Gun Safety program presented at London Elementary

Nita Johnson, The Sentinel Echo, London, Ky.
·2 min read

Oct. 5—Stop. Don't Touch. Run away. Tell an adult.

That is the motto that Saint Joseph London staff brought to London Elementary students last Friday.

Mollie Harris and Jara Burkhart with Saint Joseph London's Violence Prevention Program got students involved in the chant to emphasize the importance of gun safety.

Burkhart spoke to the students about specific household items that could become dangerous.

"You use the stove to cook. But do you touch a hot stove?" she asked as the students gave a resounding "No."

Burkhart applied to same tactic to emphasize the importance of not touching weapons.

"When you're playing a video game and you shoot someone, what happens? You get another life," she said. "But it doesn't work that way in real life. Guns are not toys. The things you use every day can become unsafe very fast."

Burkhart also emphasized that police officers are friends of children.

"Is Officer Maggard (school police officer) your friend?" she asked as the students echoed an emphatic "Yes!"

Students watched a video outlining some safety tips. Then Eddie Eagle, the mascot for the Gun Safety program, appeared to encourage students to be safe around guns.

Several students volunteered to stand by Eddie Eagle and repeat the chant to their fellow students. Then teachers gathered with the mascot to further emphasize that guns can be dangerous and to never touch guns.

Dan Smoot, Chief of the Laurel County School Police Department, said the program on gun safety is targeted to younger students.

"That's because this is the age group we're losing to gun deaths," he said.

The school system has mourned the loss of two students already this year. A toddler was also shot and killed in an accidental shooting just recently.