Middletown man gives peace a chance
Speaks before UN at International Day of Peace conference
BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer

George Anthony sits in the chambers of the United Nations headquarters, New York City.

MIDDLETOWN — Middletown can now claim representation at the United Nations.

Well, for one day anyway.

George Anthony, of Middletown, spoke at the International Day of Peace conference in New York City on Friday.

The theme, “Peace through Sport,” was right up Anthony’s alley. A conflict resolution specialist for the New York City Board of Education, he specializes in teaching student athletes how to become effective leaders through peace.

“A lot of what I do has Ghandi-esque teachings incorporated into it,” said Anthony. “I use the teachings of Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in my program, and a lot of the time the kids don’t even know it’s their teachings. They just know Dr. King as the ‘I have a dream’ speech. But Dr. King was a powerful voice of the common man.”

Anthony’s speech at the United Nations, although brief, was notable largely for its optimism. The educator spoke about his experience working with high school students.

“In our program we try to define what an effective leader is. We believe that you are defined not so much as what you think but by what you do . . . Think about what kind of world you want to live in. What do you need to build that world? Seek that knowledge!,” Anthony said to the audience of roughly 400 students and educators.

The speech was broadcast live on the

Internet to Afghanistan, Kosovo and Sierra Leone in an effort to promote peace.

“These are nations in conflict,” said Anthony. “The UN is looking to start a peace movement at the grassroots level, and who better to look to than athletes?”

According to Anthony, Greece also broadcast the speech in honor of the Olympics.

Anthony’s peace building program, co-penned by Lindy Crescitelli, has been widely lauded by the New York City Department of Education as well as featured on a “20/20” episode as a possible solution to “social cruelty in our nation’s schools.”

Although proud of these accomplishments, Anthony is more impressed by the improvement he sees in individual students. After completing his speech on Friday to the UN, he introduced several past students who have benefited from his program and gone on to become better athletes and leaders.

“One girl spoke about bias she experienced. Then she discovered basketball . . . She combined the discipline of basketball with the power of dialogue and was able to recognize bias and avoid confrontation and fights. She was getting into a lot of fights before that,” said Anthony.

Educated at St. John’s University in New York City and certified in conflict resolution at Columbia University, Anthony has always been passionate about his work as a peacemaker.

“Mendhan High School in Long Island . . . The hazing that went on in Pennsylvania — I truly believe that could have been stopped. That was an act committed by two or three people. The silent majority wasn’t given an opportunity to be heard.”

According to Anthony, it takes a lot of work to teach students how to become tolerant but it’s worth it in the long run.

“You can’t expect kids to learn by having a guest speaker come in for one day,” said Anthony. “They need to be reinforced, recognized and validated for their good work.”

In addition to working for the NYC Board of Education, Anthony freelances as a consultant, speaking at schools throughout New Jersey and New York state. He has spoken before the UN three times and at the Rutgers School of Social Work and Brookdale Community College.

In October, he will be at Brookdale lecturing on subjects such as anti-bullying tactics, coping with conflict and teaching tolerance in troubled times.

For more information on Anthony’s program, call (732) 895-1530 or visit www.peacedynamics.com.