"What's Killing Our Kids?" March 11 Conference at C.W. Post

January 12, 2005 - For parents in the suburbs, it was not that long ago that the threat of gang violence was as remote as metal detectors at school entrances. The threat is now a reality on Long Island, with statistics showing that rural and suburban areas have the fastest growth in street gangs. Getting a handle on the types of violent behavior that feed gang recruitment will give parents, schools and communities the tools to put a stop to behaviors that put children at risk.

On Friday, March 11, 2005, a panel of experts will present workshops at a conference titled "What's Killing Our Kids?" The workshops will address the many causes of gang and childhood violence so that parents, educators and counselors have the tools they need to end violent behavior and make children safe in Long Island communities. The conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Hillwood Commons at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, Northern Boulevard (Route 25A) in Brookville.

Workshop topics include: Programs to Prevent Youth Violence; Adolescent Suicide; Childhood Obesity; Dating Violence; Fight Intervention Strategies; and Self-Mutilation and Cutting.

Retired Suffolk County Detective Wes Daily, president of the East Coast Gang Investigators (ECGIA), will be the conference's keynote speaker. Daily formed ECGIA to expedite information sharing between gang investigators. East Coast Gang Investigators also disperses information to anyone in the community who is concerned about the threat of gangs.  

Also providing remarks will be Dr. Louis Kontos, professor of sociology at C.W. Post who has conducted research on gang-related violence. Dr. Kontos interest is ethnographic in nature and has led him to examine gangs as entities that entrench themselves as 'organizations' or 'nations' in multiple cities. Of particular interest to Dr. Kontos is that gangs now span generations and are rapidly spreading as sub-cultures across the country.

The conference is open to the public, but should be of special interest to parents of school-age children, educators, psychologists, social workers, youth workers, school administrators and school security guards.

The Long Island Professional & Parent Education Network & 21st Century Save Our Kids Task Force will sponsor the conference. Co-sponsors include the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University; SCOPE (Suffolk County Organization for the Promotion of Education) Education Services; Town of Islip NAACP; the Nassau County Youth Board; and the Suffolk County Youth Bureau.