[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
[April 24, 1999]
[Pages 612-613]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
April 24, 1999

    Good morning. Tomorrow in church services all across America, we'll 
be thinking of those who lost their lives in Littleton, Colorado. This 
is a time for all Americans to pray for their families as well as those 
who were injured and their loved ones and all the people of the schools 
and the community.
    It's also a time for all Americans to ask what we can do, as 
individuals and as a nation, to turn more young people from the path of 
violence; how we can take responsibility, each and every one of us, for 
the future of our children. We've seen far too many tragedies like the 
one at Columbine High School.
    It's striking that these violent assaults on human life often 
illuminate the best of the human spirit. We marvel at the bravery of the 
fatally wounded teacher who led 40 students to 
safety. We look with admiration at the medics and the police officers 
who rushed to the scene to save lives; the clergy, the counselors, the 
local leaders who immediately began the painful process of helping 
people to heal; and the parents and students who, in the face of hatred, 
refuse to return it.
    At a moment of such terrible, terrible violence, these people didn't 
turn away, and we can't either. Instead, every one of us must take 
responsibility to counter the culture of violence.
    Government must take responsibility. Next week I'll send to Congress 
two new bills to keep our children safe. First, we must do more to keep 
guns out of the hands of violent juveniles. My bill will crack down on 
gun shows and illegal gun trafficking, ban violent juveniles from ever 
being able to buy a gun, and close the loophole that lets juveniles own 
assault rifles.
    Second, we must do more to prevent violence in our schools. My safe 
schools bill will help schools pay for more counselors and conflict 
resolution programs, more mentors, and more metal detectors. It also 
includes $12 million for emergency teams, to help communities respond 
when tragedy strikes.

[[Page 613]]

    And Government can help parents take responsibility. It's harder 
than ever for parents to pass on their values in the face of a media 
culture that so glorifies violence.
    As Hillary pointed out in her book, the more children see of 
violence, the more numb they are to the deadly consequences of violence. 
Now, video games like ``Mortal Kombat,'' ``Killer Instinct,'' and 
``Doom,'' the very game played obsessively by the two young men who ended so many lives in 
Littleton, make our children more active participants in simulated 
violence.
    A former lieutenant colonel and psychologist, Professor David 
Grossman, has said that these games teach 
young people to kill with all the precision of a military training 
program but none of the character training that goes along with it. For 
children who get the right training at home and who have the ability to 
distinguish between real and unreal consequences, they're still games. 
But for children who are especially vulnerable to the lure of violence, 
they can be far more.
    Vice President Gore has led the fight 
to give parents the tools to limit the exposure of their children to 
excessive violence, from a television rating system to new ways of 
blocking inappropriate material on the Internet to the V-chip. By this 
July, fully half of all new televisions will have the V-chip; so will 
every new television in America by the year 2000.
    Years ago, Tipper Gore sounded the first 
alarm about the damaging effects on our children of excessive violence 
in movies, music, and video games. Today, she is still drawing attention 
to mental illness. This June, she will host the first-ever White House 
Conference on Mental Health, where we'll talk about how to recognize 
mental illness in young people before it's too late.
    These are steps the National Government is taking to protect our 
children. But it is not a job Government can or should do alone. Parents 
come first. They should turn off the television, pay attention to what's 
on the computer screen, refuse to buy products that glorify violence. 
Make sure your children know you care about what they're doing.
    And to the media and entertainment industries, I say just this: You 
know you have enormous power to educate and entertain our children. Yes, 
there should be a label on the outside of every video, but what counts 
is what's on the inside and what it will do to the insides of our young 
people. I ask you to make every video game and movie as if your own 
children were watching it.
    In the days ahead, as we continue the process of healing, we must 
pledge ourselves to the task of putting an end to the culture of 
violence and building in its place a culture of values we can be proud 
to pass on to all our children.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 8:30 a.m. on April 24 in the Map Room 
at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m., and the transcript was 
embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his address, the President 
referred to Columbine High School teacher David Sanders and gunmen Eric 
Harris and Dylan Klebold.