Low self-esteem. Environment. A desire to belong. A thirst for danger. They are all reasons why youths get involved in gangs. Although there are young gang members, Contreras is not one of them. But he and hundreds of others like him are members of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Youth Activities League.
The LASD has 16 YALs throughout the county, from Industry to Walnut to Compton to Pico Rivera to East Los Angeles to Los Angeles to South L.A. and beyond. The programs are intended to serve as deterrents to gang life and other criminal behavior, even though some involved in the program are more at-risk than others because of their surroundings.
The leagues offer after-school and summer programs where youths can play sports, box, learn about computers, dance, play video games and take field trips to Dodgers games and other events, among other things. At after-school programs, kids do their homework before they can play.
There is scuba-diving training that eventually takes kids out for the real thing. Camp Courage takes place several times a year at a gigantic wilderness reserve in Brea. Besides the ropes challenge course and rope-climbing wall, participants learn arts and crafts and archery. There are group fireside star-gazing, karaoke, water games, nature hikes, team-building exercises.
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