    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [December 6, 1997]
    [Pages 1723-1724]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    December 6, 1997

        Good morning. Yesterday the community of West Paducah, Kentucky,
    came together to remember the three young girls struck down at school in
    a terrifying act of violence. Our entire Nation has been shaken by this
    tragedy. West Paducah, on the southern shore of the Ohio River, is at
    the center of our circle of prayers. America has lost three beautiful
    daughters. We mourn deeply with the Steger, James, and Hadley families,
    with those students who were wounded and their families, and with all
    those whose lives were changed forever by a 14-year-old with a stolen
    gun.
        We may never know what drove the son of a respected church elder to
    extinguish the lives of classmates bowed in prayer. But in the aftermath
    we've seen great heroism, generosity, and love: a courageous act by a
    classmate to head off more violence, an outpouring of understanding for
    the sister of the alleged killer, the donation of organs for patients
    desperately in need, an entire nation reaching out in support. One
    terrible act could not poison the deep well of goodness West Paducah has
    drawn upon in this moment of grief.
        Now the rest of us must do everything in our power to prevent such
    things from happening again. At a time when we're trying to prepare our
    children for the opportunities of the 21st century, high school seniors
    are more likely to take weapons to school than to take calculus in
    school. This is unacceptable. We simply cannot educate our children, and
    they cannot learn and live up to their full potential, when violence and
    drugs threaten their safety in school.
        One thing we must do right away is to gain a much clearer view of
    the problem. Sadly, our national picture of school violence is neither
    complete, nor up to date. We know more about the overall patterns of car
    theft in America than we do about the harm that comes to our children at
    school.
        So today I'm directing Attorney General Reno and Education Secretary
    Riley to launch a major initiative to produce for the first time an
    annual report card on school violence. This report card will contain the
    data we all need in order to boost efforts to prevent violence from
    happening in the first place.
        School safety is a challenge not only for police and parents,
    teachers and school officials; the scourge of young violence poses a
    challenge to every American. It demands that we do everything possible
    to find safe places for our children to learn and play and grow. It
    demands that schools follow a policy of zero tolerance for guns. It
    demands that we teach our children basic values, the unblinking
    distinction between right and wrong. It demands that we exercise
    responsibility when we create images for our

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    children to see. Most urgently, it demands that whenever possible, we
    reach out to those who may be troubled, angry, or alone before they do
    something destructive and perhaps irreversible to themselves or others.
        Youth violence represents an insistent, angry wake-up call to every
    parent, every teacher, every religious leader, every student. If we
    answer that call, we can ensure that the memory of Kayce, Nicole, and
    Jessica will help us to prevent other such tragedies. In the words of
    the girls' final prayer, we can ensure that their light will shine
    forevermore.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 5:18 p.m. on December 5 in the
    Roosevelt Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on
    December 6. In his remarks, the President referred to Kayce Steger,
    Nicole Hadley, and Jessica James, Heath High School students killed by
    gunfire following a prayer meeting; Michael Carneal, the alleged gunman,
    and his sister Kelly; and Ben Strong, a student who acted to end the
    shooting.