school grades, said Anita James, director of elementary curriculum and instruction. The new lessons are part of a series of steps Chesapeake schools have taken since the School Board retreat in January, when the board discussed ways to prevent gang activity in schools. The Police Department also has conducted sessions with school administrators, and new teachers and student council members have been instructed to watch a presentation on recognizing gangs and gang members. Other local school divisions have courses at the elementary school level that touch on gangs as part of a larger curriculum – two years ago, for instance, Virginia Beach added a gang component to its DARE program at the fourth-grade level. Norfolk police conduct gang-prevention programs at the request of a school principal. But Chesapeake will be the first South Hampton Roads school division to have a divisionwide, gang-specific program for younger students. Chesapeake, too, had a generalized program for elementary schoolers that focused on decision-making, conflict resolution, and citizenship, James said. The current program “gives more general information that you hope students will rely on and relate back to when they’re confronted with situations that could result in activities with gangs,” she said. “But by being more specific, we can make sure that they know” exactly how these lessons apply to gang-related issues. “We’re not going in this direction because we see a huge increase in the number of younger students in gangs,” James said. “We’re going in this direction because we want to prevent that.” The lesson plans haven’t been completed, James said, and teaching elementary schoolers about gangs isn’t the same as teaching older students. Some might not understand, she said, but they can learn to deal with specific situations and about the concept of gangs. “A lot of the kids that are in this environment, they don’t know what it is, that’s it’s bad, that it’s something that’s not normal,” School Board member Tina Pullen said. “I think anytime we can start making them aware, it helps.” Original Article by Alicia Wittmeyer can be found here.

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