Anti-Gang Guidelines Proposed For Schools -- Behavior, Not Colors, Is What Officials Say They Will Not Tolerate

Seattle students won't be punished for wearing sagging pants or other gang insignia to class.

But they will get into trouble if they wear gang clothing and intimidate others, flash gang signs, write graffiti or disrupt school.

Those guidelines are part of a student-behavior code to be proposed by the district's new anti-gang task force.

The group hopes to present the behavior code to the School Board for adoption within the next few weeks, according to affirmative-action manager John Yasutake.

``You can't stop them from wearing a certain style of clothing,'' Yasutake said. ``Clothing is just the tip-off. Behavior is where you zing them.''

``If you wear a Raiders cap, sag your pants, stand in the halls flashing gang signs and intimidate other students, you're out of here,'' Yasutake said. ``But if you just wear a Raiders cap, go to class and don't bother anybody, that's not a problem.''

One Los Angeles-based gang has adopted the Los Angeles Raiders football team's emblems as their uniform.

The behavior code is part of a proposed anti-gang strategy that includes:

-- Increased cooperation between the Seattle Police Department and the public schools.

-- A policy of ``no tolerance'' for gangs and hate groups.

-- Expanded staff training about conflict resolution and gang issues.

-- More anger-control instruction for elementary and middle-school students.

The anti-gang task force has also suggested regular locker searches throughout the school year and the purchase of metal detectors for each of the district's middle schools and high schools.

The detectors would be used at all special events, which would start earlier than they do now and end before 11 p.m.

Police and school staff should share information about gang-related incidents, gang members, and rumors of trouble so that they can intervene and prevent violence, according to a draft memo of understanding between the police department and the schools.

The organizations should also create a joint Gang Response Team to help individual schools with gang prevention, intervention and conflicts, the memo says.

The task force, composed of law enforcement officials, teachers, counselors, administrators, school security staff and a custodian, has been working on the anti-gang strategy since October.

Last month, a West Seattle High School student was stabbed during a lunch break and a Ballard student was knifed when he tried to break up a fight. It is unclear whether the incidents were gang-related.

Gang activity in Seattle's schools has picked up in recent years with the increased migration of gang members from Los Angeles, said Mark Della, who directs gang-prevention, conflict and anti-drug and alcohol programs for the district.

But he says most of the teen-agers he deals with are Seattle youths who are gang ``wanna-be's.''