School Violence Reports 2012-
2013
by Jim Gerrish
The data in this table was self-reported to the New Jersey
Department of Education (NJDOE) by each school district over the
NJDOE’s Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System
(EVVRS) and allegedly has been verified by districts and charter
schools.
According to a report in the Star Ledger dated
December 12, 2013, the East Orange City
Council is considering a proposed resolution to implement
anti-domestic violence measures across the city:
"The Aquilla Flood Domestic Violence
Act would require the East Orange School District to adopt a
comprehensive domestic violence curriculum for students in grades
6 to 12 beginning in Fall 2014, according to Tomecca Keyes,
president and co-founder of East Orange Citizens United For
Change."
I humbly suggest that before we begin thinking
we can simply "legislate" good behavior in others, we
take a hard look at the facts and statistics of non-domestic
violence in our schools that has been growing steadily from year
to year. Surely we can begin by agreeing that "domestic
violence" is just a part of the general rise in non-domestic
violence in our community. This violence, as reported by our
schools, is a reflection of adult violence in our homes and in
the streets of East Orange brought about by the imitation of
adult behavior by our children.
In the above comparison chart of local school
districts, East Orange has a disproportionately high level of
violence reports compared to neighboring Newark. The number of
students in East Orange schools is 1/3 the number of students in
Newark, yet the numbers in violence categories are substantially
greater than 1/3 in East Orange (except for the dubious
"Bullying" number reported in the HIB column). Our
neighbor on our western side, Orange Township, has about 1/2 the
number of students in their schools as we have, but the violence
category numbers are far lower than the 1/2 we would expect
proportionately (again, excepting that dubious
"Bullying" number in the last column).
If we are serious about reducing domestic
violence, we need to get serious about reducing all types of
violence in our community. Since we can't build a wall or moat
around East Orange, we need to join with our near neighbors in
helping to reduce the violence in their neighborhoods as well.
But first, we need to define who "WE" are.
I submit that "WE" are the grown-ups
of all ages in our communities who have decided to take personal
responsibility for our own conduct and behavior. Our first
responsibility is to make sure we have peace and order in our own
homes and families. Only then can we join with other non-violent,
peaceful, like-minded grown-ups (of all ages) in our
neighborhoods.
It's all well and good for the East Orange
School District to pretend they can add another piece to their
curricular requirements, but when we see how poorly they are
performing in teaching reading, writing and arithmetic, I'd say
that a new "comprehensive domestic violence curriculum"
in the school is not a good place to start. This learning belongs
in the home and the teaching is the responsibility of all the
grown-ups (of all ages) in the home.
Before getting the schools involved, I'd
suggest the local churches, synagogues and mosques ought to take
some responsibility for their congregations in providing
leadership, resources and support in this effort to reduce
violence in our community.
Before getting schools involved, I'd further
suggest that our local businesses and merchants have a stake in
promoting a non-violent community in which their businesses can
blossom and grow. They can also begin taking personal
responsibility for their immediate environment to keep the
streets and sidewalks litter free from their wrappings and
containers.
Finally, when we have our individual, family,
neighborhood and business acts together, I suggest we can get our
schools involved, not in any kind of artificial curriculum that
depends on adding another teaching load on teachers, but which
uses the schools' PTA organizations and committees to gather
like-minded grown-ups (of all ages) together to talk about
problems and find solutions.
The HIB category is relatively new: Harassment, Intimidation,
or Bullying (HIB): HIB means any gesture, any written, verbal or
physical act, or any electronic communication, whether it be a
single incident or a series of incidents, that is reasonably
perceived as being motivated either by any actual or perceived
characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national
origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and
expression, or a mental, physical or sensory disability, or by
any other distinguishing characteristic, that takes place on
school property, at any school-sponsored function, on a school
bus, or off school grounds as provided for in section 16 of P.L.
2010, c.122 (C. 18A:37-15.3), that substantially disrupts or
interferes with the orderly operation of the school or the rights
of other students and that:
• a reasonable person should know, under the circumstances,
will have the effect of physically or emotionally harming a
student or damaging the student’s property, or placing a
student in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm to his
person or damage to his property;
• has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or
group of students; or
• creates a hostile educational environment for the student
by interfering with a student’s education or by severely or
pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student.