It's hard to take, but it's life too. If you're gonna represent your 'hood it's gonna happen. Nick is spending a few months at Boys Totem Town, a correctional facility for juveniles in St. Paul. He's in for burglary this time. Totem Town is a kind of transition point between Ramsey County's juvenile jail and freedom.
Counselors say at least half of the teens here have some connection with a street gang.
Experts say for most young people who get involved, gangs are more a rite of passage than a life-long choice. Totem Town Superintendent Frank Hosch says 85-percent of juveniles who get in trouble in Minnesota do not go on to commit crimes as adults. Like many gang members, he's from a troubled, low-income family. He says his mother is an alcoholic and drug addict who's been mostly absent since he was small. He says the Bloods gave him what he needed.