[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 78 (Thursday, May 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6275-S6276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ESSAY ON PARENTS AND TEENS

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, a young Alaskan, a freshman in Colony 
High School in the Matanuska Valley town of Wasilla, wrote an opinion 
piece in the Anchorage Daily news this week which shows thoughtfulness 
and wisdom well beyond his 15 years.
  Travis Johnson sat down at his computer the day after the tragedy at 
Columbine High School, and wrote from the heart his feelings and his 
ideas on how to prevent further tragedies like Columbine.
  He showed the essay to his parents who were moved and impressed with 
their youngster's effort. His mother, a physician, and his dad, an 
insurance executive, grew up in Anchorage. While they are not hunters 
themselves, they have friends and family who are gun owners and who 
hunt.
  After Travis shared his essay with his English teacher, his dad 
suggested that he send it to the Anchorage Daily News.
  Travis refutes the ideas that guns and violence on television and in 
films are responsible for incidents like Columbine.
  Travis believes that parents must be more and more involved with 
their children. He asks the parents who read his opinion piece to 
``talk to your kids, even though you may not want to, and your kids may 
act like they don't want to talk to you.'' And he tells teens to talk 
to their parents.
  Mr. President, Travis Johnson's observations and ideas are important 
insights into how to avoid further incidents like those in Colorado and 
Georgia, from a teen who understands how teens feel.
  I ask unanimous consent that his column from the May 25 Anchorage 
Daily News, titled ``Parents Are the Only Answer to Teens' Problems'' 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:]

             [From the Anchorage Daily News, May 25, 1999]

             Parents Are the Only Answer to Teens' Problems

                          (By Travis Johnson)

       I'm sure all of those who are reading this paper have heard 
     of the recent Columbine High School shooting incident in 
     which two students walked into the school and started a 
     massacre that left 15 people dead. My heart goes out to those 
     families and their loss. Upon hearing about this incident, I 
     found myself very disturbed. How could two seemingly 
     ``normal'' high school students (I use the term lightly 
     because there is really no such thing as a normal high school 
     student) be capable of doing something like this? I listened 
     to television reports about what might be responsible for 
     this incident. The two that seemed to be most stressed were 
     harassment from peers and guns. It seemed as though the 
     combination of those two automatically justified a killing 
     spree.
       First, let's think about the issue of harassment from 
     peers. Every day I go to school, and I am judged. So is 
     everybody else around me. I know that I've withstood my fair 
     share of insults, and they still keep coming. And I know many 
     people around me have it worse than I do, especially my 
     school's own group of trench coat wearers, commonly referred 
     to as ``Goths.'' I'm willing to admit there are firearms in 
     my household; I'm even proud of it. I'm not especially 
     popular, and I could easily find out how to make bombs on the 
     Internet. I'm sure many of the ``Goths'' at my school have 
     access to the same materials. Given this information, I think 
     that it's time I or someone else at my school went on a 
     homicidal rampage, don't you think? I don't think so! Just 
     because people are harassed doesn't justify a killing.
       In the real world, people are harassed all the time. I 
     think it's just life. There are mean people out there. Live 
     with it. The killers at Columbine High School were lacking 
     something in their personalities to do something like this. 
     That is self-control, self-esteem and an understanding of the 
     value of life. I think this has less to do with harassment 
     and more with the killers themselves. If the killers had 
     better values, this never would have happened.
       Maybe firearms are to blame? I'm sure many people noticed 
     that immediately after this incident, a series of gun-control 
     laws were proposed, including a proposal to raise the age 
     limit to own a handgun from 18 to 21. Do people really think 
     that if the handgun age limit was higher, this incident would 
     have never happened?
       I hate to say it, but welcome to politics. In the world 
     today, what people want to see is action. It has to be quick, 
     it has to be cheap and it has to keep them from being 
     responsible. Politicians realize this, so immediately they 
     come up with a ``solution'' that fits these criteria. It 
     doesn't have to work; the people just have to think it 
     does. So what happens? Well, they scream, ``Guns are the 
     problem!'' and we all lose more rights.

[[Page S6276]]

       The truth is, if somebody wants to kill someone with a 
     firearm laws banning guns aren't going to stop them. A lot of 
     guns used in robberies and murders are stolen. Well, if we 
     got rid of the runs in the world, then we would have a 
     solution, right! Nope, people would use other homemade 
     weapons, bombs, knives, etc.
       A gun is a tool, not a weapon. It is a tool for hunting, 
     recreation and protection. It can be a historical piece, it 
     can be a keepsake, it can represent something. Guns are not 
     to blame for the Columbine High School incident.
       By now you might be asking yourself what is to blame. 
     Unfortunately, it's a problem not many people want to face. 
     It starts at the home. It starts with a lack of discipline, a 
     lack of love, and a lack of values. I'm sure that if the 
     parents of the boys involved in this shooting incident has 
     been more involved with their kids, this incident would have 
     never occurred.
       The parents are not completely to blame. Today's violent 
     televised society illustrates this violence as a normal 
     everyday thing. This makes it difficult to draw the line 
     between right and wrong. These things, added together, 
     resulted in the final problem: The boys responsible for this 
     shooting. In the end, it is they who are responsible.
       So, what can be done to prevent another tragedy like this 
     one? To all the parents who are reading this talk to your 
     kid! Even though you may not want to and your kids may act 
     like they don't want to talk to you, just their knowing 
     you're willing to talk often helps. Spend time with them, 
     draw them to activities that keep them busy and feeling 
     wanted such as sports, church, even target shooting! If 
     parents teach their kids how to use and respect a firearm, 
     they'll be less likely to abuse it than if their parents 
     avoid telling them about guns.
       To all of the kids and teens reading this: talk to your 
     parents. They can be a valuable source of information and can 
     help you when you feel there is no one else to turn.
       Other things you can do include complimenting people 
     instead of insulting them, always remembering that you are 
     important, having good friends, and reporting to authorities 
     if anyone you know makes dangerous threats against you or 
     anyone else. By doing this we might be able to prevent 
     another incident like the one that occurred at Columbine High 
     School. I hope that everyone reading this will pray for the 
     families affected by the shooting and take my advice to 
     heart.

                          ____________________