    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 17 (Monday, May 3, 1999)]
    [Pages 717-718]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    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. 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

    [[Page 718]]

    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. In his address, the
    President referred to Columbine High School teacher David Sanders; and
    gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The transcript was made available
    by the Office of the Press Secretary on March 24 but was embargoed for
    release until the broadcast.