U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, over 10,000 students in 36 schools across Southeast Louisiana will participate in his Office’s second district-wide Student Pledge Against Gun Violence Day.
Middle and high school students will sign a voluntary pledge promising that they will never take a gun to school, will never resolve a dispute with a gun, and will use their influence to prevent friends from using guns to resolve disputes. Elementary school children will make a simpler commitment, pledging that if they see a gun they will not touch it, they will assume that any gun they see might be loaded, and they will tell a teacher or a trusted adult.
In coordination with the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program, the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence is a national program that recognizes the role that young people, through their own decisions, can play in reducing gun violence. This campaign against youth gun violence culminates each October in a Day of National Concern about Young People and Gun Violence. Students from around the country will join together in pledging to do their part to end gun violence. Over 10 million students nationwide have signed the pledge since its inception in 1996.
U.S. Attorney Polite stated that his Office began using the pledge during the 2013-14 school year. Because of the outstanding response from school leaders and students, the Office decided to expand the initiative district-wide to include all schools in all 13 parishes, including Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St.
John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Terrebonne. "Our Office is pleased to take this opportunity to reach out to students, engage in a dialogue about gun violence and the importance of making right choices, and encourage them to become peacemakers of our time," stated U.S. Attorney Polite.
In addition to providing the pledges, members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and other state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies will serve as speakers at several schools to talk to students about what they can do to reduce gun violence in their communities.
Participating Schools include:
ASSUMPTION PARISH
Assumption High School
JEFFERSON PARISH
Alice Birney Elementary School
C. T. Janet Elementary School
Fisher Middle-High School
Frederick Douglass Elementary School
Grand Isle School
Gretna No. 2 Academy for Advanced Studies
Hazel Park Elementary School
McDonogh 26 Elementary School
Shirley Johnson/Gretna Park Elementary
St. Mary Magdalen
T. H. Harris Middle School
Vic A. Pitre Elementary School
William Hart Elementary School
LAFOURCHE PARISH
South Thibodaux Elementary School
ORLEANS PARISH
De La Salle High School
Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy of Global Studies
Gentilly Terrace Charter School
James M. Singleton Charter School/Dryades YMCA
Lafayette Academy Charter School
Lake Forest Charter School
Milestone Academy
Pierre A. Capdau Charter School
Samuel J. Green Charter School
Schaumburg Elementary Charter School
St. Benedict the Moor
The Good Shepherd School
William J. Fischer Accelerated Academy
PLAQUEMINES PARISH
Our Lady of Perpetual Help School
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH
Lake Pontchartrain Elementary
Ory Magnet Elementary School
West St. John Elementary School
West St. John High School
ST. TAMMANY PARISH
Pope John Paul II High School
Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center
TERREBONNE PARISH
School for Exceptional Children
Participating Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies include:
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Drug Enforcement Administration
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office
New Orleans Police Department
Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office
St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
U.S. Marshals Service
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
