Over 350 students were given the opportunity to express their opinions at the Voices Against Violence Congressional Teen Conference held here last week by the leading Democrat in the House."Although violent crime is currently at a seven-year low, American youth have been facing challenging times," said Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, the House minority leader, addressing the audience of middle and high school students.They were chosen by 127 Democratic and 3 Republican members of Congress to attend the two-day conference on October 19th and 20th.
"We realized that something was missing from this debate: your input," stated Mr. Gephardt, a Democrat. "You understand the causes of school violence and you witness its effects. You are the experts whom we need to listen to."The conference also gave President Clinton the opportunity to present the "1999 Annual Report on School Safety" to the attendees, with whom he met on October 19th. The report, prepared by the Departments of Education and Justice, revealed that "the vast majority of schools are safe. Crimes within and outside of schools have decreased," said Mr. Clinton. "Unfortunately, we have seen horrific examples of school violence in places like Columbine, Jonesboro, Springfield, Pearl, and many others."According to the report, school crime rates decreased from approximately 155 school-related crimes per 1,000 students aged 12 to 18 in 1993 to about 102 such crimes by 1997.
Most school crimes involve theft, and students aged 12 to 18 are more likely to be victims of serious violent crimes away from school than within school premises. In 1997, the most recent year for which statistics were available, about 24 out of every 1,000 students fell victim to serious violent crimes, while only eight out of every 1,000 students were victims of such crimes within or while traveling to and from school, as stated in the study.During the two days of the conference, the teenagers gathered in small groups to discuss the causes of youth violence, learn about violence prevention strategies, devise responses to violence, and develop the skills to implement solutions.
Additionally, two school administrators from California shared their findings from what they call the "Children’s Crusade." Howard Haas, the former principal of La Miranda High School in La Miranda, California, and Alex Aitcheson, the former director of education services for the Val Verde Unified School District in Riverside County, conducted over 60 hours of one-on-one interviews and classroom discussions with youngsters across 32 cities during the summer. The two educators plan to document their efforts in a documentary film. President Clinton also took the opportunity to touch upon proposals from his administration.
He briefly mentioned his education budget priorities, which include funding to recruit more teachers, construct and renovate schools, and expand mentoring programs.Much like Mr. Gephardt, he also called on Congress to pass gun control legislation in order to "prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands." Furthermore, he urged the students to advocate for hate crime legislation, citing the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, in Wyoming a year ago and the shootings at a Jewish community center in Granada Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles, in August."You live in the most advanced of worlds, yet our biggest problem is one that has plagued human society since its inception: fear of those who differ from us. And you have the power to change that," expressed the president.
