Verbal Abuse

Foreign-language classes are so filled with good-natured miscommunication, they're an ideal setting for comedy-drama - and in Italian for Beginners, writer-director Lone Scherfig adds the delicious incongruity of a bunch of depressed Danes learning the ebullient tongue of Italian. As the classroom becomes a vaudeville hall, she sets the stage for humor that's effortless and blissfully humane. Even the simplest subtitles seem funny when these brooders adopt a Mediterranean lilt. Near the start, a pastor asks a church worker whether she's married.

WASHINGTON - The Navy is investigating allegations of misconduct at last week's convention of the Tailhook Association, the private naval aviators' organization whose 1991 annual meeting dissolved into a drunken spree of debauchery and sexual assault, implicating more than 100 officers and becoming a synonym for grossly unacceptable behavior. This year's Tailhook convention marked the first time since 1991 that the Navy had allowed its top officers to participate. Navy officials said yesterday that a man and his wife, both civilians whom they refused to identify, alleged that several dozen people, not in uniform but believed to be part of the three-day convention at John Ascuaga's Nugget casino and resort in Sparks, Nev., verbally assaulted them as they tried to return to their hotel room shortly after midnight last Saturday.

Parents enrolling their children in Anne Arundel County youth sports leagues will have to sign a pledge vowing to play nice and not criticize referees if they want their kids to play ball.Echoing the efforts of youth league leaders across the country to grapple with increasing verbal abuse of game officials by parents, the county Department of Recreation and Parks added the pledge to its sign-up form last week to try to stop the sideline sniping.Dennis Callahan, department director, said parents -- and coaches -- in the county have been known to yell at game officials on the field, and to follow referees to their cars to continue berating them.

JASPER, Texas -- Despite fears of violence, a showdown between white supremacists and black militants remained relatively peaceful here yesterday on Jasper's courthouse square, leaving residents feeling relieved.Name-calling and threats were as bad as it got on a sweltering day in this East Texas town where a 49-year-old black man, James Byrd Jr., was dragged to death behind a pickup truck three weeks ago."It's wrong for either of them to be here," Joyce Edmond, a black woman, said of the two groups.

An unidentified man stopped his truck at the site of a Howard County public works project Friday and hurled a racial epithet at a predominantly black work crew, then returned minutes later to berate them again, Howard County police said yesterday.Six men were fixing a broken water line on Montgomery Road near Washington Boulevard in Elkridge about 5 p.m. when a white man in his 30s driving a Toyota truck stopped and began screaming at the crew to work harder, said Thaddeus Mitchell Jr., 35, the crew leader, who reported the incident to police.

A week after firing the first shot in a pitched battle between county employees and the Gary administration over pension benefits, Anne Arundel's No. 2 ranking official is calling for a truce.Sort of."I don't have any problem with people taking shots," county Administrative Officer Robert J. Dvorak said yesterday over an iced tea in his corner Arundel Center office. "Hey, if you take a shot at me, then I'll take a shot at you. But there's a proper way of doing things."Dvorak -- who last week lectured the County Council on the evils of New Deal policies and said Anne Arundel should not "baby-sit" its employees -- has asked the Pension Oversight Commission to regain control of an unruly political debate.

Tired of having petty quarrels, verbal abuse and fights interrupt the school week, about 250 students from Annapolis High School withdrew to Sandy Point State Park yesterday to ponder the problems and search for answers."

Mediation skillimportant as teaching aid"Schools can prevent violence by teaching conflict resolution skills."The Maryland State Department of Education featured this hopeful message at a recent statewide conference for 550 educators and concerned citizens.Misunderstandings and verbal abuse, like teasing, name-calling, put-downs, threats and hurtful rumors, upset children and hinder their ability to focus on school work. Misunderstandings and verbal abuse sometimes escalate into violence.

EARLIER this month, about a dozen men were shot in the 500 block of East 21st Street. The shooters apparently were disgruntled losers in a craps game allegedly held on a regular basis in that block.From news accounts, we were able to learn several things:1. Street-level craps games have now joined street-level drug dealing as a problem in the inner city.2. There's a severe problem in police-community relations on East 21st Street.3. Residents of the East Baltimore neighborhood have a problem with "verbal abuse" by police.

What might be considered normal in some families may actually be sexual abuse, according to two therapists who counsel sexually abused boys and offenders.Although many forms of sexual abuse are obvious, some are not, said co-therapists Carolyn Wilcox and Don Wright at the "Partnership For the Future: Investing in Families" conference held recently at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.Ms. Wilcox, a clinical therapist, said that research indicates that it is not a good idea to kiss an adolescent on the mouth or hug chest to chest because it can confuse him or her if it causes sexual arousal at this stage of development.