Over 21,000 Students to Take Pledge Against Gun Violence

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that on Wednesday, November 4, 2015, over 21,000 students in over 64 schools across Southeast Louisiana will participate in his Office’s second district-wide Student Pledge Against Gun Violence Day.

 Middle and high school students will sign a voluntary pledge promising that they will never take a gun to school, will never resolve a dispute with a gun, and will use their influence to prevent friends from using guns to resolve disputes.  Elementary school children will make a simpler commitment, pledging that if they see a gun they will not touch it, they will assume that any gun they see might be loaded, and they will tell a teacher or a trusted adult.                

In coordination with the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program, the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence is a national program that recognizes the role that young people, through their own decisions, can play in reducing gun violence.  This campaign against youth gun violence culminates each October in a Day of National Concern about Young People and Gun Violence. Students from around the country will join together in pledging to do their part to end gun violence.  Over 10 million students nationwide have signed the pledge since its inception in 1996.

U.S. Attorney Polite stated that his Office began using the pledge during the 2013-14 school year.  Because of the outstanding response from school leaders and students, the Office decided to expand the initiative district-wide to include all schools in all 13 parishes, including  Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, and Washington.  "Our Office is pleased to take this opportunity to reach out to students, engage in a dialogue about gun violence and the importance of making right choices, and encourage them to become peacemakers of our time," stated U.S. Attorney Polite.

In addition to providing the pledges, members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and other state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies will serve as speakers at several schools to talk to students about what they can do to reduce gun violence in their communities.

Participating Schools include:

Alice Birney Elementary School (Jefferson Parish)

Andrew Jackson Middle School (St. Bernard Parish)

Annunciation Catholic School (Washington Parish)

Assumption High School (Assumption Parish)

Bayou L'Ourse Primary School (Assumption Parish)

C.F. Rowley Alternative School (St. Bernard Parish)

Chalmette Elementary School (St. Bernard Parish)

Chalmette High School 9^th Grade Academy (St. Bernard Parish)

Davies Elementary School (St. Bernard Parish)

Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy of Global Studies (Orleans Parish)

Edward Hynes Charter School (Orleans Parish)

Eleanor McMain Secondary School (Orleans Parish)

Ella Dolhonde Elementary School (Jefferson Parish)

Fisher Middle-High School (Jefferson Parish)

Frederick Douglass Elementary School (Jefferson Parish)

Garyville Mt. Airy Math & Science Magnet School (St. John Parish)

Gentilly Terrace Charter School (Orleans Parish)

Gretna No. 2 Academy for Advanced Studies (Jefferson Parish)

Hazel Park - Hilda Knoff Elementary School (Jefferson Parish)

International High School of New Orleans (Orleans Parish)

J.C. Ellis School (Jefferson Parish)

KIPP Believe College Preparatory School (Orleans Parish)

KIPP Central City Academy (Orleans Parish)

KIPP McDonogh #15 Middle School (Orleans Parish)

KIPP Renaissance High School (Orleans Parish)

Lacache Middle School (Tangipahoa Parish)

Lacoste Elementary School (St. Bernard Parish)

Lafayette Academy Charter School (Orleans Parish)

Lake Area New Tech Early College High School (Orleans Parish)

Lake Forest Charter School (Orleans Parish)

Lake Pontchartrain Elementary School (St. John Parish)

LaPlace Elementary School (St. John Parish)

Leo Kerner Jr. Elementary School (Jefferson Parish)

Martin Behrman Charter Academy (Orleans Parish)

Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary (Orleans Parish)

McDonogh 26 Elementary School (Jefferson Parish)

Medard H. Nelson Charter School (Orleans Parish)

Mildred S. Harris Elementary (Jefferson Parish)

Ory Magnet Elementary School (St. John Parish)

Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy (Jefferson Parish)

Pierre A. Capdau Charter School (Orleans Parish)

Phoenix High School (Plaquemines Parish)

Pope John Paul II Catholic High School (St. Tammany Parish)

St. Augustine High School (Orleans Parish)

St. Benedict the Moor (Orleans Parish)

St. Bernard Middle School (St. Bernard Parish)

St. Catherine of Sienna (Jefferson Parish)

St. James Parish Gifted Center (St. James Parish)

St. Peter Claver Catholic School (Orleans Parish)

St. Scholastica Academy (St. Tammany Parish)

Science & Math Academy (St. James Parish)

Sixth Ward Elementary (St. James Parish)

Smith Elementary School (St. Bernard Parish)

South Thibodaux Elementary School (Lafourche Parish)

T. H. Harris Middle School (Jefferson Parish)

The Good Shepherd School (Orleans Parish)

Trist Middle School (St. Bernard Parish)

Vacherie Elementary School (St. James Parish)

Vic A. Pitre Elementary School (Jefferson Parish)

West St. John Elementary School (St. John Parish)

West St. John High School (St. John Parish)

Westbank Community (Jefferson Parish)

Wesley Ray Elementary (Washington Parish)

William Hart Elementary School (Jefferson Parish)

 

Participating Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies include:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Houma Police Department

Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office

New Orleans Police Department

Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana

U.S. Marshals Service

U.S. Probation and Parole, Eastern District of Louisiana

U.S. Secret Service