As a kid living in Livonia Michigan some of my everyday worries are things like catching the bus on time or whether I should ride my bike or walk to my friends house. In the inner streets of Harlem, New York kids have to worry about enemy gangs pulling up and opening fire on them on their way to school. African American kids in Harlem, New York and other violent cities have to deal with so much more than kids like me and you.
From the day their born it's almost a fact that they will be joining a gang about as soon as they hit the age of twelve. The gang that they joins all depends on whether or not they were born on 145th Street or 155th. The things that those kids grow up witnessing would have you crying after one day.
Gangs shooting up the block and druggies making deals on the corner are things these kids witness at a young age so why wouldn't think it's the right thing to do. When your ten years old you look to take after kids who are older than you. You admire them, so as you grow up you join the same game as your idol who is probably dead by know thanks to a drive by.
It's a viscous cycle these kids are pressured into but getting killed probably isn't even the worse consequence. I guarantee some kids would rather die then be ridiculed for not joing gangs or killing and dealing drugs but for Jesse and CJ it's the decision that they make and the story shows the struggle it takes to stay clean of those things.
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