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TASK FORCE TO STUDY VIOLENCE IN OUR CULTURE
REPORT TO THE 127TH CONVENTION
DIOCESE OF NEWARK
Under a resolution of the 126th Diocesan Convention, The Task Force to Study Violence in Our Culture was created
to address the urgent problems of violence in our society, and analyze existing materials on non-violence. We were
charged with, and are striving to become, a valuable resource to congregations by alerting them not only to the
prevalence of violence Nation-wide, but also to its prevalence in our communities and congregations.
With this mandate, we look to become a tool to alert congregations of this issue, and to help congregations take
steps to work towards the common goal of ending violence in our culture.
Due to the broad scope of this resolution, and after much prayer and careful consideration of all the factors our
communities face, the Committee has decided to focus its efforts in two main areas. We feel that by doing this,
we will be most able to inform the diocese effectively about these issues, both of which are very prevalent in
our society.
The first topic of concern is violence among and against the youth of today. Some significant statistics only point
to the fact that youth violence is not only on the rise, but is a factor in every child's life. The United States
Department of Education and the Center for Disease Control surveyed the following:
-Approximately one third of students nationwide had property stolen or deliberately damaged on school property
one or more times during the twelve months preceding this survey. Involvement in violence: By their reports, 55
percent of these sixth through twelfth graders have been involved in at least one of the following types of violence
once or more in the past year: Hit or beat up someone, Vandalism, Group fighting, Hurt someone badly enough to
need bandages or a doctor or Used a weapon to get something from another person.
-Nationwide, 4% of students had missed one or more days of school during the thirty days preceding the survey because
they had felt unsafe at school or when traveling to or from school.
-8.5% of high school students carried a weapon on school property during the thirty days preceding the survey .
The second topic of concern is domestic violence. Though this topic has been discussed by Congress and the Nation,
domestic violence still has not decreased, and is very prevalent in our culture. Domestic Violence affects everyone.
Some domestic violence statistics for the State of New Jersey, as reported by Rutgers University, include:
- The most frequent day of domestic violence occurrences was Sunday.
- There was 86,631 reported domestic violence offenses which represents a 22% increase from
the prior year.
- Children in homes where domestic violence occurs are physically abused or seriously neglected
at a rate of 1500% higher than the national average in the general population.
- Domestic violence offenses arising from a dating relationship accounted for 6,946 reports
for the year.
It is with armed with these facts that this task force looks to move ahead and create, collect
and disseminate positive, insightful resources so every congregation may be able to address and discuss these issues
in a meaningful dialogue, with the hopes of working towards ending this violence not only in their community, but
in all places we effect.
We therefore present the following resolution.
Whereas, the Task Force to Study Violence in Our Culture has established that there is a need for better understanding
awareness of these issues.
Be it RESOLVED, that the Task Force to Study Violence
in Our Culture be empowered for an additional year to gather, create, and disseminate resources to help all congregations
address the problems of youth violence and domestic violence in their congregations, communities, workplaces and
bring this knowledge to all aspects of their lives.
Respectfully submitted,
| The Rev. Sunil Chandy, co-chair |
|
Ms. Laura A. Russell, Esq., co-chair |
| The Rev. Richard Bardusch |
|
Mr. Jonathan Hart |
| The Rev. Cooper Conway |
|
Mr. Kirk Hart |
| Ms. Robyn Deren |
|
Ms. Cassie Leong |
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