Student pledge to end gun violence

On this year's Day of National Concern about Young People and Gun Violence, October 21, 1999, students across the country joined together to take a collective stand against gun violence. The actions of these young people remind us that a future filled with violence is not inevitable and demonstrate the collective power of young people to help eliminate gun violence.

This year, more than 1.8 million youth signed the voluntary Student Pledge Against Gun Violence. In doing so, they pledged to avoid using guns to settle disputes and to use their influence to keep their friends from settling their disputes with guns.

Schools and communities planned a wide variety of activities, with some observances very somber and others more in the nature of a pep rally. One Georgia school brought both moods together by dedicating the halftime of a football game to the Day of Concern and having fans light candles in memory of young people who have fallen victim to gun violence. At a school in Florida, students who signed the Pledge marched with banners while a sheriffs helicopter joined in with a fly-over and a U.S. Coast Guard boat and a fire truck drove behind them.

At Dunbar HS in Washington, D.C., the Mayor of the District, the Chief of Police, the Superintendent of Schools, an Olympic-gold-medal women's basketball star, and others spoke to students and then watched student-produced dramatic performances. The U.S. Postal Service set up a station at the high school, hand-canceling letters with a Pledge logo cancellation stamp.

Day of Concern activities seemed to have a tremendous impact on participating students. A guidance counselor from Brooklyn, N.Y., reported, "We dedicated the entire day to bring our children passionate speakers that brought home the results of violence and encouraged this pledge against it. These speakers made children realize that they have a choice about how they live in this world and that the wrong choices can lead to tragedy and loss. This day was certainly the high point of my career Students were deeply affected by this day and have written personal notes to the speakers telling them that their lives were changed because of their messages." Some schools extended the awareness building over several weeks. Many schools had displays of gun violence statistics, some of them placed in the middle of chalk outline silhouettes along school corridors. Art displays featuring Pledge hands on colored paper went up in many school hallways. several districts in different parts of the country reported planting bulbs in memory of young people who had died from gun violence; their blooming in the spring will reaffirm hope and commitment and offer yet another chance to keep the dialogue about violence prevention going. Much of the success of this year's Student Pledge derived from efforts led by students themselves. Especially active were members of various schools' student councils. These student leaders have answered the invitation issued at each of the last two years' NASC national conferences to take ownership of the observance in their schools and communities. Among the examples of student council leadership this year:

Jason Porter, a senior at the Bronx HS of Science in New York, first learned about the Pledge at the 1998 NASC conference. He returned to New York and began handing out the Pledge to all the students he knew-at soccer games, in school, and even at parties. Wanting to do more, he approached the New York Student Association adviser and explored the idea of having a NYC-wide student leadership conference that would highlight the Pledge. The conference became a reality, and Jason served as moderator for the event, which took place on October 15, the week before the Day of Concern.

Evaristo Vasquez is a senior and active student council member at John Marshall HS in Los Angeles. He learned about the Pledge at this year's NASC conference and returned to L.A. determined to spread the Pledge into schools in his area. Evaristo contacted the L.A. School Board, an L.A. City Council member, his representative in the California Assembly, and the office of Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. Riordan honored the Day of Concern with an official proclamation, the direct result of Evaristo's efforts. His school hung a huge "I Pledge" banner from the school's tower in the days preceding the Day of National Concern and changed the banner to "I Pledged" in the days following.

While serving as the acting state student council president for Colorado at the NASC conference last summer, Katie Larson of Fruta Monument HS in Grand junction, learned about the Pledge. She was instrumental in getting television stations in the Western Slope of Colorado to air the Pledge public service announcement and planned a toleration week in her school district in conjunction with the National Day of Concern.

Joey Johnson, student body president at East Henderson HS in Hendersonville, N.C., discovered the Pledge on the Internet and wrote to say that he wanted to organize a Pledge drive in his school. Within 48 hours, Joey had decided to take on a much more ambitious role; he volunteered to be state coordinator for the Student Pledge in North Carolina. His goal was to increase North Carolina's participation from the relatively low participation of previous years to at least 40,000 pledges statewide, In spite of overwhelming and unforeseeable obstacles in North Carolina this year (floods that delayed school openings in many locations in the state), Joey succeeded in gaining strong support for the Pledge from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Ward and from North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt. And he surpassed his goal. More than 43,000 students from North Carolina signed the Pledge, tens of thousands more than ever before.

High school senior Diane Ley serves as student body president at Thomas Jefferson HS in Pittsburgh, Pa. Having learned about the Pledge at this year's NASC annual conference, Diane sent letters to high schools around her state encouraging them to bring the Pledge into their schools. She also planned a rally for the National Day of Concern, with speeches on gun violence from community leaders, sports figures, and doctors.

Vince Villegas, junior class president and student council member at Eastern HS in Lansing, Mich., is the cofounder and current president of Students Against Firearm Endangerment (SAFE USA), an organization whose mission is to reduce the number of gun casualties through prevention activities in America's schools. Vince greatly increased Student Pledge participation in his part of Michigan and will continue in a leadership role in the planning for the year 2000 Student Pledge drive. Among other areas that he will be working on, Vince will focus on increasing national media exposure for the Student Pledge and the Day of National Concern.

The student co-chair of the NASC Executive Board, Ethan Clay of Wexford, Pa., spoke on behalf of the Pledge at a Colorado press conference last summer. He worked to help distribute the Pledge across Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey and also served as a national youth spokesperson for this year's Day of Concern.

Jessica Bernstein, student council president at western school of Technology and Environmental Science in Baltimore, Md., spearheaded an all-school observance for the Day of Concern in partnership with her school's SADD chapter. in an e-mad, she described their plans: "Not only will we be getting students to sign the pledges but we will have a 'Train of Pledges' around the school. The engine will start in the lobby of the school and hopefully with all the pledges we can have the caboose ending back in the lobby as well. Announcements have been written that will share statistics on gun violence. This will lead up to the very day of the signing of the pledges. A big pledge will be posted in the cafeteria and posters will be posted with facts on them. The interesting fact about this day is that it is our school spirit day for Homecoming. So, what better way to get the school involved than on a day where we're supposed to show our true school spirit? This pledge will demonstrate that WE ARE willing to take a step to stop gun violence among our peers."

Because many of this year's student leaders will be graduating in June, the Student Pledge hopes to find new student leaders and spokespeople for next year's observance. So that the year 2000 can be a record milestone in reducing gun violence among young people, observance organizers hope to identify other young people, like the ones mentioned here, who are passionate about ending gun violence. Those students who would like to get involved in next year's Pledge effort should contact the national office of the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence at (507) 645-5378 or via e-mail at mlgrow@microassist.com.

Mary-Lewis Grow (mlgrow@microassist.com) is national coordinator for the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence.

Copyright National Association of Secondary School Principals Feb 2000
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