Parents are being given advice on how to spot whether their child is in a gang.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith launched an eight-page booklet called The Gangs: You and Your Child in a bid to help stop youngsters getting involved in gang culture.

It suggests looking out for teenagers using new or unusual slang words, using a new nickname and suddenly acquiring new possessions or money.

Parents are advised to be involved in their child's life, to get to know their friends and their friends' families and to encourage them to get involved in positive pastimes and activities.

The booklet was developed with the help of the Association of Chief Police Officers, local authorities, the Family and Parenting Institute and community groups including Mothers Against Violence.

It will initially be distributed in cities included in the Government's Tackling Gangs Action Programme - London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.

Ms Smith said: "There are people - some relatively young - who are willing to commit horrendous acts of violence.

"But what we also know is that we can change things by working together.

"I think that parents are a vital source of support both within communities and, specifically, to their own children and to young people."

The Home Secretary spoke at the launch of a victim support charity, the New Year Shooting Memorial Trust, set up by the mothers of two teenagers killed in a notorious drive-by shooting in 2003.

Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were gunned down in a botched gang attack outside a New Year party in Birmingham.

The booklet Gangs: You and Your Child can be seen at www.direct.gov.uk/gngs

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