Dear Editor:
I would like to bring to your readers’ attention legislation that is currently in the New Jersey Assembly. This legislation is very important for children and their families.
Assemblymen Peter Barnes and Patrick Diegnan (both D-Middlesex) are sponsoring legislation that would mandate a curriculum in our schools that would teach our children the dangers of gang activity.
Every year, gang violence steals hundreds of young lives and ruins families all over the United States. Teenagers, and even younger children, join gangs because they have emotional needs that are not being met by their current social, education and family situations. They are reacting to peer pressure to “belong” and some children will do anything to belong.
Our schools are in the position to be able to educate our children about the dangers involved in gang activity — and to reach them at a very young age. Some gangs are said to be recruiting children as young as eight years old. I find that shocking and most disturbing.
I urge everyone, whether you have children in school or not, to write to your legislators to ask them to support and pass this legislation that would mandate the development of an anti-gang curriculum for every school district in the state.
This is an issue which affects every resident in every community in New Jersey. Gang activity has been found throughout the state — in urban, suburban, and rural areas. It’s time to face up to it and to teach our children that their lives are worth so much more.
Brian P. Stack
Mayor