Pledge against gun violence began in Minnesota; Northfield woman's idea has spread nationwide

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
April 22, 1999, Thursday, Metro Edition
Chuck Haga; Staff Writer

A national Student Pledge Against Gun Violence was started three years ago in Minnesota, and last year more than 1 million students nationwide signed it.

"Gun violence is one of the most corrosive issues we face in this country," said Mary Lewis Grow, of Northfield, who started the pledge. "The natural inclination of kids is to be cynical: 'What can I do?' But the pledge says, 'We all have some control. Violence isn't inevitable.' "

The high-school pledge, which students will sign this year on Oct. 21, states:

"I will never bring a gun to school. I will never use a gun to settle a dispute. I will use my influence with my friends to keep them from using guns to settle disputes.

"My individual choices and actions, when multiplied by young people throughout the country, WILL make a difference. Together, by honoring this pledge, we can reverse the violence and grow up in safety."

A separate pledge for elementary students states, "If I see a gun, I won't touch it. I will remember that any gun I see might be loaded. I know how important it is to keep myself safe."

Grow said that her commitment to reduce gun violence began after the 1968 assassinations of Robert Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's a scar on our national psyche," she said.

In 1994, she helped organize a project to collect 38,000 pairs of shoes and take them to display, empty, in Washington, D.C., to dramatize how many gun deaths occur each year in the United States.

"We were trying to think of a way to connect kids to the issue," she said. "We thought, 'What if we have a common day, a common contract on kids' desks?' "

National teacher and student associations embraced the pledge. Project organizers believe that as many as 3 million students signed in 1998, but tabulation of results was incomplete.

Susan Sanderson, of Northfield, works on the project.

"I have two sons, 11 and 8," she said. "When you realize your young children are not safe in school, that's very unsettling."

She sensed a difference Wednesday as she dropped her sons off at their school.

"They looked over at the high school, and I could see they made the connection with the high school in Colorado. They were thinking that things might look different today at the high school, but they were trying to reassure themselves: They're younger, they're safer.

"The pledge is a concrete thing that students can do," she said. "They sometimes feel powerless. They're not old enough to vote. But this . . . gives them a voice, and that's a powerful thing."