You have gang members in your clroom. What moral message would you present?

This sounds like a homework question..Any answer you write on paper would pale in comparison to what the reality is in a clroom where this is a real issue........On the other hand I teach 4th grade. Many of my students have family members in gangs, some are headed there themselves. We talk about choices, about the reality of how hard peer pressure can be and how the reality of prison is not "glamorous" like on TV.....Gangs provide many of these kids with the sense of family, protection and self-esteem they find lacking in their lives.Regardless of the violence and threat of harm, many find gangs to provide them with support and belonging...Those are powerful emotions and hard to counter with just words....What they need are role models, people who look like they do, who come from their neighborhoods, to tell them how to get out of the cycle of poverty and crime......