Sport and Society
July 2006
Banner photo: Image Source/Getty Images
Victory Over Violence in Aotearoa
Victory Over Violence (VOV) is a youth-driven initiative to help young people identify and counteract the root causes of violence in their lives and in their communities. Its aim is to help inspire positive change in the culture of schools and communities.
On October 26, 2005, Reporoa College became the first school in New Zealand to take part in the program. Students participated in workshops coordinated by a group of voluntary facilitators that were aimed at building respect, for themselves and others.
VOV is based on a personal pledge by participants to value their own life, to respect all life, and to inspire hope in others. Through simple exercises, the students were encouraged to think about new ways of communicating and responding to one another and to daily life situations of violence. They took part in discussions and listened to powerful experiences.
The VOV format was first established by the youth of SGI-USA in response to the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999. Although violence in schools in New Zealand is less extreme, there are various other forms of "passive violence," manifest in high rates of depression and suicide.
Through the VOV exercises, the students become more aware of passive violence, how it fuels physical violence, and ways they can take action to change this. Participants in VOV workshops have made comments such as: "I thought violence was just fighting and bullying; after VOV I know that people have a reason for why they do it," and "It has changed the way I deal with problems."
One 19-year-old young man wrote about how his participation in the program inspired him to contact the man who murdered his father during a petty robbery and who is now serving a prison sentence. "Since my involvement in VOV, I have learned many things about the cycles of violence, that anger is all-consuming. It is the most active of the negative energies. In particular, during the workshop, I was challenged by the students to understand the difficulties of forgiving people. They inspired me to write to the young man in prison. Violence is cyclic; we choose to break the cycle. You have to be tough, it takes more effort to respect people and forgive people, to find empathy for them, than it does to remain angry!"
SGI-NZ will continue to work with Reporoa College and aims to have VOV running in all 12 high schools in the Reporoa area by 2010. From that solid base VOV will be introduced in high schools across New Zealand.
