PHOTO BY PAULA MULLER
From left, Police Chief Kevin Coppinger, Francisco Paulino and Lt. Peter Holey at North Shore Community College discuss how social media influences gang recruitment.
BY DILLON DURST
LYNN — Francisco “Cisco” Paulino is a product of the city’s gang activity and violence.
The 27-year-old Lynn resident was arrested 10 years ago on gun charges and spent nearly five years in prison. He credits Straight Ahead Ministries, a nonprofit that helps juvenile offenders develop skills to live healthy, independent lives, for setting him straight.
Paulino, a Straight Ahead Ministries outreach worker, and Lynn Police Lt. Peter Holey, visited North Shore Community College on Thursday to discuss how social media influences gang recruitment.
Paulino showed some rap videos, including popular artists such as King Louie and Chief Keef. Paulino’s point: these are the people who are influencing young, inner-city kids.
The first music video Paulino showed the audience, which referenced to “trapping” or selling drugs, had more than 120,000 views. The second video, King Louie’s “Live & Die In Chicago,” had more than 5 million.
Today, lots of rappers are involved with a gang or created their own, he said. It’s now considered cool to represent a gang, and some clothing has even morphed to feature gang symbols.
“Young people are being exploited,” Paulino said. “Somebody thinks it’s a good idea to market $320 shoes in a neighborhood where cats can’t even pay their rent.”
Paulino also showed the audience gang tags on Google, and said that instead of paying attention in school, a lot of kids are studying how to perfect a tagging.
Holey, a member of Lynn Police Department’s Youth Services Division, said police scour social media, and noted that it has led to numerous convictions.
Since 2006, Holey said, Lynn has achieved nearly a 75 percent reduction in gang membership and activity.
Holey and Paulino agreed that broken homes, traumatic childhood events, being poor, among other hardships, lure kids into gang life. Many of the city’s kids grow up with little family stability, leaving many hopeless.
“The more hopeless somebody gets, the more violent they get,” Holey said.
The gap leaves a spot for gangs to flourish, Paulino added.
But Paulino is striving to help.
After being released from prison in 2009, Paulino, a North Shore Community College graduate, joined Straight Ahead Ministries while on his parole. He began as a lead street worker, reaching out to and forming relationship with Lynn’s troubled kids.
“Young people get a bad rap,” Paulino said. “I think young people have a desire to serve.”
Part of Paulino’s job is to help juveniles get their GED, introduce them to potential employers and help them get jobs.
“A lot of young people have to fend for themselves,” he said.
Without the Ministries in his life, Paulino said he would’ve had a much harder time recovering after being released from prison.
“Working with the youth in the city has changed my life as much as I’ve changed theirs,” he said. “I’m privileged to be a part of it.”
Dillon Durst can be reached at ddurst@itemlive.com.