National drive to end youth gun violence will reach millions.

October 17, 2000

On October 17, in cities all over the country, millions of young people will come together and make a strong collective statement renouncing the violent use of guns. On that day, students will sign a simple, voluntary Pledge: " I promise that I will never carry a gun to school; I will never use a gun to settle a dispute; and I will use my influence with my friends to keep them from using guns to settle disputes." Last year, on the Day of National Concern about Young People and Gun Violence, more than 2 million students signed the Pledge, according to tallies reported on the website.

This year, students in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, Seattle, and dozens of other cities will communicate directly via an eight-hour national web broadcast for and about teens, TeenWebTalk.com. (They can connect by calling 877-531-TALK.)

"Linking students around the country in one observance is important," said national organizer, Mary Lewis Grow. "It underscores the fact that violence is not inevitable; it is the sum total of individual decisions. Individually and collectively, young people are an incredibly powerful force for change.

The signing of the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence is the cornerstone of a day, often weeks in the planning, that may include school assemblies, radio call-ins, gubernatorial proclamations, city-wide rallies, essay and poetry contests, as well as many conversations about gun violence between students and the adults they respect.

Guns and their use have been a major source of debate in this election year, but the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence bridges political differences. Governor Christine Todd Whitman (R-NJ) took a leadership role in calling it to the attention of her fellow state governors; Sharon Sayles Belton, Democratic Mayor of Minneapolis, alerted her colleagues in the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Among those leading Student Pledge Against Gun Violence activities on Tuesday will be Governor Jim Hodges in Columbia, South Carolina, and eighteen-year-old gunshot survivor, Bobby Brown in the Twin Cities.

The Student Pledge Against Gun Violence is supported by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Association of Student Councils, the National School Boards Association, the National Education Association, the National PTA, the Council of the Great City Schools, the American Association of School Administrators and the American School Counselors Association.