In the News

(This story features one of Ambassadors involved with Jane Doe Inc's White Ribbon Day Campaign.)

Hingham breeds respect: Athletes vow not to abuse
Boston Herald
By Bruce Lerch
Sunday, March 14, 2010


Step inside the halls of Hingham High and your eye will catch evidence not only of athletic success, but of personal-growth triumphs that allow the school to produce young men and women of whom the community can be proud.

A banner that displays 3,000 signatures of male students collected through the years hangs a symbol of the school’s commitment to its long-running White Ribbon Campaign, which preaches against domestic violence. Following an assembly, the young men are asked to recite a pledge against violence toward women and then are allowed to add their signatures.

The Family Violence Prevention Fund reports that nearly 1-in-4 women in the United States has been a victim of violence by a current or former spouse or boyfriend. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published data collected in 2005 that found women experience two million injuries from intimate-partner violence each year. In Massachusetts, a study produced by Jane Doe, Inc. showed that from 2003-09, there were 192 victims of domestic violence homicides.

Among teenagers, the FVPF reports that approximately 1-in-3 girls in the United States is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner.

The need for education on the perils of domestic violence is never-ending, and it is imperative that such training begin as early as possible. This is the attitude taken at Hingham, with longtime boys track coach Fred Jewett at the forefront.

Working in conjunction with the Hingham sheriff’s department, Jewett has helped coordinate the campaign at the school and has spent the better part of two decades working toward creating awareness among the young men who cross his path.

“We’ve spent a lot of time, over 20 years we’ve been running programs to encourage these types of positive behaviors,” Jewett said. “It is a badge of honor for the school to stand up and say ‘This is wrong,’ and then do something about it by bringing gender discussion into the open.”

Among the many programs implemented by Jewett is Coaching Boys Into Men, which Jewett first became aware of after attending a seminar led by former Celtics [team stats] player and coach M.L. Carr, who also sits on the board of directors for the FVPF.

The program, aimed at coaches and young athletes, provides a “playbook” illustrating numerous situations and teachable moments in an effort to stem the tide of gender violence among high school kids.

“It is great that Coach Jewett is doing this,” Hingham student Lauren Arcemont said, “because I really feel that in the Hingham track program, both female and male athletes are treated the same and that we have come together to form a united team.”
Mollie O’Dea, a member of the track team, agrees.

“In the four years I have been here at Hingham High, it has always had a safe accepting environment, somewhere I have never felt nervous or scared,” she said. “This is thanks to the programs Coach Jewett organized to teach students awareness of violence and ultimately prevention.”

She added that the cooperative bond is especially evident in the track program in which boys and girls teams truly share. “We run together, bus together and have pasta parties together,” she said.

Added fellow student Kelsey Keith: “Our school is very interested in creating an equal environment for women and men, and this commitment is often shown through coaching. . . . Disrespect of any kind is not tolerated at Hingham High School and this principle is widely shown through the track program.”

Brian O’Connor, director of public communication for the FVPF, acknowledges the importance of the sports teams’ resolve at Hingham.
“We recognize that athletes are considered role models in the school community and among their peers,” O’Connor said. “After their parents, coaches are a strong influence in these kids’ lives and we want to try and leverage the platform of sports to help educate and create awareness.”

Plymouth North boys hockey coach John Greene, who also attended Carr’s seminar, was so impressed he, too, ordered the Coaching Boys Into Men playbook and began integrating its tenets into his coaching philosophies.

“It was eye-opening to see someone of M.L. Carr’s stature speak of his past and how he dealt with the problems he encountered in his life,” Greene said. “Our approach has always been one of teaching respect, and given the aggressive and physical nature of hockey, I think this has helped reinforce it.”