c. 1998 Religion News Service

NEW YORK _ While religious leaders and those who counsel at-risk youth have vastly different theories about why such incidents as the recent shootings in Jonesboro, Ark., take place, there is agreement among many that congregations and faith-based organizations must do more in ministering to children before they resort to violence or become victims of violence. “Much of what we’re seeing is a result of spiritual disintegration in this country,”Linda Lantieri of Resolving Conflict Creatively told more than 200 religious and community leaders, experts and journalists at a Columbia University conference,”Damaged Kids, Delinquent Reporting? Covering Children and Violence.””Churches, synagogues and mosques have a critical role to play in creating a safety net of protection that kids need,”said Lantieri, whose organization has taught 150,000 young people nationwide to nonviolently mediate their differences.

The early April conference, although planned far in advance, took place just two weeks after the slaying of four girls and a teacher in an Arkansas school yard. Two young boys, 13 and 11, are being held as suspects in the case. The incident hung heavy over the conference.

The goal of the Columbia event was to arm journalists with information on children’s issues to stimulate more in-depth media coverage on young people, violence and the programs that may aid them.

Speakers included Nicholas Scoppetta, commissioner of New York City Children’s Services; the Rev. Michael Eric Dyson, visiting professor of African American Studies at Columbia University; John DiIulio Jr., director of The Jeremiah Project and professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University; and James Garbarino, director of the Family Life Development Center and professor of human development and family studies at Cornell University.

The panelists examined an array of topics related to children including the role of brain development, home and neighborhood influences, the legal system, a critique of current media coverage and the state of faith-based outreach to at-risk youngsters.

Garbarino told the session that children are spiritual beings whose”core of caring must be nurtured as a real antidote to violence.”He said it is vital that faith-based organizations address issues of the human spirit in seeking to prevent violence.

But how many children and young people are being reached by churches, synagogues and other faith-based organizations is still uncertain.

The Jeremiah Project’s DiIulio said his Philadelphia-based organization will soon begin surveying programs in a number of cities to find answers to that question. Nevertheless, he said, even though religious organizations may reach only a small number of young people, they do minister to the hardest hit.”It’s these institutions, more than social service agencies, who are reaching probated juveniles, sons and daughters of persons who have been incarcerated, kids kicked out of school, or those who don’t have a single adult in their lives able to take care of them,”said DiIulio.

Dyson, author of books on Malcolm X,”gangsta rap”and race, cited poverty and economic inequality as the core factors contributing to violence in both America’s inner cities and its rural, working class communities like Jonesboro.”Events like those in Arkansas are not episodic,”said Dyson, who is also a Baptist minister.”They are the result of a long-term environment of economic and social terror that eventually results in violence.” As part of his impassioned presentation at the conference, Dyson implored listeners to pay attention to the”violent narratives”of young rap singers, who are”searching for meaning.” To make his point, Dyson recited lyrics sung by Tupac Shakur, the 25-year-old rapper gunned down in 1996:”Somebody help me, tell me where to go from here. Cause even thugs cry, but do the Lord care?” Behind the words of the hip-hop sound, Dyson said,”is a plea for religious, faith-based salvation”and a”hunger for justice.” Joseph Edwards of Brooklyn, 20, one of several young people attending the conference, expressed support for faith-based outreach but questioned how religious groups can more effectively connect with today’s youth.”These organizations need to reach out to kids on a broad scale,”said Edwards.”They need to advertise and broadcast what they’re doing, so kids get that these (religious) ideas are cool. It’s OK to be smart. It’s OK to help others.” DEA END CHRISTIE