'TAKING THEIR CHILDREN BACK'

Two forums aimed at raising awareness of gang activity, drug use and
Internet predators offered practical tips for parents and other
adults Tuesday night. The presentations were made in Sparta and
Wantage, where children have been victims of teen violence in recent months.

The forum at High Point Regional High School -- originally aimed at
substance abuse -- widened to include gangs and violence after a
15-year-old Wantage boy was beaten with a baseball bat by other
teenage boys last month. The victim underwent emergency brain surgery
as a result of the attack and is still not back in school.

"My family has seen so much moral support since this but people need
to know," Barbara DiGuilio, the boy's mother, said during the forum.
"The community is finally waking up and taking their children back.
There have been two incidents so close together in time."

Three teenage girls sent one of their peers to the hospital during a
football game at Sparta's Ungerman Field in September.

That prompted Sparta's police department and school board to host its
forum Tuesday night at Sparta High School. It featured a member of
the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission.

Together, the two events drew more than 100 people.

Lt. Edwin Torres, supervisor of Justice Commission's Gang Management
Unit, informed parents in Sparta about different types of gangs, how
to identify gang members and how to keep children out of them.

"I think when you shine light on a subject, then you can deal with it
properly," he said. "By informing a community, they can actually make
a difference."

Torres said the No. 1 problem in New Jersey, aside from terrorism, is
gang violence. Two-thirds of gang members are under the age of 17 and
Torres has seen gang recruitment as early as in the first grade.
Police are working with the school board to implement a program in
the middle school that teaches children about gangs. The program,
called Gang Resistance Education and Training, or GREAT, is similar
to the anti-drug group called DARE. GREAT will be set up for seventh
graders beginning next year.

Evidence of several gangs including the Bloods and Crips, have been
seen throughout the county, often in graffiti markings, Detective
Nick Elmo of the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office said during the
High Point forum.

Elmo said both the Sparta and Wantage incidents were still under
investigation and that offenders could face harsher penalties for
assault if the incidents are found to be gang-related.

"We are slowly seeing more of a gang presence in the area," Elmo
said. "That's why we're trying to stop it now so we don't see an
increase in violence and other activities."

Both officials gave parents a list of things that could identify gang
members, including colors and type of clothing worn, tattoos or
markings and graffiti markings used.

Substance abuse and Internet safety were also discussed during High
Point's forum.

In the last six years, there have been 57 overdoses in the county and
prescription drug abuse is becoming more common among teenagers,
Becky Carlson, director of the Center for Prevention of Counseling,
told the High Point forum.

Detective Sgt. Tim Cooney, who also spoke at High Point, said heroin
is easier for teenagers to get than marijuana.

"No one knows your kid better than you," Cooney said. "If your kid is
addicted, you'll know. It's whether you decide to deny it or not."

Cooney also talked about Internet safety and mentioned Pope John
XXIII Regional High School's ban on networking Web sites such as Myspace.com.

Parents can become involved in the Sussex County Community Gang Task
Force to help prevent gang violence in the county. The group meets
the first Monday of every month at the Long Pond School in Andover at 9 p.m.