Eighteen-month investigations and major arrests are a small proportion of the costs of gangs. The long-term solution is education before such kids get out of control. And two examples shine within Western recorded history: Sparta and the Cossacks.
That’s where their nations sent their bad boys – and girls. They learned athletics and martial arts, mediation and philosophy, social skills and leadership, and whatever skills their times and people used. Many stayed only briefly and some spent a lifetime. Most were the military and security leaders of their people, and some were philosophical and political leaders.
We already have magnet schools. Some students might do better as residents. Wealthy parents use boarding schools to straighten out their wild kids, and the general public needs similar. Such schools may locate where they have more room, though kids do need contact with society. Teacher ratio must be high. But these education costs are much less than a lifetime of chase and jail. We can start small, but the need is great.
Someday classes may be small enough for teachers to deal with most common bullies. But now, when our need is great, we need the model of Sparta and the Cossacks.
