NEWS

Campaign to curb domestic violence launches at Morris Knolls

Michael Izzo
@MIzzoDR

ROCKAWAY – Domestic violence is a serious issue in professional sports, so much like the DARE program appeals to children before they reach an age where drug use is more common, the Jersey Battered Women’s Service has launched a campaign on the issue aimed at young athletes.

The Yellow Card campaign focuses on giving college and high school athletes the tools to recognize the warning signs of dating abuse and lead the way in preventing it.

The program launched Wednesday afternoon at Morris Knolls High School, where the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams who helped shape the program celebrated its introduction.

“Morris Knolls basketball helped us determine how we would move forward with this important new program that we believe can be a model for high school and college teams everywhere,” Jersey Battered Women’s Service executive director Patricia Sly said. “Now, we’re excited to come back and officially launch the program with them.”

Morris Knolls basketball player Michael Chapman, a junior, addressed his peers at the event, saying it was a “true honor” to be one of the first student athletes to take part in the Yellow Card program.

“We have seen the statistics in our hallways and we are equipped more than ever with tools to intervene and recognize unhealthy relationships,” Chapman said. “Now is the time for responsibility and accountability… To promote an environment of respect, it starts here, in this gym.”

Like running with a basketball without dribbling, Chapman said, relationship abuse is unacceptable and students need to have the courage to pass the message along to family and friends.

Sly said basketball players from Morris Knolls help craft the terms and concepts used in the campaign.

“Student athletes are natural leaders, and Morris Knolls was very receptive to piloting this program with us,” Sly said. “I hope they become great upholders for dating abuse prevention.”

Through dating violence may not seem like an issue that affects younger athletes, the National Institute of Justice recently surveyed a sample of middle and high school students in the tri-state area and found that 33 percent reported experiencing psychological dating abuse. Eighteen percent reported experiencing cyber dating abuse, 21 percent reported experiencing physical dating abuse, and 9 percent reported experiencing sexual coercion.

The student athletes received Yellow Card T-shirts and signed a large “pledge” poster that will be hung in the school. They were also given Yellow Cards, similar to penalty cards in soccer, which contained warning signs of abusive relationships.

“Dating doesn’t have a playbook, but it does have rules,” read the front of the cards. Students were encouraged to spread the cards throughout the school.

The slogan will also start appearing on billboards throughout Morris County.

The Yellow Card campaign will primarily target male athletes ages 14 to 22, with a goal on encouraging student athletes to “set the tone” in the locker room and the classroom that relationship abuse is unacceptable.

“Yellow Card reaches these athletes at an important and vulnerable time in their lives,” Sly said, “And teaches them not just how to make the right choices in their own relationships, but how to promote healthy behavior in their peers.”

The students were given the warning signs, which they then used to model healthy behavior in their own relationships. The goal is for the student athletes to take what they’ve learned and pass it on, stopping others when they see something they know is wrong.

The program involves direct training sessions with teams and groups of athletes, game-day awareness events, a media campaign and a resource website, No2DatingAbuse.org.

Every athlete involved is asked to sign the same pledge Morris Knolls students did Wednesday, which is available for anyone to read and sign on the website.

Jersey Battered Women’s Service plans to take the Yellow Card program to other colleges, schools, and independent sports programs in the area.

More information about the Yellow Card campaign can be found at No2DatingAbuse.org.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com