Students Across South Carolina to Participate in State’s 18th Annual National Day of Concern & Student Pledge Against Gun Violence

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that on Wednesday, October 16, 2019, the United States Attorney’s Office, along their local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, will visit schools across South Carolina to meet with students as a part of South Carolina’s 18th annual Student Pledge Against Gun Violence.  With a focus on keeping schools and communities safe, students in middle school and high school are signing 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 are pledging that if they see a gun they will not touch it, they will tell a teacher or a trusted adult, and they will assume that any gun they see might be loaded.                 

The Student Pledge Against Gun Violence is a national program that recognizes the role young people, through their own decisions, can play in reducing gun violence. The program provides a means for beginning the conversation with young people about gun violence and encourages important conversation among students about gun safety and respectful ways to resolve disputes. Students from around the country will join together in pledging to do their part. For additional information concerning the pledge, visit the national Student Pledge website at www.pledge.org.

As it has done since 2002, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reached out to all South Carolina law enforcement agencies and schools to make the pledges available to interested schools. This pledge effort is part Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. 

The following South Carolina schools and law enforcement agencies are participating in this year’s pledge on October 16.  For information on events scheduled for a particular school, please contact the specific school or law enforcement agency.

Participating Law Enforcement Agencies

Beaufort Police Department

Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office

Charleston County Sheriff’s Office

Columbia Police Department

Florence County Sheriff’s Department

Greer Police Department

Hampton County Sheriff’s Office

Hardeeville Police Department

Marion County Sheriff’s Department

Myrtle Beach Police Department

Richland County Sheriff’s Department

Summerville Police Department

Participating Schools

Aiken Scholars Academy - Aiken

Battery Creek High School - Beaufort

Beaufort Middle School – Beaufort

Brunson Elementary School - Hampton

Cheraw Intermediate School - Cheraw

Eau Clair High School - Columbia

Edward E. Taylor Elementary School – Richland

Forest Heights Elementary School – Columbia

Ft. Dorchester High School – Dorchester

Greer High School – Greenville

Greg Mathis Charter High School - Charleston

Hardeeville Elementary School - Ridgeland

Hardeeville-Ridgeland Middle School – Ridgeland

John P. Thomas Elementary School - Richland

Lady’s Island Middle School – Beaufort

Lake City High School – Florence

Limestone Central Elementary School - Gaffney

Macedonia Middle School – Berkeley

McCormick Elementary School – McCormick

McCormick High School - McCormick

Myrtle Beach Middle School – Horry

Myrtle Beach High School – Horry

Northwest Elementary School – Cherokee

Oakbrook Middle School – Charleston

Ocean Drive Elementary School – Horry

St. James – Santee Elementary Middle School - McClellanville

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