Sometimes, a drawing of a pitchfork or spiderweb takes on a lot more meaning than meets the eye.

That’s what about two dozen parents learned last Wednesday as they gathered for a special gang awareness seminar at Holly Springs Town Hall.

“This town does not have any kind of a major issue right now,” said Mayor Dick Sears. “There’s more gang wannabes here than gang members.”

The theme of the evening was more on prevention and warning signs than correction.

“We’re not seeing a big problem here, but everyone around you has a big issue,” said Det. Jeff Minschew, a member of the Wake County Sheriff Department’s gang unit. “It’s good to get a jump on it.”

Minschew and Lt. Anthony Revels of the Holly Springs Police encouraged parents to be active in their children’s lives, no matter how young they are.

“You need to look at who they’re hanging out with,” Minschew said. “Somewhere down the line someone’s gonna be the associate or the friend of a gang member. It bleeds into what your kids are doing.”

Revels said he has seen gang members as young as 8 years old.

“Even in the middle school bathroom, tagging seems to be cool,” Revels said of students creating graffiti. “Gangs aren’t a big-city problem anymore, they’re a Wake County problem.”

Chief John Herring of the Holly Springs Police said there’s no one mold to determine if a child is at risk for gang activity, but there are things to look out for.

“One common thread is there’s a lack of activity,” Herring said, adding that gang members are usually not involved in sports or school clubs. “What they don’t have is what a gang’s gonna give them. That’s their family. They’re looking for their place in the world, and we don’t want them to find it in gangs.”