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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2000

News Release

NEA Calls on Nation to Honor Columbine with Preventative Action

"We must raise the issue of child protection to the highest public priority"

Washington, D.C. -- As a tribute to the lives lost and lives changed forever, National Education Association (NEA) president Bob Chase called on all Americans to honor the anniversary of the Columbine shootings by being part of the solution to keep schools and communities safe.

Chase hailed the positive will and determination of the Jefferson County community, saying: "In the face of unspeakable adversity, the community declared 'Yes we can,' and 'Yes we will heal, hope, and triumph." Chase challenged all Americans to honor the Columbine community by raising child protection to the highest public priority. "Each of us has a role to play in making our schools and communities safe," he said.

Reflecting on the Columbine community's anniversary theme -- A Time to Remember, A Time to Hope -- Chase said recent safe schools initiatives sparked across the nation provide plenty of reason for hope.

NEA has worked to unite school communities in replicating successful safe school programs through its national television broadcast--Safe Schools Now. The show features best practices in recognizing warning signs of violence; forging community alliances, and providing students skills to promote peaceful resolutions to conflict. More information can be found at www.safeschoolsnow.org.

NEA has also mobilized communities in support of children and schools through its Public Engagement Project. The project brings all facets of the community together--parents, business, faith-based organizations, law enforcement, social services, and others--to identify strategies to address school safety in their community.

"The issue of school safety is one that should unite the nation," said Chase. "We cannot simply profess shock about youth violence and not act to protect children. For our grief to have any meaning, we must engage the entire community in purposeful and preventative action."

Chase suggested solutions that unite communities in support of safe and healthy schools:

• Giving students skills to resolve disputes peacefully, using words, not fists or weapons.

• Alerting school staff and community members about how to spot warning signs of violence in youth and to take action to intervene.

• Providing after-school and mentoring programs among young people who see violence as the way to solve disputes.

• Increasing parental and positive role model involvement in the lives of children.

• Preventing children's easy access to guns by enacting common sense gun control measures including requiring trigger locks, closing the "gun show" and other loopholes by mandating background checks at these venues, and holding parents responsible for locking up guns in their households.

• Examining more fully the consequences of a popular culture that glamorizes violence in entertainment mediums and media.

• Increasing the number of school counselors and nurses to meet the individual needs of children.

• Reducing class sizes to give students the individual attention and care they need.

"We all need to lock arms in the effort to keep children safe. Nothing we do is more important," said Chase.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support personnel, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.