GHCA students pledge ‘no’ to gun violence

By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — In a determined move to reduce gun violence, all students from grades one through 12 at the Greater Houlton Christian Academy signed pledges to play a personal role in reducing gun violence. Houlton Police Department Detective Carolyn Crandall accepted 166 pledges saying: “Most of our young people are taught gun safety at an early age. But, they see so much violence on TV…. I think this is great that they’re being taught that there are other ways to solve our differences.”
Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Elna Seabrooks
THEY SAY ‘NO’ — Greater Houlton Christian Academy senior, Chris Morin, hands Houlton Police Department Detective Carolyn Crandall 166 pledges against gun violence signed by the student body. Mackenzie Burns, a senior at the school,  also signed a pledge and is standing next to Assistant Head of School Tom Zimmerman.
    High school senior, Chris Morin, said he is taking a hunter safety course which is teaching him “to be a lot more safe with guns” since he goes hunting with his dad and a friend. Morin says he signed the pledge “because we want to be aware of the violence that’s going on in schools and we don’t want it to happen in our schools.”
    Anytime you talk about gun violence, said Assistant Head of School, Tom Zimmerman, you don’t want to scare children. Only the youngest students, in kindergarten and pre-K, did not sign the pledge. But, in Aroostook County, with the popularity of hunting, safety takes on extra importance, he added. After talking with HPD Chief Butch Asselin, he said it “would be empowering to young people to recognize what they could do to prevent gun violence and, as the pledge specifies, if they see a gun, they won’t touch it.”
    Mackenzie Burns, also a senior at the school, said he also goes hunting with his father and thinks “it’s great to have everyone aware of how violent guns can be if you use them incorrectly.” He also said he’s more cautious and more aware of just how easily an accident can happen.
    Students signed the pledges in October forming a special partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the HPD as part of the national campaign which provides a means to begin conversations with young people about gun violence. Since 1996, according to the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence program, more than 10 million students nationwide have signed the pledge.