9/25/2015 Secretary Riley ­ Safe & Drug Free Schools Conf. ­ Reconnecting with our Children and Keeping Them Safe

https://web.archive.org/web/19990220084439/http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/980609.html 1/6

Remarks as prepared for delivery by

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley

Safe and Drug Free Schools Conference

Washington, D.C.,

June 9, 1998

RECONNECTING WITH OUR CHILDREN AND KEEPING THEM SAFE

I want to thank all of you for coming to this important conference and for your personal

commitment to the children of America. I know that each and every one of you is making a

sacrifice to do the jobs you do. That, to my way of thinking, is the very essence of patriotism

and what it means to be a good American.

Yesterday, I went to New York at the request of the President and joined Attorney General

Reno, General McCaffrey and several other cabinet members as the President gave a very

important anti­drug speech at the United Nations. The essence of his message was very

simple ­­ the United States will remain unrelenting in its efforts to stem the use and abuse of

drugs. It is a message that needs to be heard again and again.

There is another message that our young people need to hear again and again and that is this

­­ please, young Americans, please listen to me ­­ violence is not the solution to any problem

that you may have.

The recent wave of terrible killings in Springfield, Oregon; Edinboro, Pennsylvania; Jonesboro,

Arkansas; West Paducah, Kentucky; Pearl, Mississippi, and other places have struck a nerve

and sent a shudder of doubt throughout our great country.

Yet, I know that America's schools are among the safest places to be on a day­to­day basis

because of your good work. Ninety percent of our schools are free of serious violent crime.

We have millions of young people who are healthy and happy and want to learn.

I've met them and so have you. There are so many good kids all over America who really are

the hope of the future. They are energetic, smart, creative, and they truly seek a moral

dimension to their lives.

But as long as this society continues to glorify violence, continues to make it easy for young

people to get guns ­­ and as long as we continue to hide our heads in the sand or fail to reach

out when a young person is truly troubled ­­ we will have to confront tragedies like Springfield

and Jonesboro.

So we need to stop and think hard about what we can do to help our children grow up safely

and learn to reject violence.

I am troubled by the fact ­­ and this is something that I have said again and again ­­ that so

many young people in America are growing up disconnected. They are growing up almost

alone. And then we wonder why some adults fear our own children. Last year a Public

Agenda report stated that over 60 percent of American adults view young people in the

negative.

This is a rather extraordinary finding but there it is ­­ another sign that there is a disconnection

here that we need to address. So where do we start? At the turn of the century, the American

philosopher, Henry Adams in writing his autobiography, defined what he called the "law of

acceleration." He wondered whether people would have the capacity to keep up with what he

called the "velocity of change" in the 20th century.
9/25/2015 Secretary Riley ­ Safe & Drug Free Schools Conf. ­ Reconnecting with our Children and Keeping Them Safe

https://web.archive.org/web/19990220084439/http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/980609.html 2/6

Here at the end of the century, I have my own concern. I wonder if, in our haste to keep up

with the velocity of change, we are forgetting those things that are most essential to our

children: giving them that deep, abiding sense of trust, guidance and security that tells them

that they are truly loved, cared about and respected.

In countless conversations, Americans are wondering what is going on with our children. My

answer to them is that our children reflect who we are as a people. We seem to have a love

affair with violence and it will take a sea change in our culture to move away from this thinking.

When 6,000 young people are killed every year with a gun, when 5,000 young people commit

suicide every year, when over a million young people run away from home every year, when

almost a half million young people drop out of school every year, and when hundreds of

thousands of young people get into drugs and alcohol and tobacco and just mess up their

lives, can we truly say we are a child­centered society, that we are giving all due attention and

concern to their upbringing?

When we see children killing children, can we say that we have listened to them with all due

care? Violence is a language, a sound that always captures our attention but always too late.

This is why "connectedness" is so important.

Reconnecting With Our Children

Last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a survey

of 90,000 young people concerning high risk behavior that included face­to­face interviews

with more than 12,000 teenagers in their homes. This survey was one of the most

comprehensive that has ever been done and it went to great lengths to reach young people

on sensitive subjects such as drug use, sexuality, violence and suicide, even allowing the

young people to key their answers into a laptop computer to protect their confidentiality. The

results were remarkable in their simplicity and depth.

The survey indicated that young people who felt connected to their parents and schools were

less likely to engage in high risk behavior. As Doctor Robert Blum, the survey director, stated,

"kids who feel connected to school are more likely to feel connected at home, and kids who

perform better in school are the same ones who are told at home that school is important."

This is why every school in the nation has to actively engage and encourage parents and do

everything possible to mitigate the time crunch of daily life so parents stay connected to their

children. We need to urge parents to slow down their lives and as educators we must slow

down our lives as well.

We must commit ourselves to one very basic idea: that every child in America in a school has

a positive and caring relationship with at least one adult. This simply has to be the new

standard we set for our nation's schools and communities. This is something that Paul

Schwarz, our principal­in­residence, talked to you about yesterday.

Yes, there are innumerable obstacles to reaching this goal. And, yes, many seasoned

educators will immediately say that there is no time, that teachers and administrators are

already stretched too thin. But the goal of having every child in a school be connected to

some caring adult is not unrealistic.

I have visited mega­schools that have become schools­within­schools. I have visited charter

schools, career academies, and schools that have created family units within larger schools. I

have visited schools that actively involve parents and senior citizens. And I have visited

schools in drug­infested neighborhoods where the entire community makes sure that children

come and go to school safely.

The secret of success at all of these schools is the willingness of teachers, parents and the

entire community to go to great lengths to make sure that every child and every family feels

connected and valued.
9/25/2015 Secretary Riley ­ Safe & Drug Free Schools Conf. ­ Reconnecting with our Children and Keeping Them Safe

https://web.archive.org/web/19990220084439/http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/980609.html 3/6

Congress Must Act

This is why the many programs that President Clinton has sent to the Congress ­­ from

reducing class size to school construction to expanding after­school programs ­­ need to be

seen as a direct help to those of you on the front line. Congress needs to stop worrying about

politics and start passing legislation that will make a difference in the lives of our children.

Our prisons are full of high school dropouts who cannot read and that is one reason why

funding the America Reads Challenge is so important. Yet, Congress continues to dilly dally

and dawdle. And just think about how many young people we might help and get on the right

track if they were connected to a young college student mentor as part of our High Hopes

program that would link middle schools to colleges. I urge the Congress to act on all of these

important pieces of legislation.

I single out for special attention the President's proposal to fund 1,300 drug and violence

prevention coordinators to serve 6,500 of our nation's middle schools. When Congress goes

home in October, this piece of legislation ­­ indeed all the pieces of legislation that I have just

mentioned ­­ needs to be on the President's desk for his signature.

And I will tell you why. I visit 60 to 70 schools a year. I see the best schools and the most run

down schools and all kinds of schools in between. I see them all. I talk to teachers and

principals, the counselors and the parents. I try to be a good listener. I know that when I come

for a visit, the school staff wants to tell me two things: what they are accomplishing and what

truly worries them.

As I make my visits, I detect a growing sense of urgency. The message I hear again and

again is that schools are being asked to "detox" young people from the glorification of violence

and an easy acceptance of drugs, and to sensitize children about the value of life itself.

Schools are being asked to pick up the pieces.

Schools are being asked to teach young people basic coping and social skills from anger

management to cooperation, and sometimes educators are finding themselves at their wits'

end.

A few days ago, I read a small news item about how a teacher had been attacked by four girls

at a school who demanded that the teacher turn on the tasteless "Jerry Springer Show" in lieu

of a documentary. Have we come to that?

My friends, we need to recognize that ending the violence and drug abuse is not simply a

family nor a school problem. As PTA president Lois Jean White said last week, "it is America's

problem." And, I would add, it is every community's problem as well. This is why we cannot let

this summer slip by without planning ahead for the next school year. Now is the time to build

community support for our nation's schools.

This is why this speech will be the first in a series of events that I will participate in to suggest

some practical and urgent steps we can take to help in your work. To that end, I am

announcing a series of action steps that the Administration will begin to take this summer to

encourage a public dialogue and to help you make our schools even safer places to learn.

Listen to Our Children

First, the Attorney General and I will meet this summer and during the next school year with

young people to talk directly with them regarding violence and drugs. We can't begin to end

the violence unless we reach out to our young people, truly listen to their voices, and tune in

to what they are really trying to say. And we must make them part of the solution.

Again and again in the aftermath of the tragedies like Springfield and Jonesboro we are told

that other children thought trouble was coming. So we need to stop and listen to our young

people and build those levels of trust that allow them to talk to us when they are worried and
9/25/2015 Secretary Riley ­ Safe & Drug Free Schools Conf. ­ Reconnecting with our Children and Keeping Them Safe

https://web.archive.org/web/19990220084439/http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/980609.html 4/6

fearful.

Effective Programs

We can't begin to talk about improving the safety of our nation's schools unless we tighten up

our own programs to make sure that they are research­based and have met the highest

standards. This is why we are putting into place Principles of Effectiveness to re­direct our

own Safe­and Drug Free School Program.

We have to do a much better job of making sure that what we are doing is effective. There is a

science of prevention and we need to use it. This is why Congress should act with dispatch

and approve the President's request to target $125 million to communities with strong

prevention initiatives.

We also need to recognize that teaching young people coping and social skills that allow them

to turn away from violence and drugs can take many forms. Many of you are familiar with the

wonderful work of Dr. James Comer at Yale University, whose program connects schools and

communities. Dr. Gil Botvin of Cornell University Medical College has a Life Skills Program

that has proved effective. I also know that many schools are using character education, peer

mediation, conflict resolution, and the establishment of student run religious clubs as ways to

help and encourage young people through turbulent times.

Shifting More Resources to Prevention

Third, we need to rethink and redirect how and where we spend our resources. When it

comes to preventing violence, we need to shift some of our resources from the back end to

the front end.

About a month ago I met with school security chiefs from the 30 major cities. Some of these

school chiefs looked liked former football linebackers. Yet their message was anything but

punishing. To a person, they spoke about the need to stop school overcrowding, to shift more

resources to elementary school, and to hire more counselors.

They urged me as I urge you today to develop prevention strategies at the elementary school

level. As one security chief told me, "every third grade teacher can tell you which child is

already in trouble and headed down the wrong road." This is clearly true if they are teaching

only 15 to 18 children in a class and can give some individual attention to each child.

This is why I join Attorney General Reno in saying that it is a "serious mistake" for both the

House and the Senate to be developing juvenile justice legislation that sets aside no real

funding for delinquency prevention, for truancy prevention, for after­school programs and for

mentoring programs. These are the very programs that you and I know can be so effective in

stopping violence from occurring in the first place.

Early Warning

Fourth, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice, working with the National

Association of School Psychologists and other experts, will develop a framework to help

teachers and principals understand early on when a child is truly troubled and the steps they

can take to get help. This early warning guide, which will include important ways to prevent

violence and deal with aggressive behavior, will be ready in the early fall.

Now, we need to be very cautious about the idea of sorting out our children and labeling them.

In my opinion, too many young people are already being sorted out in our schools and too

often this approach to education has been been harmful to minority youth.

At the same time, however, we need to recognize that research does exist that can help

teachers, principals, and parents understand those early warning signs that define those few

young people who are truly troubled. It takes great courage for a teacher or a parent or a
9/25/2015 Secretary Riley ­ Safe & Drug Free Schools Conf. ­ Reconnecting with our Children and Keeping Them Safe

https://web.archive.org/web/19990220084439/http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/980609.html 5/6

preacher or a coach to confront a troubled child. But this is something that we must do in a

responsible manner.

Linking Schools to Community Services

This is why my Department will work with the Surgeon General to explore ways to develop a

stronger link between schools and community mental health facilities as well as to increase

the number of school counselors and other staff who can reach out to children and families.

Many states, including California, are moving in this direction.

The principal at Thurston High School, in Springfield, Oregon, acknowledged in the aftermath

of that tragedy that he had only four counselors for 1,700 students. We simply aren't going to

connect with our young people as individuals when the average counselor in an American

school is responsible for over 500 children.

We want to make sure that important support staff in our nation's schools ­­ the social

workers, counselors and school psychologists ­­ are not solely focused on testing and

evaluation but also are directing their expertise to preventing violence. The 1997 revisions of

IDEA will give school psychologists a greater opportunity to actively work with you, the safe

and drug­free school coordinators.

We also need to look outside of the schoolhouse to find new resources and bring them into

the school environment. Teachers cannot be policemen, social workers or psychiatrists.

Teachers may be the first to know a child well enough to see that the child is troubled, but

then they need to know that there is a support team available to them. I want to point out that

5 percent of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is available for these types of

collaborative and coordinate services.

Crisis Management

We also have to realize that the type of tragic incidents such as those in Springfield and

Jonesboro can happen any time and at any school. This is why the Department of Education

and the Department of Justice will develop a model for "crisis management" that can be used

by schools to develop their own plans. This may be particularly helpful for smaller school

districts.

Alternative Schools

As we reach out to our young people, we must send them a strong and consistent message

that they must be held accountable for their actions. They need to understand that there are

very real consequences to breaking the rules. This is why we must continue to be tough

minded about expelling young people who bring guns and other weapons to school.

But we simply cannot expel young people into the streets. A child who brings a weapon to

school needs to be properly evaluated and a plan of action has to be developed to turn this

young person's life around. I remain very concerned by the finding that only 56 percent of the

students expelled under the Gun Free Schools Act were placed in alternative settings. This is

why the Department of Education will undertake a major new study of alternative schools and

examine other ways that will enable us to make sure that these young people in trouble get

their lives turned around.

Guns and Children

Finally, a last important point: Unsupervised gun use and children do not mix. I will say that

again. Unsupervised gun use and children do not mix. If Charlton Heston and the NRA want

to come into the "mainstream of American political debate" then they need to stop defining

themselves as "victims of media manipulation" and help keep our children from becoming the

victims of gun violence in our schools, in our homes and in our streets. I challenge the NRA to
9/25/2015 Secretary Riley ­ Safe & Drug Free Schools Conf. ­ Reconnecting with our Children and Keeping Them Safe

https://web.archive.org/web/19990220084439/http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/980609.html 6/6

direct its attention to getting guns out of the hands of unsupervised children. The link between

guns in a house and children being injured or killed in an accidental shooting or committing

suicide is well established and alarming.

Last year, at the request of the President and the Attorney General, eight major gun

manufacturers agreed to put trigger locks on all new guns now being manufactured. But there

are still over 200 million guns in America that need to be locked up as well.

This is why I ask every adult to get serious about gun safety in America. If you have guns in

your house, please take the responsibility for making sure that every gun has a child safety

lock on it. It's not enough to say it was a mistake because a gun got left in an unlocked drawer

or on the nightstand by the bed and a child got killed. Unsupervised gun use and children ­­

do not mix.

The action steps that I have just outlined are comprehensive because this is the only way we

are going to help our young people. America's young people are resilient. They will have a

bright future if we help them turn away from the culture of violence and drugs that this society

tolerates all too easily.

There is another way for America. That is to have a total commitment to reconnecting with

America's young people and to help each school become a place of hope, learning and

opportunity. When communities come together ­­ parents, senior citizens, faith communities,

business leaders and just plain folk ­­ when we rally around our schools and when we

reconnect with our children, good things happen.

I want to end now by telling you about my visit to Jonesboro, Arkansas. The President was in

Africa, so he asked the Attorney General and me to represent him at the memorial service.

We had the opportunity to visit with the families of the victims and to listen to a community

come together in the aftermath of a terrible act of violence.

One of the most powerful speakers that night ­­ a real heroine to the community ­­ was Karen

Curtner, the very fine principal of Westside Middle School. I shall never forget her words.

She said that our hearts have four physical parts and four emotional parts ­­ sorrow,

compassion, forgiveness and hope. She urged us ­­ and these are her words ­­ to start a

chain of love that would change the world, one helping hand at a time, whether it's checking

on a neighbor, reading an extra bedtime story to a child, or simply saying thank you more

often. Her message is my message ­­ a message of reconnection and hope.

Thank you.

­###­

[Return to Speeches and Testimony page ]

Last Updated ­­ June 10, 1998, (pjk)