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Where on the Web: School Safety

Kids. Guns. The Internet.

Tipper Gore takes a break from the campaign trail to lead her 13th USA WEEKEND Teen Panel in an eye-opening discussion.

Roger Bonnick, Brad Frost and Jessica Stine told Mrs. Gore security has been stepped up at their schools since Columbine. They're shown at Brad's school, George Mason High in Falls Church, Va. Jessica is a "Trendspotter" for Teen People, a partner with USA WEEKEND in the Teen Survey.

HEN IT COMES to the threat of violence at school, the experiences of the diverse group of students

participating in this year's Teen Panel roundtable with moderator Tipper Gore, 51, are remarkably similar.

Male and female, black and white, urban and suburban, the Washington, D.C.-area teenagers shared a range of fears, concerns and ideas in a recent discussion with Gore at the Arlington, Va., offices of USA WEEKEND. It was the 13th time

Gore has moderated the panel discussion. The topic this time was the subject of this special report on Teens & Safety. Gore, wife of presidential candidate and Vice President Al Gore, is a mother of four who has long been active in issues affecting teens, from raunchy song lyrics to mental health. She asked many questions -- about what has changed for students since Columbine, why the loss of "family time" contributes to teens' turning toward violence, and how the Internet adds to the tension. She expressed particular concern when students said how "easy" it is to buy guns online. "If you wanted to get a gun, you could," Jeremy Dworken, 16, told Gore. "The fact that they universally accepted that there was Internet access to guns is something that merits more discussion in society, and we have to deal with it," Gore said later, adding, "I'm not sure what the answer is." Here are excerpts from the 90-minute discussion:

Do you feel safe in school?

Brad: I've had to break up fights at my school. In terms of personal safety, it's a matter of how much you let the paranoia take over. There's a lot of potential for violence and danger in any school -- big, small, private, public, city, suburban. There are weapons available, so if someone gets upset, they can take action.
Jessica: Our school's pretty safe, but we've had some problems. I knew a guy who had a knife, so I went to the counselor and told her. They got security people to check out his car and found tons of weapons. They suspended him.

Safety after Columbine

Brad: Do you think increased safety measures hurt the school body -- make us more paranoid about things -- or make us feel safer?
Robby: It can make people feel more paranoid. And it can provoke other people to see if they could slip weapons into school, just to see if they can get away with it.
Roger: At our school, we have three metal detectors, two police in uniform, plus security guards who make kids get to class when they are lingering in the hallway. But one door is always open during the morning that's not supposed to be. Anyone could come in early and put a weapon inside their locker.
Jessica: A guy put up signs all over my school saying he was going to shoot it up. The police found out who he was, but the guy was later released. Still, everyone knows he did it. After Columbine, we got an extra police officer. I think that's the only thing we should do.

Children and guns

GORE: Have any of you seen people with guns or other weapons in school?
JEREMY: It's easy to find things on the Internet. If you wanted to get a gun, you could. Someone would have a site selling guns who wouldn't check for age.
GORE: And you just pay them and they mail it to your home?
JEREMY: Sure. And you could download instructions to build bombs. You could get basic materials around the house. You can use any computer, even at school.
Brad: What's scary to me is not that a weirdo can get a gun. What's scary to me is any 18-year-old in high school can legally get a gun. MARIA: Starting in middle school [in my district], you have to have a parental-consent form if you want to use the Web. Loss of "family time"
GORE: If you have families that don't feel they have enough time together, and you have this disconnect between people, then that gets scary, which adds to parental fears. Parents feel guilty because they're working; they love their kids, but they don't have time.
JEREMY: You have to find a person you're comfortable with to talk with about things. If you don't, you well up those feelings, and that causes a lot of hatred and disgust. That may be the cause of some of the violence today, when people have no one to talk to. Maria: At my high school, we have a crisis counselor. We can go to her if we have a problem. She also is in charge of our peer-mediation program, where people can go and talk to other students.

ANSWERS

GORE: What are some solutions?
Brad: Teachers and parents need to be aware of the realities teens face. There's a fine line between punishing a student for participating in different activities and understanding that those are activities that are going on but trying to work with teens and talk to them about how they can maintain their safety. MARIA: I'm a peer mediator. All of my mediations have been successful except one. One mediation I did was between six guys who got into a fight. They sat there for an hour before they finally talked it out. But when they did, it was amazing. They worked through their problem, and that was the end of it.
JEREMY: You have to break down the barrier between kids who don't want to tell on their friends. Most kids know when violence is going to happen. But if everyone knows there's going to be a big fight at someone's house or a park, no one tells teachers, no one tells parents. So you've got to break down that wall.
Jessica: A student watch program is a good idea. Teen leaders could come together, and other teens could come and tell them their fears.

-- With Michele Hatty

Photo credit: James Kegley for USA WEEKEND