MONITOR GANG ACTIVITY, SPEAKER TELLS TEACHERS

When a map of Missouri showing where gang and gang-related violence prevails flashed on the projector screen, Cape Girardeau wasn't marked.

Some 250 teachers and administrators at Tuesday's school violence seminar smiled gratefully or sighed, noting the city's absence. Their comfort was short-lived.

"I don't have Cape Girardeau or Sikeston on there, but I should," Duane Voltmer, the presenter, said. "I just haven't had the chance to update my map."

Voltmer said there aren't any true "experts" on gang violence, but he might be the closest thing. He visits each police headquarters and sheriff's department in Missouri twice each year and monitors juvenile detainment in detention centers.

The Missouri State Teachers Association invited Voltmer to speak with area educators about why children join gangs, how to interpret gang graffiti and how to identify students who are gang members.

The presenter stressed that Cape Girardeau doesn't have entire gangs, but there are individual gang members here, along with students who manifest a gang-member mentality. The individual members move from cities to the rural Midwest to live with aunts or grandparents. They are sent here by parents trying to unload them or get them away from the gangs.

Voltmer attributed increased juvenile violence to television, movies and video games.

"Get into the video arcades and look at what your kids are seeing," he said. "Watch Mortal Kombat and Maximum Carnage."

He also encouraged them to look at their students' clothing -- lots of blue indicates a member of the Folk Nation, red a member of the People Nation. Any graffiti or unique clothing should be reported to the school principal and law enforcement agencies.

Lance Tollison, the detention administrator for Cape Girardeau's juvenile office, attended the seminar. He said a few young people in detention show signs of gang involvement. His office keeps a close eye on students who move in from the cities, and so far gang-related violence hasn't been a problem here.

Seventh-grade teacher Jo Peukert, an MSTA vice president, helped bring Voltmer to Cape Girardeau for the seminar. She said it isn't rare to see her students wearing gang colors or drawing forks and stars, symbols of gang membership.

"Gangs weren't a part of the world we teachers grew up in," Peukert said. "We wouldn't have any knowledge about the problem without exposing ourselves to it."