THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130311
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 80 lines
A picture of a wheelchair-bound teen-ager, surrounded by three members of the medical team that treated him, flashed on the screen.
Next up was a slide of an X-ray, showing the path of the bullet that entered the right side of the young man's chest, severed his spine and lodged in his left side.
A new effort involving Beach police, the schools, Virginia Beach General Hospital and other partners hopes to limit such images through a program called Options, Choices, and Consequences. Modeled on a similar plan in Seattle, the gun violence awareness and prevention program will be tested with freshmen at some of the city's high schools this spring, with plans to expand to all high schools in the fall.
``We're looking to break some of the habits kids have with weapons,'' said Lt. James Cervera, the coordinator of the city's Community Policing Project. Referring to recent shootings involving teen-agers locally, Cervera said, ``As police officers, as city officials, we're tired of seeing this.''
Options, Choices, and Consequences is one part of the Keep the Peace community policing campaign.
Students who take part in the program will go through three one-hour sessions with classes taught by a police officer, a commonwealth's attorney and a physician or nurse. Along with graphic slide presentations of the physical damage done by guns, students will hear about the legal consequences of gun violence. And the program will focus on the choices students have to avoid the damage that can be caused by guns.
A booklet that will be used in the program, for instance, offers steps for problem solving and tips for handling anger. It includes questions such as ``How might people I love and care about feel if I use this solution?''
``The program isn't about threats, it isn't about intimidation, it isn't about fear,'' said Mark Del Duca, an assistant city attorney who spoke at the program's kickoff Wednesday. ``It will provide them with a realistic view of the consequences'' based on their actions.
Recently released figures show gun violence has become epidemic among American young people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta young people in the United States were much more likely to die violently and to die by firearm than their counterparts in other industrialized nations between 1990 and 1995.
Several speakers at Wednesday's event at the Founders Inn & Conference Center cited daunting statistics about juvenile violence, including its rapid growth in Virginia Beach during a period when rates for other crimes in the city have remained stable or dropped. The shooting death of Timothy M. Wheaton, 17, in Virginia Beach's Landstown neighborhood last month also was clearly on the minds of several who spoke.
The program will not be started until the ninth grade because of the graphic nature of some of the slides, Cervera said. Speakers said it was crucial for young people to understand that gun violence and its aftermath is often inaccurately portrayed in movies and on television.
Thomas Clifford, a doctor with the Trauma Unit at Beach General, held up a plastic drain used in the treatment of gunshot wounds.
``I don't think I will have any problem getting anyone's attention at the presentation,'' he said.
Referring to the young man depicted in the slide, Clifford listed some of the things the victim would never do because of his injury, such as dancing at the prom or driving a car like his friends. Through Options, Choices, and Consequences, young people will know spines can't be put back together.
``I would like nothing better than to have this type of project put me out of business in the trauma field,'' Clifford said. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
The Virginian-Pilot
This slide of doctors and a young shooting victim may be a regular
part of the Options, Choices, and Consequences gun violence program
coming to Virginia Beach schools.
Robert Graves, left, administrator of Virginia Beach General
Hospital, talks with school Superintend ent Timothy R. Jenney about
the upcoming Options, Choices, and Consequences program. The program
teaches youths about gun violence prevention and awareness. It goes
into effect this spring.
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
The Virginian-Pilot