Finding Ways to End Youth Violence

Across the country, parents, teachers, students, law enforcement officials, and church and community leaders are struggling to get a handle on the growing problem of youth violence. In light of the shootings at Heritage High School in Georgia and at Columbine High School in Colorado, and the statistics showing a dramatic rise in violent youth crimes, I recently introduced, and the Senate approved, legislation to establish a National Commission on Youth Violence. This Commission calls upon experts in parenting, school administration, and law enforcement to open their ears, listen, and begin to identify and reconcile the root causes fueling this epidemic of terror and violence rocking our nation's schools.

Given the breadth of this challenge, a Commission, consisting of a panel of men and women with broad experience and seeking input from an array of interests, seems a requisite component in the quest for a solution to school violence. No viewpoint can be summarily dismissed as we search for ways to protect our children.

Likewise, no player should be given a pass. The makers of video games, producers of movies, musicians, parents, teachers, administrators, civic groups, church leaders, and public officials, all bear some of this burden. But organizations like the National Rifle Association and law-abiding gun-owners throughout the nation must recognize that they, too, bear some of the responsibility to end this madness. This is no time to take to the sidelines.

Part of the cure, I believe, can only be found by digging deep into the soul of America. Talk of a lack of morals and values and of the way things used to be has long been cynically brushed off as old-fashioned and out of step with the world today. But the experiences of my long life have convinced me that something in our society is seriously wrong. We are missing something that used to be a basic component in our society, and we desperately need to rediscover it.

It is my hope that, in working together with a National Commission on Youth Violence, we can identify and implement many essential steps for ending the terror besetting America's school system. It is high time to restore the peaceful schoolhouse we once knew so well -- a school setting which fosters creativity and inspires learning, and, most importantly, which provides each student with a safe haven for obtaining the knowledge and skills necessary to lead America into the 21st century.
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June 30, 1999