Symposium Offers Solutions to Violence

By Jose L. Medina, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.

Jun. 12–LAS CRUCES — Increasingly, gang members in southern New Mexico and El Paso are using the Internet as their venue for gang activity.

That was part of the information presented Wednesday during “Preventing Violence is Everyone’s Business,” an annual symposium at Las Cruces’ Holy Cross Retreat Center, which covered topics ranging from gang activity to child abuse.

“The Internet is the newspaper of the street. Where once it was graffiti, now it’s the Internet,” Rob Gallardo, a gang intervention specialist, told the crowd.

He said gang members are using popular social networking Web sites like MySpace, Facebook and others, which have become venues for exchanging threats.

Some of the threats are in the form of videos or songs.

“So we get on the Internet, we post a disparaging song about him, and guess what?” Gallardo said. “He’s not so happy about that.”

Gallardo said some parents are largely unaware of these and other clear signs of gang involvement.

He added that text messages are also being used to send threats.

Gallardo also offered a profile of New Mexico gangs, which he said number 680 as of 2002, with a membership of almost 14,000.

“New Mexico gang members are rough and tough and not to be messed with,” he said.

Earlier, Mickey Curtis, clinical director for Families and Youth, Inc. spoke about child abuse in New Mexico and Dona Ana County.

“The substance abuse issue has really driven child abuse reports up,” Curtis said, responding, in part, to a question about the perception of child abuse cases escalating.

Curtis said there are different way to combat child abuse. A good method is offering support to services available to fight child abuse and tell others about the services.

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