Letter to the editor: Isolating gang-affiliated students is the wrong move for school safety

On the heels of a Canyons School District student losing their life due to gang violence, parents want stricter guidelines, such as barring known gang members from attending in-person school. While demanding change is a must, isolating students who are at risk of delinquency rather than questioning environmental factors will not provide the solutions parents hope to see.
If a student is labeled gang-affiliated and consequently expelled for it, this will only reinforce the belief that the student is incapable of becoming anything other than a problem to be dealt with.
I am not advocating that nothing should be done, but rather that something entirely different should be done in Utah communities. If students were identified as being at risk for gang activity and sent to social services that could provide support group therapy, they could identify what has led them to this point. Through motivational interviewing, they could address better ways forward that include what is best for them and society as a whole.
There will be friction or hostility until students recognize that they are more alike than they are different and can identify with one another. Banishing students will only add to the animosity.
Benny Sandoval
Salt Lake City