Wayne County commissioners on April 12 will discuss a resolution calling for schools to do more to promote gun safety and prevent gun violence, including requiring the purchase of gunlocks, establishing gun safety seminars and boosting mental health resources.
The resolution will be presented by members of the Wayne County Commission Youth Council, a body of 18 students from high schools throughout the county which was formed by the commission in 2020 to invest and empower our youth to address young people issues and concerns.
The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Commission Chambers at the mezzanine level of the Guardian Building, 500 Griswold, Detroit.
The resolution calls for several specific steps, including asking school districts to:
• Dedicate a day each year to raising awareness of the issue through seminars and interactive discussions.
• Send information to parents and guardians on how to store guns safely and purchase of gun locks as well as on available mental health resources for students who exhibit troubling behavior.
• Establish an anonymous online “safebox” for students to report issues and concerns.
• Add mental health professionals at schools and create advisory periods in school schedules to allow students to seek mental health resources, connect with peers or simply relax.
The youth commission has met monthly since the beginning of the school year.
“I’m very proud of these young men and women for all the hard work they put in to draft this resolution,” said Commissioner Monique Baker McCormick (D-Detroit), who is the youth commission sponsor and adviser. “It shows that young people want to be heard and are really taking the issue of gun violence seriously by coming up with actual solutions. I hope we are listening.”
If approved, the resolution will be sent to Wayne County’s delegation in the Michigan Legislature, the state superintendent of schools and school boards in each district in the county.