What Do You Learn from the Documentary About Teenage Gangs?

The documentary looks at ex-members of teen gangs and their story. Reggie Yates had a hypothesis about teenage gangs – ‘Nobody is forced to become a criminal. It’s you as an individual not your surroundings’. To answer his hypothesis he follows Aaron, Terese and Darren’s lives and witnesses how they are coping being away from the smoking, stealing, and selling and how they are trying to change.

The documentary first starts looking at Aaron, Terese and Darren who were all part of gangs. All of them landed themselves into prison for their actions but reflecting in a cell soon made them change for the better.

Aaron landed himself in a gang at the age of 14 years, where he was peer pressured and attacked with a knife. He lost his trust for people and started robbing and drug dealing. These actions soon led him into 9 months in prison. Talking to Reggie, Aaron explains that he misses his high status and the fast money which he had when he was in a gang. He explains ‘We were like a family; everyone protected each other in the gang life’ showing that he also misses the security the gang gave him. The document taught the audience that one of the positive outcomes of teenage gangs is that if one is in difficulty there will always be someone there they can rely on to support them.

Darren Burnes was part of a ruthless gang were he took part in attacks and drug dealing. His gang life started at school where he had enough of bullying and threw a popular down the stairs. After that he felt ‘untouchable’ and as if he was wearing an ‘invisibility cloak’. This shows that gang life expresses strength and power type qualities which intimidate and scare people.

Further along in the documentary, the audience is taught that teenage gang life is very scary and dangerous, especially in ‘hotspots’- Lives can be lost, Wars between rival gangs can take place, and the police roam around the place regularly due to street robberies etc. David Williams, a man that learnt from his doings in...