Editorial: Anti-gun program is decent start

School violence is not just a school district problem. Its root causes, as well as its solution, lie within the entire community.

That's why the new "Z-Squared" program is a good, collaborative effort aimed at keeping guns out of Clark County schools.

Unveiled Thursday at Clark High School, Z-Squared stands for "Zero Weapons, Zero Tolerance." It was put together by police officials from around the county, including the FBI, with input from students.

The ambitious project includes a media campaign aimed at parents and kids, developing a manual on student violence for school staff, buying more portable metal detectors and beefing up current anti-gun programs. A $600,000 donation from an anonymous source will fund the program.

The need for a crackdown on guns and school violence is apparent. Last year school police responded to 80 reported "gun incidents" in Clark County schools. Sixty-seven guns were confiscated. So far this year, eight guns have been found on school campuses.

It's imperative that schools be havens against violence. Students must feel safe; otherwise they can't learn. At the least, Z-Squared will raise awareness that guns will not be tolerated in school and that violence is not an acceptable form of behavior. Whether the program will be enough to make our schools gun-free remains to be seen.

But as with any initiative involving kids, parents' involvement is necessary. Thirty-second television commercials, for example, will target parents, asking them "Do you know where your guns are?" According to Metro Gang Capt. Terry Lesney, program coordinator, "If we can identify the source of guns, we can keep them out of schools."

Most gun incidents at school don't involve gang members. Rather, kids who bring weapons to school often say they got them from their parents, or their friends' parents.

The success of Z-Squared depends only in part on the continued commitment of the law enforcement agencies that designed it. Until parents and students themselves have a zero tolerance for guns in school, we will not have licked the problem.

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