[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.