Adelia Ladson
MOULTRIE — “Jennifer Ann Crecente was a high school honors student that was murdered by an ex-boyfriend on February 15, 2006. Our group will keep Jennifer Crecente’s memory alive through education and good works,” states the Web site for a memorial group that was organized in her name.
Drew Crecente, Jennifer’s father, is the driving force behind Jennifer Ann’s Group, an organization whose mission is to “educate, inform and then direct” teens, who may be victims of violence, to already existing organizations that can help them.
“One recent national survey found that 1 in 11 high-school students said they had been hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend in the past year,” according to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center Web site at www.safeyouth.org.
Crecente said that he would like this organization to be a gateway or conduit for teens through the group’s Web site.
“We want to give them information they need to identify the warning signs and give them information on who they can get help from. There are a lot of warning signs and we need to get them out there,” said Crecente.
He said that he had never realized how common relationship violence was at such a young age until the death of his daughter.
Jennifer Ann’s Group is in the process of receiving non-profit status and after that comes together, Crecente wants to actively pursue fund-raising for the group. The chief fundraiser, at this point, will be selling black bracelets with pewter charms attached to them with the organization’s logo. The Texas Psychological Foundation has given Crecente permission to sell them at its annual convention. He also hopes to be able to sell them on the internet on the group’s Web site.
The idea for the black bracelets came from a grassroots student organization called The Black String Society, which was formed by Jennifer’s friends in Austin and describes itself as “an anti-violence awareness movement in remembrance of Jennifer Crecente.”
Through donations and the sale of the bracelets, Crecente hopes to focus on education at first and then move his group toward a more proactive prevention campaign.
“I hope it’s the kind of grassroots organization that grows,” said Crecente.
In April, The Jennifer Ann Crecente Memorial Grant was created by the Texas Psychological Foundation.
“This grant will provide $5,000 of support for a currently enrolled psychology graduate student, in good standing, who is conducting research addressing potential causes and/or prevention of violence against women (and offered to a student in psychology whose research would contribute to understanding the causes and/or prevention of violence against women),” according to the Texas Psychological Foundation’s Web site.
Crecente said that they also plan to have a $1,000 college scholarship instituted by 2007 in his daughter’s name for students of her former high school in Austin, Texas. Since, he said, Jennifer loved painting and drawing and the arts in general, the scholarship would be awarded as a prize in an arts competition that would have “violence prevention” as its theme for entries.
“I want to carry on her memory and her name by doing good in it. It’s really, really about doing good in her name,” Crecente said.
Jennifer Ann’s Group can be found at jenniferann.org, and more information will be added and updated on the site periodically.
Warning signs
Among the early signs that a dating situation or relationship could become violent:
• Your boyfriend or girlfriend pressures you, soon after you begin dating, to make the relationship very serious, or presses you to have sex.
• Your boyfriend or girlfriend becomes extremely jealous and possessive, and thinks these destructive displays of emotion are signs of love.
• Your boyfriend or girlfriend tries to control you and to forcefully make all decisions where the two of you are concerned, refusing to take your views or desires seriously. He/she may also try to keep you from spending time with close friends or family.
• Your boyfriend or girlfriend verbally and emotionally abuses you by doing such things as yelling at you, swearing at you, manipulating you, spreading false and degrading rumors about you, and trying to make you feel guilty.
• Your boyfriend or girlfriend drinks too much or uses drugs and then later blames the alcohol and drugs for his/her behavior.
• Your boyfriend or girlfriend threatens physical violence.
• Your boyfriend or girlfriend has abused a previous boyfriend or girlfriend or accepts and defends the use of violence by others.
If you’re in a dating relationship that in any way feels uncomfortable, awkward, tense or even frightening, trust your feelings and get out of it. It could become, or may already be, abusive.
Always remember: You have every right to say no. No boyfriend or girlfriend has the right to tell you what you can or should do, what you can or should wear, or what kind of friends you should have.
Source: National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center Web site at www.safeyouth.org
