A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Contact:
Julie Green
(202) 401-3026

STATEMENT BY U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION RICHARD W. RILEY
Regarding the Columbine High School Shooting

Like all Americans I extend my prayers to the many, many families in Littleton, Colorado, who are suffering today. As the father of four children and the grandfather of 10 children, my heart goes out to each and every one of these students and families and to the teachers, faculty and staff at Columbine High School.

This tragedy represents a new scale and level of school violence that we have never seen before. And it says something about the easy ability of young people to get access to guns and the glorification of violence we sometimes see in America. If this type of tragedy doesn't bring about a public outcry, I don't know what will.

My message to every gun owner in America is very direct -- lock up your guns today. Think hard about what has just happened and please don't assume anything. Time and again, young people, who have caused these types of tragedies in our schools, have been able to get access to guns. America needs to realize that kids and unsupervised gun use do not mix.

My message to parents is to reach out to your children and listen to them. We have to do everything we can to connect even to the most angry and alienated young person. Young people who are cut-off and isolated can be, as we have seen, deeply disconnected.

I urge parents to slow down their lives. As a society we must make much more of an effort to help families and make sure that there is some responsible adult in the life of every young person.

We have been in contact with Colorado school officials and stand ready to assist them in any way possible.

We should not look for one easy answer to this type of tragedy. Every level of society -- from local community groups, to schools, to faith communities, state officials and national leaders -- can contribute to supporting families as they seek to raise their children safely.

At the President's request, the Departments of Education and Justice have sought to support local efforts in several ways. Working together we developed an Early Warning Guide on how to prevent such incidents of violence and distributed copies to every school in the country, started a new $300 million comprehensive school violence prevention initiative, and have a proposal pending in Congress to establish Project SERV -- a $12 million effort to help school districts that have to confront these types of tragedies.

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