Youth Campaign Against Gun Violence Gathers Momentum

October 17, 2001

Miss Illinois and Gun-shot Survivor, Mike Robbins Jr., Add their Voices

On Wednesday October 17, when millions of young people around the country are taking a stand against gun violence, the national youth campaign will hear two new voices. This year's Miss Illinois, Kristin Castillo, and gun-shot survivor, Mike Robbins, Jr., will be asking young people in Chicago and around the nation to make a commitment.

On the 17th, a Day of National Concern about Young People and Gun Violence, middle-school and high school students across the country will sign a voluntary contract promising that they will never take a gun to school, will never resolve a dispute with a gun, and will use their influence with their friends to keep them from solving personal problems with guns. Elementary school children will make a simpler commitment: that if they see a gun they won't touch it and they will assume that any gun they see might be loaded. The accumulation of individual pledges can swell to become a generational commitment to end gun violence. Last year more than 2.4 million students participated.

Both Kristin and Mike Robbins, Jr., have a story to tell. Kristin's cousin committed suicide with a handgun; Mike survived serious gunshot injury inflicted by his best friend. Both of them know, and want others to know, that solving personal problems with guns leads to tragedy.

Mike's story has a happy ending. Mike survived. His father, Mike Robbins, Sr., a retired police officer shot thirteen times in the line of duty, works with survivors of gunshot in a group he directs, HELP for Survivors. Mike Sr. went to court when Mike Jr.'s assailant, Mark Kramer, was being tried. He knew that Mark was, at heart, a good young person and he wanted to keep him out of the criminal justice system. He asked the judge to remand Mark into his custody on the condition that Mark would work with Hands Without Guns/Chicago, an area youth group helping kids end gun violence, sponsored by the Uhlich Children's Home.

The judge agreed, and today Mike Jr. and Mark are once again friends, joined in their commitment not to have their experience repeated.

Events throughout the country are planned for the 17th. In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley and Senator Dick Durbin will take part in a city broadcast on the popular rock music station, B-96. In Washington DC, the Youth Mayor of the District, representing Mayor Tony Williams, a student representative on the Board of Education, and Washington's Superintendent of Schools, Paul Vance, will participate in the day's events. The Minnesota Timberwolves will host a pre-game ceremony at their first NBA exhibition game of the season, saluting students around the state and the country who have taken the Pledge Against Gun Violence.

Teenwebtalk.com, a national internet-based broadcast for teens, will devote most of October 17 to Student Pledge events taking place around the country. If schools or students want to participate live on the 17th, they can call 1-877-532-8255. Both Mike and Kristin will take part in the broadcast.

The Pledge Against Gun Violence is especially relevant in a year that has witnessed the toll taken by senseless violence. It is important to underscore, particularly now, the ways in which young people themselves can exert power over decisions that affect their safety. With 30,000 Americans - and 4,000 young people under 19 - losing their lives each year to gunshot, gun violence remains a serious concern.

For information and contacts for the events cited, visit the Student Pledge web site at www.pledge.org.