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Wannabe Gangster Gets Harsh Lesson From Former Gang Member

Wannabe Gangster Gets Harsh Lesson From Former Gang Member

The teenager was brought on to the Dr Phil show after a string of bad behaviour

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A teenage wannabe gangster came face-to-face with a former gang member who gave him something of a reality check.

Fifteen-year-old Dawson was brought on to Dr Phil by his parents, who said their formerly 'preppy' son was now trying to be a gangster after hanging out with 'the wrong crowd'.

Appearing on the show, his mum Dawn and dad Chris said he was expelled from school after being found selling weed and then caught by police giving pills to a girl.

They told the host he's become 'fascinated' with guns, and that he shares photos himself posing with guns on social media.

Dawson has ended up on the local news after running away. At the end of their tether, his folks hauled him on to Dr Phil's show to try and get him back on the straight and narrow.

In an attempt to show him that being a criminal is far from glamorous, Phil called out a former gang member named Joseph, who gave him a bit of an earful.

Addressing the teen, Joseph said: "First of all, it's disrespectful. Very much. You got two loving parents right there, man.

"So something else is inside you that's pushing you out there, but to be a gang member and to think it's cool, bro."

Former gang member Joseph was just nine when he was first arrested.
Dr Phil/CBS

While Dawson sat there looking very sheepish, Joseph continued: "I've been shot four times. By the time I was 25, I had [been] 13 years incarcerated. I was first arrested at nine years old. But when I walked outside my house, there was nothing but homies. When I walked back in my house, my father was a homie. When he was not in prison.

"I thought those were the cards that were dealt to me. To hear you say that it's cool, it blows me away, youngster. It breaks my heart.

"To carry a gun, what are you going to do when somebody runs up to you and you gotta strap? You gonna pull the trigger? And then what? You can't get that life back, bro.

Dawson's parents say he started hanging out with the 'wrong crowd'.
Dr Phil/CBS

"There's nothing cool about taking somebody's life. I promise you."

Dawson's parents look a little tearful as reformed character Joseph continued: "The street life, bro, I don't do the scared straight thing, because you're going to be, like, 'Haha, that's what they all say.'

"But going to prison sucks. My boys have died in my arms, man."

He then pointed out that thanks to Dawson's mum and dad bringing him on the show, law enforcement would know who he was - which means, as Joseph put it, 'your gang career, it gone'. Well, that's that then.

Featured Image Credit: CBS

Topics: TV and Film, US News, crime, US Entertainment