"I dont see any 12 year old members of the Gambinos. "

That's not really a good comparison. Not everyone involved with a family is necessarily a member. The mafia seems to have always had 'feeder gangs' like elite schools had feeder schools. A good example is from the recent NatGeo documentary call Inside the American Mob. The last episode about the Bath Avenue Boys,a Bonanno 'feeder gang', and basically said that these guys were involved very very young. I believe Calandra said he was involved before he was even 10 years old. They worked for the Bonannos, but were not actual members. The same may apply to the Gambinos or other families as well.